Connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage Data from PowerBuilder

The CData JDBC Driver for IBM Cloud Object Storage is a standards-based control that can be used from any platform or development technology that supports JDBC, including PowerBuilder. This article shows how to use the CData JDBC Driver for IBM Cloud Object Storage in PowerBuilder.

This article shows how to create a basic PowerBuilder application that uses the CData JDBC Driver for IBM Cloud Object Storage to retrieve data.

Connect to IBM Cloud Object Storage Data from PowerBuilder

Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile based on an JDBC URL for IBM Cloud Object Storage. You can use a database profile to save connection properties. In the Database Painter, you can graphically manipulate data as well as execute SQL queries.

1. Add the driver JAR to the PowerBuilder classpath. Set the CLASSPATH system environment variable to the path to the driver JAR, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

   Note: If you are using PowerBuilder Classic, you can also add the path to the driver JAR by clicking Tools -> System Options -> Java.

2. Click Tools -> Database Painter.
3. Right-click the JDBC node and click New Profile.
4. In the Database Profile Setup dialog, enter the following:
   • Profile Name: Enter a user-friendly name for the profile.
   • Driver Name: Enter the class name of the driver, cdata.jdbc.ibmcloudobjectstorage.IBMCloudObjectStorageDriver
   • URL: Enter the JDBC URL.

     Register a New Instance of Cloud Object Storage

     If you do not already have Cloud Object Storage in your IBM Cloud account, follow the procedure below to install an instance of SQL Query in your account:

     1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
     2. Navigate to the page, choose a name for your instance and click Create. You will be redirected to the instance of Cloud Object Storage you just created.

     Connecting using OAuth Authentication

     There are certain connection properties you need to set before you can connect. You can obtain these as follows:

     API Key

     To connect with IBM Cloud Object Storage, you need an API Key. You can obtain this as follows:

     1. Log in to your IBM Cloud account.
     2. Navigate to the Platform API Keys page.
     3. On the middle-right corner click "Create an IBM Cloud API Key" to create a new API Key.
     4. In the pop-up window, specify the API Key name and click "Create". Note the API Key as you can never access it again from the dashboard.

     Cloud Object Storage CRN

     If you have multiple accounts, you will need to specify the CloudObjectStorageCRN explicitly. To find the appropriate value, you can:

     • Query the Services view. This will list your IBM Cloud Object Storage instances along with the CRN for each.
     • Locate the CRN directly in IBM Cloud. To do so, navigate to your IBM Cloud Dashboard. In the Resource List, Under Storage, select your Cloud Object Storage resource to get its CRN.

     Connecting to Data

     You can now set the following to connect to data:

     • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
     • ApiKey: Set this to your API key which was noted during setup.
     • CloudObjectStorageCRN (Optional): Set this to the cloud object storage CRN you want to work with. While the connector attempts to retrieve this automatically, specifying this explicitly is recommended if you have more than Cloud Object Storage account.

     When you connect, the connector completes the OAuth process.

     1. Extracts the access token and authenticates requests.
     2. Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.ibmcloudobjectstorage.jar

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard. A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:ibmcloudobjectstorage:ApiKey=myApiKey;CloudObjectStorageCRN=MyInstanceCRN;Region=myRegion;OAuthClientId=MyOAuthClientId;OAuthClientSecret=myOAuthClientSecret;
5. To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.

Using IBM Cloud Object Storage Data with PowerBuilder Controls

You can use standard PowerBuilder objects to connect to JDBC data sources and execute queries. The following example shows how to retrieve IBM Cloud Object Storage data into a DataWindow. You can add the following code to the open method: