Query Hacker News Data in DataGrip

DataGrip is a database IDE that allows SQL developers to query, create, and manage databases. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, DataGrip can work with live Hacker News data. This article shows how to establish a connection to Hacker News data in DataGrip.

Create a New Driver Definition for Hacker News

The steps below describe how to create a new Data Source in DataGrip for Hacker News.

1. In DataGrip, click File -> New > Project and name the project
2. In the Database Explorer, click the plus icon () and select Driver.
3. In the Driver tab:
   • Set Name to a user-friendly name (e.g. "CData Hacker News Driver")
   • Set Driver Files to the appropriate JAR file. To add the file, click the plus (), select "Add Files," navigate to the "lib" folder in the driver's installation directory and select the JAR file (e.g. cdata.jdbc.api.jar).
   • Set Class to cdata.jdbc.api.API.jar
   Additionally, in the advanced tab you can change driver properties and some other settings like VM Options, VM environment, VM home path, DBMS, etc
   • For most cases, change the DBMS type to "Unknown" in Expert options to avoid native SQL Server queries (Transact-SQL), which might result in an invalid function error
4. Click "Apply" then "OK" to save the Connection

Configure a Connection to Hacker News

1. Once the connection is saved, click the plus (), then "Data Source" then "CData Hacker News Driver" to create a new Hacker News Data Source.
2. In the new window, configure the connection to Hacker News with a JDBC URL.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

         java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar
       

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   Connecting to HackerNews

   The HackerNews API (powered by Firebase) is a public API that requires no authentication. You can connect and query data immediately without any credentials.

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to None.

   Example connection string:

   Profile=C:\profiles\HackerNews.apip;AuthScheme=None
   

   
3. Set URL to the connection string, e.g.,

   jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\HackerNews.apip;AuthScheme=None

4. Click "Apply" and "OK" to save the connection string

At this point, you will see the data source in the Data Explorer.

Execute SQL Queries Against Hacker News

To browse through the Hacker News entities (available as tables) accessible through the JDBC Driver, expand the Data Source.

To execute queries, right click on any table and select "New" -> "Query Console."

In the Console, write the SQL query you wish to execute. For example:

SELECT ,  FROM TopStories WHERE  = ''

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live Hacker News data in DataGrip. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.