Access Instantly Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Create a simple Mule Application that uses HTTP and SQL with CData JDBC drivers to create a JSON endpoint for Instantly data.

The CData API Driver for JDBC connects Instantly data to Mule applications enabling read functionality with familiar SQL queries. The JDBC Driver allows users to easily create Mule applications to backup, transform, report, and analyze Instantly data.

This article demonstrates how to use the CData API Driver for JDBC inside of a Mule project to create a Web interface for Instantly data. The application created allows you to request Instantly data using an HTTP request and have the results returned as JSON. The exact same procedure outlined below can be used with any CData JDBC Driver to create a Web interface for the hundreds of available data sources.

  1. Create a new Mule Project in Anypoint Studio.
  2. Add an HTTP Connector to the Message Flow.
  3. Configure the address for the HTTP Connector.
  4. Add a Database Select Connector to the same flow, after the HTTP Connector.
  5. Create a new Connection (or edit an existing one) and configure the properties.
    • Set Connection to "Generic Connection"
    • Select the CData JDBC Driver JAR file in the Required Libraries section (e.g. cdata.jdbc.api.jar).
    • Set the URL to the connection string for Instantly

      Using API Key Authentication

      Instantly uses API keys to authenticate requests. You can find or create your API key in the Instantly workspace settings under API & Webhooks.

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

      • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
      • APIKey: Set this to your Instantly API key (Bearer token for API v2).

      Example connection string

      Profile=C:\profiles\Instantly.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key";
      

      Built-in Connection String Designer

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

    • Set the Driver class name to cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver.
    • Click Test Connection.
  6. Set the SQL Query Text to a SQL query to request Instantly data. For example:
    SELECT ,  FROM AccountCampaignMappings WHERE  = ''
  7. Add a Transform Message Component to the flow.
  8. Set the Output script to the following to convert the payload to JSON:
    %dw 2.0
    output application/json
    ---
    payload
            
  9. To view your Instantly data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The Instantly data is available as JSON in your Web browser and any other tools capable of consuming JSON endpoints.

At this point, you have a simple Web interface for working with Instantly data (as JSON data) in custom apps and a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools. Download a free, 30 day trial of the JDBC Driver for Instantly and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.

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