Connect to Mixpanel Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Mixpanel 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 Mixpanel\lib).

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

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

Mixpanel API Profile Settings

Obtain Mixpanel service account credentials from your organization settings under Service Accounts, then use the service account username and secret to authenticate.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Mixpanel 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 Mixpanel:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Mixpanel.apip;ProfileSettings='User=your_service_account_username;Password=your_service_account_secret';

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Mixpanel 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 Mixpanel 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Mixpanel.apip;ProfileSettings='User=your_service_account_username;Password=your_service_account_secret';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT AnnotationId, ProjectId FROM Annotations")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

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

jruby -S APISelect.rb

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