Integrate Paddle Data in the Pentaho Report Designer

The CData JDBC driver for Paddle data enables access to live data from dashboards and reports. This article shows how to connect to Paddle data as a JDBC data source and publish reports based on Paddle data in Pentaho.

Connect and Create a Report

1. Copy the JAR file of the driver, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory, to the \Report-Designer\lib\jdbc\ folder in the Pentaho directory.
2. Run the report-designer.bat file in the \Report-Designer\ folder to open the Report-Designer UI.

3. Create a new data source with the driver by clicking Data -> Add Data Source -> Advanced -> JDBC (Custom) and then creating a new Paddle connection. In the resulting dialog, configure the connection properties as shown below.

   • Custom Connection URL property: Enter the JDBC URL. This starts with jdbc:api: and is followed by a semicolon-separated list of connection properties.

     Using API Key Authentication

     Paddle uses API key authentication. To obtain an API key:

     1. Sign in to your Paddle account at https://vendors.paddle.com
     2. Navigate to Developer Tools > Authentication
     3. Click "Generate API Key"
     4. Assign the appropriate permissions for the data you wish to access
     5. Copy the generated key (sandbox keys begin with pdl_sdbx_apikey_; production keys begin with pdl_live_apikey_)

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

     • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
     Set the following in the ProfileSettings connection property:
     • APIKey: Set this to your Paddle API key.

     Example Connection String

     Profile=C:\profiles\Paddle.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key";
     

     Connecting to Paddle

     Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to Paddle and query data from any of the available tables such as Products, Customers, Subscriptions, and Transactions.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     

     When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

     Below is a typical JDBC URL:

     jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Paddle.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key";

   • Custom Driver Class Name: Enter cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver.
   • User Name: The username to authenticate with.
   • Password: The password to authenticate with.
   

Add Paddle Data to a Report

You are now ready to create a report with Paddle data.

1. Add the Paddle source to your report: Click Data -> Add Data Source -> JDBC and select the data source.

2. Configure the query. This article uses the one below:

   SELECT ,  FROM Products WHERE  = ''

   
3. Drag a chart onto your report and double-click it to edit the chart. Run the report to display the chart. You can use the results of this query to create a simple chart for the Products table.
4. Finally, run the report to see the chart.