Import Real-Time Google Translate Data via JDBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST.

When ColdFusion is paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Google Translate data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the JDBC driver to create a table populated with Google Translate data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Google Translate data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Google Translate, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Google Translate and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Google Translate data using native data types.

Configuring the Connection to Google Translate

You will need a JDBC connection string to establish a connection between Coldfusion and Google Translate.

Authentication

Google Cloud Translation API requires OAuth 2.0 authentication to ensure secure access to translation services, datasets, glossaries, and adaptive MT resources. This authentication method allows you to securely connect to your Google Cloud project and manage translation resources with proper authorization.

OAuth 2.0 Setup and Configuration

Step 1: Create Google Cloud Project and Enable API

To set up OAuth authentication:

1. Visit the Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project or select an existing project
3. Note down your Project ID (required for all API calls)
4. Navigate to "APIs & Services" > "Library"
5. Search for and enable the "Cloud Translation API"
6. Go to "APIs & Services" > "Credentials"
7. Click "Create Credentials" and select "OAuth Client ID"
8. Configure the OAuth consent screen if prompted
9. Select "Desktop application" or "Web application" as appropriate
10. Set the authorized redirect URI (CallbackURL)
11. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret for use in your connection

Required Connection Properties

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth (required)
• OAuthClientId: Client ID from Google Cloud Console (required)
• OAuthClientSecret: Client secret from Google Cloud Console (required)
• CallbackURL: Redirect URI specified in your OAuth application (required)
• InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH for automatic token management (recommended)
• ProjectId: Your Google Cloud project ID or project number (required for queries)

Required OAuth Scopes

The Google Cloud Translation API Profile requires the following OAuth scope:

• https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-translation - Full access to Cloud Translation API resources including translation, datasets, glossaries, and adaptive MT

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Google Translate JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After configuring the connection, follow the steps below to add the CData JDBC Driver to ColdFusion's lib directory, add a new data source, test the connection, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, make a real-time connection with Google Translate data and display it in a table written in the ColdFusion Markup Language, or CFML:

1. Copy the JDBC Driver for Google Translate and lic file from "C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib" to "C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF\lib".

               cdata.jdbc.api.jar
               cdata.jdbc.api.lic
           

   Note: If you do not copy the .lic file with the jar, you will see a licensing error that indicates you do not have a valid license installed. This is true for both the trial and full versions.

2. From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services.
3. Here, we can "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our JDBC driver, choose "other", then click the "Add" button.
4. Next, populate the driver properties.
   • JDBC URL will need to be in the format: jdbc:api:|connectionString|.
   • A typical connection string looks like this:

     jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\GoogleTranslate.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;

   • The Driver Class is: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
   • The Driver Name is arbitrary and simply used to recognize the data source in the ColdFusion administration console.
   
5. Now, test the connection by clicking the check mark to the left of the CDataGoogle TranslateJDBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use.
6. Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

   The following code queries the data source:

               
           <cfquery name="Google TranslateQuery" dataSource="CDataGoogle TranslateJDBC"> 
             SELECT * FROM SupportedLanguages 
           </cfquery> 
       

   And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:

               
             <cftable  
             query = "Google TranslateQuery" 
             border = "1" 
             colHeaders 
             colSpacing = "2" 
             headerLines = "2" 
             HTMLTable 
             maxRows = "500" 
             startRow = "1"> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>LanguageCode</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="LanguageCode"/> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>DisplayName</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="DisplayName"/> 
   
             ...
   
           </cftable> 
       

   Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:

               
           <html> 
           <head><title>CData Software | Google Translate SupportedLanguages Table Demo </title></head> 
           <body> 
           <cfoutput>#ucase("Google Translate SupportedLanguages Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
           <cfquery name="Google TranslateQuery" dataSource="CDataGoogle TranslateJDBC"> 
   
             SELECT * FROM SupportedLanguages 
   
           </cfquery> 
           <cftable  
             query = "Google TranslateQuery" 
             border = "1" 
             colHeaders 
             colSpacing = "2" 
             headerLines = "2" 
             HTMLTable 
             maxRows = "500" 
             startRow = "1"> 
             <cfcol header="<b>LanguageCode</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="LanguageCode"/> 
   
             <cfcol header="<b>DisplayName</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="DisplayName"/> 
   
             ...
   
           </cftable> 
           </body> 
   
           </html>  
       

7. Finally, run the code locally in a browser at the default port of 8500. It produces a table populated with Google Translate data!

As a note, the CData JDBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example:

SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =  

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Google Translate and start building Google Translate-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.