How to integrate Metabase with JotForm Data

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect AI, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live JotForm data. This article describes how to connect to JotForm and build a simple visualization using JotForm data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for JotForm, allowing you to easily integrate with live JotForm data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to JotForm, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return JotForm data.

Configure JotForm Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to JotForm from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with JotForm data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a JotForm connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "JotForm" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to JotForm.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the JotForm Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\JotForm.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for JotForm (see below).

   JotForm API Profile Settings

   Find your JotForm API Key in order to authenticate. To obtain an API Key, go to 'My Account' > 'API Section' > 'Create a New API Key'. Once you've created your new API Key, you can set it in the ProfileSettings connection property.

   Custom Enterprise API Domains

   Enterprise customers of JotForm are given custom API domains to connect to, rather than the default 'api.jotform.com' domain. If you are an enterprise JotForm customer, then set Domain to you custom API hostname, such as 'your-domain.com' or 'subdomain.jotform.com', inside the ProfileSettings connection property. Conversely, if you do not have a custom domain and still need to connect to 'api.jotform.com', then leave Domain undefined and set only APIKey.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add JotForm Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to JotForm data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect AI from Metabase

After creating the connection in Connect AI, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect AI.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect AI and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "JotForm (Connect AI)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. API1)
   • Username: A Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected])
   • Password: The PAT previously created
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)
   

Execute JotForm Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect AI, you can query JotForm and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the JotForm data
2. Write a SQL query based on the JotForm connection in CData Connect AI, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT Id, Title FROM Forms WHERE Status = 'ENABLED'

   
3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from JotForm data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live JotForm data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to JotForm (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live JotForm data in Metabase today.