Connect to Hugging Face Data in JRuby

JRuby is a high-performance, stable, fully threaded Java implementation of the Ruby programming language. The CData JDBC Driver for Hugging Face makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Hugging Face data in JRuby. This article shows how to create a simple JRuby app that connects to Hugging Face data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Configure a JDBC Connection to Hugging Face Data

Before creating the app, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Hugging Face\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Hugging Face and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

HuggingFace Hub uses token-based authentication to enable access to its API. The API provides access to machine learning models, datasets, spaces, papers, and other resources on the HuggingFace Hub platform.

Using API Key Authentication

To authenticate to HuggingFace Hub, you will need to provide an API Key (Access Token). To obtain your access token:

1. Log in to your HuggingFace account at https://huggingface.co
2. Navigate to Settings > Access Tokens
3. Click "New token" to create a new access token
4. Select the appropriate permissions (read or write)
5. Copy the token value

After obtaining your access token, set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your HuggingFace access token.

Example connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\HuggingFace.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=hf_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx';

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Hugging Face 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.

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Hugging Face:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\HuggingFace.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=hf_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx';

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Hugging Face Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: APISelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

require 'java'
require 'rubygems'
require 'C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for Hugging Face 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\HuggingFace.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=hf_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT ,  FROM Collections")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

With the file completed, you are ready to display your Hugging Face data with JRuby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

jruby -S APISelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to Hugging Face allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Hugging Face data into your own JRuby applications. Download a free trial today!