Import Real-Time NASA Data via JDBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist

Use CData JDBC drivers to import and use NASA data in ColdFusion.

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST.

When ColdFusion is paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational NASA data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the JDBC driver to create a table populated with NASA data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live NASA data. When you issue complex SQL queries to NASA, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to NASA and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze NASA data using native data types.

Configuring the Connection to NASA

You will need a JDBC connection string to establish a connection between Coldfusion and NASA.

Using API Key Authentication

Most NASA API endpoints (APOD, NeoWS, DONKI, TechTransfer) require a NASA API key. Register for a free key at https://api.nasa.gov. The default DEMO_KEY provides limited access (30 requests/hour, 50 requests/day); a registered key allows 1,000 requests/hour.

The following endpoints do not require an API key and work without authentication: EONET (Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker), EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera), NASA Image and Video Library, and TechPort.

After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
APIKey: Set this to your NASA API key. Use DEMO_KEY for limited testing.

Example Connection String

Profile=C:\profiles\NASA.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;APIKey=YOUR_NASA_API_KEY

Connecting to NASA

Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to NASA and query data from any of the available tables such as AstronomyPictureOfDay, NearEarthObjectFeed, EonetEvents, and NasaImageLibrary.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (nasa is shown.)

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After configuring the connection, follow the steps below to add the CData JDBC Driver to ColdFusion's lib directory, add a new data source, test the connection, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, make a real-time connection with NASA data and display it in a table written in the ColdFusion Markup Language, or CFML:

Copy the JDBC Driver for NASA and lic file from "C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib" to "C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF\lib".
```
            cdata.jdbc.api.jar
            cdata.jdbc.api.lic
        
```
Note: If you do not copy the .lic file with the jar, you will see a licensing error that indicates you do not have a valid license installed. This is true for both the trial and full versions.
From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services.
Here, we can "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our JDBC driver, choose "other", then click the "Add" button.
Next, populate the driver properties.
- JDBC URL will need to be in the format: jdbc:api:|connectionString|.
- A typical connection string looks like this:
  
  jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\NASA.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;APIKey=YOUR_NASA_API_KEY
- The Driver Class is: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
- The Driver Name is arbitrary and simply used to recognize the data source in the ColdFusion administration console.
Now, test the connection by clicking the check mark to the left of the CDataNASAJDBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use.

Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

The following code queries the data source:

            
        <cfquery name="NASAQuery" dataSource="CDataNASAJDBC"> 
          SELECT * FROM AstronomyPictureOfDay 
        </cfquery>

And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:

            
          <cftable  
          query = "NASAQuery" 
          border = "1" 
          colHeaders 
          colSpacing = "2" 
          headerLines = "2" 
          HTMLTable 
          maxRows = "500" 
          startRow = "1"> 

          <cfcol header="<b></b>" align="Left" width=2 text=""/> 

          <cfcol header="<b></b>" align="Left" width=15 text=""/> 

          ...

        </cftable>

Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:

            
        <html> 
        <head><title>CData Software | NASA AstronomyPictureOfDay Table Demo </title></head> 
        <body> 
        <cfoutput>#ucase("NASA AstronomyPictureOfDay Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
        <cfquery name="NASAQuery" dataSource="CDataNASAJDBC"> 

          SELECT * FROM AstronomyPictureOfDay 

        </cfquery> 
        <cftable  
          query = "NASAQuery" 
          border = "1" 
          colHeaders 
          colSpacing = "2" 
          headerLines = "2" 
          HTMLTable 
          maxRows = "500" 
          startRow = "1"> 
          <cfcol header="<b></b>" align="Left" width=2 text=""/> 

          <cfcol header="<b></b>" align="Left" width=15 text=""/> 

          ...

        </cftable> 
        </body> 

        </html>

Finally, run the code locally in a browser at the default port of 8500. It produces a table populated with NASA data!

As a note, the CData JDBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example:

SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for NASA and start building NASA-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from NASA with the API Driver

Connect to NASA

CData is the data layer that makes AI work in production—live connectivity and replication across hundreds of the most critical enterprise sources, semantic context, and built-in governance. Powering AI for Databricks, Microsoft, Google, Palantir, and 10,000+ customers worldwide.