Create a Data Access Object for OData Services using JDBI



A brief overview of creating a SQL Object API for OData services in JDBI.

JDBI is a SQL convenience library for Java that exposes two different style APIs, a fluent style and a SQL object style. The CData JDBC Driver for OData integrates connectivity to live OData services in Java applications. By pairing these technologies, you gain simple, programmatic access to OData services. This article walks through building a basic Data Access Object (DAO) and the accompanying code to read and write OData services.

About OData Data Integration

CData simplifies access and integration of live OData services data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:

  • Access OData versions 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0, working with legacy services and the latest features and capabilities.
  • Leverage advanced query options, including $filter, $select, and $expand, enhancing data retrieval from 3rd party tools.
  • Use Server-side execution of aggregation and grouping to minimize data transfer and boost performance.
  • Authenticate securely using a variety of schemes, including Azure AD, digest, negotiate, NTLM, OAuth, and more means secure authentication with every connection.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to manage OData service entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.

Customers use CData's solutions to regularly integrate their OData services with preferred tools, such as Power BI, MicroStrategy, or Tableau, and to replicate data from OData services to their databases or data warehouses.


Getting Started


Create a DAO for the OData Orders Entity

The interface below declares the desired behavior for the SQL object to create a single method for each SQL statement to be implemented.

public interface MyOrdersDAO { //insert new data into OData @SqlUpdate("INSERT INTO Orders (ShipCity, Freight) values (:shipCity, :freight)") void insert(@Bind("shipCity") String shipCity, @Bind("freight") String freight); //request specific data from OData (String type is used for simplicity) @SqlQuery("SELECT Freight FROM Orders WHERE ShipCity = :shipCity") String findFreightByShipCity(@Bind("shipCity") String shipCity); /* * close with no args is used to close the connection */ void close(); }

Open a Connection to OData

Collect the necessary connection properties and construct the appropriate JDBC URL for connecting to OData.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid OData user credentials. In addition, you will need to specify a URL to a valid OData server organization root or OData services file.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.odata.jar

Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

A connection string for OData will typically look like the following:

jdbc:odata:URL=http://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc;UseIdUrl=True;OData Version=4.0;Data Format=ATOM;

Use the configured JDBC URL to obtain an instance of the DAO interface. The particular method shown below will open a handle bound to the instance, so the instance needs to be closed explicitly to release the handle and the bound JDBC connection.

DBI dbi = new DBI("jdbc:odata:URL=http://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc;UseIdUrl=True;OData Version=4.0;Data Format=ATOM;"); MyOrdersDAO dao = dbi.open(MyOrdersDAO.class); //do stuff with the DAO dao.close();

Read OData Services

With the connection open to OData, simply call the previously defined method to retrieve data from the Orders entity in OData.

//disply the result of our 'find' method String freight = dao.findFreightByShipCity("New York"); System.out.println(freight);

Write OData Services

It is also simple to write data to OData, using the previously defined method.

//add a new entry to the Orders entity dao.insert(newShipCity, newFreight);

Since the JDBI library is able to work with JDBC connections, you can easily produce a SQL Object API for OData by integrating with the CData JDBC Driver for OData. Download a free trial and work with live OData services in custom Java applications today.

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