Build a PostgreSQL Interface for LionDesk Data using the CData JDBC Driver

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use the Remoting features of the LionDesk JDBC Driver to create a PostgreSQL entry-point for data access.

There are a vast number of PostgreSQL clients available on the Internet. From standard Drivers to BI and Analytics tools, PostgreSQL is a popular interface for data access. Using our JDBC Drivers, you can now create PostgreSQL entry-points that you can connect to from any standard client.

To access LionDesk data as a PostgreSQL database, use the CData JDBC Driver for LionDesk and a JDBC foreign data wrapper (FDW). In this article, we compile the FDW, install it, and query LionDesk data from PostgreSQL Server.

Connect to LionDesk Data as a JDBC Data Source

To connect to LionDesk as a JDBC data source, you will need the following:

  • Driver JAR path: The JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
  • Driver class:

    cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
    

  • JDBC URL: The URL must start with "jdbc:api:" and can include any of the connection properties in name-value pairs separated with semicolons.

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

    LionDesk API Profile Settings

    Register an OAuth application via the LionDesk Developer Center Apps Page to obtain your Client ID and Client Secret.

    Built-in Connection String Designer

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

    A typical JDBC URL is below:

    jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\LionDesk.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;
    

Build the JDBC Foreign Data Wrapper

The Foreign Data Wrapper can be installed as an extension to PostgreSQL, without recompiling PostgreSQL. The jdbc2_fdw extension is used as an example (downloadable here).

  1. Add a symlink from the shared object for your version of the JRE to /usr/lib/libjvm.so. For example:
    ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/server/libjvm.so /usr/lib/libjvm.so
    
  2. Start the build:
    make install USE_PGXS=1
    

Query LionDesk Data as a PostgreSQL Database

After you have installed the extension, follow the steps below to start executing queries to LionDesk data:

  1. Log into your database.
  2. Load the extension for the database:
    CREATE EXTENSION jdbc2_fdw;
    
  3. Create a server object for LionDesk:
    CREATE SERVER API 
    FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER jdbc2_fdw OPTIONS (
    drivername 'cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver',
    url 'jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\LionDesk.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;',
    querytimeout '15',
    jarfile '/home/MyUser/CData/CData\ JDBC\ Driver\ for\ Salesforce MyDriverEdition/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'); 
    
  4. Create a user mapping for the username and password of a user known to the MySQL daemon.
    CREATE USER MAPPING for postgres SERVER API OPTIONS (
    username 'admin', 
    password 'test');
    
  5. Create a foreign table in your local database:
    postgres=# CREATE FOREIGN TABLE campaignactions (
    campaignactions_id text,
    campaignactions_CampaignId text,
    campaignactions_Id numeric) 
    SERVER API OPTIONS (
    table_name 'campaignactions');
    
You can now execute SELECT commands to LionDesk:
postgres=# SELECT * FROM campaignactions;

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from LionDesk with the API Driver

Connect to LionDesk