Stream Sage 50 UK Data into Apache Kafka Topics

Apache Kafka is an open-source stream processing platform that is primarily used for building real-time data pipelines and event-driven applications. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Sage 50 UK, Kafka can work with live Sage 50 UK data. This article describes how to connect, access and stream Sage 50 UK data into Apache Kafka Topics and to start Confluent Control Center to help users secure, manage, and monitor the Sage 50 UK data received using Kafka infrastructure in the Confluent Platform.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Sage 50 UK data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Sage 50 UK, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Sage 50 UK 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 Sage 50 UK data using native data types.

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming Sage 50 UK data in Apache Kafka Topics, install and configure the following in the client Linux-based system.

1. Confluent Platform for Apache Kafka
2. Confluent Hub CLI Installation
3. Self-Managed Kafka JDBC Source Connector for Confluent Platform

Define a New JDBC Connection to Sage 50 UK data

1. Download CData JDBC Driver for Sage 50 UK on a Linux-based system
2. Follow the given instructions to create a new directory extract all the driver contents into it:
   1. Create a new directory named Sage 50 UK mkdir Sage50UK
   2. Move the downloaded driver file (.zip) into this new directory mv Sage50UKJDBCDriver.zip Sage50UK/
   3. Unzip the CData Sage50UKJDBCDriver contents into this new directory unzip Sage50UKJDBCDriver.zip
3. Open the Sage 50 UK directory and navigate to the lib folder ls cd lib/
4. Copy the contents of the lib folder of Sage 50 UK into the lib folder of Kafka Connect JDBC. Check the Kafka Connect JDBC folder contents to confirm that the cdata.jdbc.sage50uk.jar file is successfully copied into the lib folder cp * ../../confluent-7.5.0/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/ cd ../../confluent-7.5.0/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
5. Install the CData Sage 50 UK JDBC driver license using the given command, followed by your Name and Email ID java -jar cdata.jdbc.sage50uk.jar -l
6. Enter the product key or "TRIAL" (In the scenarios of license expiry, please contact our CData Support team)
7. Start the Confluent local services using the command: confluent local services start

   This starts all the Confluent Services like Zookeeper, Kafka, Schema Registry, Kafka REST, Kafka CONNECT, ksqlDB and Control Center. You are now ready to use the CData JDBC driver for Sage 50 UK to stream messages using Kafka Connect Driver into Kafka Topics on ksqlDB.

8. Create the Kafka topics manually using a POST HTTP API Request: curl --location 'server_address:8083/connectors' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --data '{ "name": "jdbc_source_cdata_sage50uk_01", "config": { "connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", "connection.url": "jdbc:sage50uk:URL=http://your-server:5493/sdata/accounts50/GCRM/your-address;User=Manager;", "topic.prefix": "sage50uk-01-", "mode": "bulk" } }'

   Let us understand the fields used in the HTTP POST body (shown above):

   • connector.class: Specifies the Java class of the Kafka Connect connector to be used.
   • connection.url: The JDBC connection URL to connect with Sage 50 UK data.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Sage 50 UK JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.sage50uk.jar

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

     Note: Only Sage 50 UK 2012 and above are supported.

     The User and Password properties, under the Connection section, must be set to valid Sage 50 UK user credentials. These values will be the same used to log in to the Sage 50 UK software.

     Additionally, the URL property, under the Connection section, will need to be set to the address of the company dataset desired. To obtain the address, do the following:

     1. If you have not already done so, open the Sage 50 UK software.
     2. Click Tools -> Internet Options.
     3. Select the SData Settings tab.
     4. Click the Details button next to Sage 50 Accounts. A window is displayed containing a list of company names along with the address to their corresponding datasets.
     5. Set the URL property to the value in the address field next to the company desired.

   • topic.prefix: A prefix that will be added to the Kafka topics created by the connector. It's set to "sage50uk-01-".
   • mode: Specifies the mode in which the connector operates. In this case, it's set to "bulk", which suggests that the connector is configured to perform bulk data transfer.

   This request adds all the tables/contents from Sage 50 UK as Kafka Topics.

   Note: The IP Address (server) to POST the request (shown above) is the Linux Network IP Address.

9. Run ksqlDB and list the topics. Use the commands: ksql list topics;
10. To view the data inside the topics, type the SQL Statement: PRINT topic FROM BEGINNING;

Connecting with the Confluent Control Center

To access the Confluent Control Center user interface, ensure to run the "confluent local services" as described in the above section and type http://<server address>:9021/clusters/ on your local browser.

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Sage 50 UK and start streaming Sage 50 UK data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.