How to Work with Outlook Data in ETL Validator JDBC

Dibyendu Datta
Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist
Connect to Outlook from ETL Validator jobs using the CData JDBC Driver.

ETL Validator provides data movement and transformation capabilities for integrating data platforms across your organization. CData's JDBC driver seamlessly integrates with ETL Validator and extends its native connectivity to include Outlook data.

This tutorial explains how to build a simple ETL validator data flow to extract data from Outlook data and load it into an example data storage solution: SQL Server.

Add a new ETL Validator data source via CData

CData extends ETL Validator's data connectivity capabilities by providing the ability to add data sources that connect via CData's JDBC drivers. Connecting to Outlook data simply requires creating a new data source in ETL Validator through CData's connectiviy suite as described below.

Login to ETL Validator

Begin by logging into ETL Validator to view the application dashboard.

Click on Add a DataSource

CData extends the data source options within ETL Validator.

Click on CData

CData's connectivity is embedded within ETL Validator's data source options.

Configure the CData Driver Connection String

You will need a JDBC connection string to establish a connection to Outlook in ETL Validator.

Using OAuth Authentication

Microsoft Graph API uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. You must register an application in the Microsoft Azure Portal to obtain OAuth credentials (Client ID and Client Secret).

Obtaining OAuth Credentials

  1. Log in to the Azure Portal.
  2. Navigate to Azure Active Directory > App registrations.
  3. Click New registration to create a new application.
  4. Enter an application name and select the appropriate account types.
  5. Set the Redirect URI to your application's callback URL (e.g., http://localhost:33333 for desktop apps).
  6. Click Register to create the application.
  7. On the application overview page, copy the Application (client) ID - this is your OAuthClientId.
  8. Navigate to Certificates & secrets and create a new client secret.
  9. Copy the client secret value - this is your OAuthClientSecret.
  10. Navigate to API permissions and add the required Microsoft Graph API permissions:
    • Mail.Read - For accessing email messages
    • Contacts.Read - For accessing contacts
    • Calendars.Read - For accessing calendar events
    • Tasks.Read - For accessing To Do tasks
    • offline_access - For obtaining refresh tokens
  11. Click Grant admin consent to grant these permissions.

Connecting with OAuth

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

  • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
  • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. The CData API Profile for Outlook will automatically walk through the OAuth process in order to obtain the access token.
  • OAuthClientId: Set this to the Application (client) ID from Azure Portal.
  • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret value from Azure Portal.
  • TenantId: Set this to your Azure AD tenant identifier (GUID or domain name like 'contoso.onmicrosoft.com').
  • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app registration (e.g., http://localhost:33333 for desktop apps).

Example connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Outlook.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;TenantId=your_tenant_id;CallbackUrl=http://localhost:33333;

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

A typical connection string looks like this:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Outlook.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;TenantId=your_tenant_id;CallbackUrl=http://localhost:33333;

Licensing the Driver

To ensure the JDBC driver is licensed appropriately, copy the license file to the appropriate location:

Copy the JDBC Driver for Outlook and lic file from "C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib" to "C:\Datagaps\ETLValidator\Server\apache-tomcat\bin".

            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.

Save the connection

Should you encounter any difficulties loading the CData JDBC driver class, please contact DataGap's team, and they will provide you instructions on how to load the jar file for the relevant driver.

Add SQL Server as a Target

This example will use SQL Server as a destination for Outlook data data, but any preferred destination can be used instead.

Go to DataSources and select MS_SQL_SERVER

This option is the default.

Fill in the necessary connection details and test the connection

The details will depend on the specific target, but these details may include a URL, authentiation credentials, etc.

Create a Dataflow in ETL Validator

Open the Dataflows tab

Configured data flows will appear in this window.

Select Create Dataflow

Name your new dataflow and save it.

Open the Dataflow to view the Dataflow Diagram

The details of the data movement will be configured in this panel.

Drag & drop the JDBC as a source from the right side

Give the new source an appropriate name and save it.

Fill in the Query section of the new source

Select the Table from the Schema option that reflects which data should be pulled from Outlook data.

View the expected results of your query

The anticipated outcome of the configured query is displayed in the Result tab.

Add the destination to the Dataflow

Select Switch to Diagram, then drag & drop the DB Sink as a target from the right side (under Sink options). Give the sink an appropriate name and save it.

Set the appropriate Schema for the destination

Choose the Schema and table that matches the structure of the source table. For this example, the table on the target side was created to match the Source so that data flow seamlessly. More advanced schema transformation operations are beyond the scope of this article.

Hit the RUN option to begin replication

Running the job will take some time.

View the finished Dataflow

Return to the diagram to see the finished data replication job from Outlook data to SQL Server.

Get Started Today

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

Ready to get started?

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