How to connect to SAP Ariba Source Data from Spring Boot



Connect to SAP Ariba Source in a Spring Boot Application using CData JDBC SAP Ariba Source Driver

Spring Boot is a framework that makes engineering Java web applications easier. It offers the ability to create standalone applications with minimal configuration. When paired with the CData JDBC driver for SAP Ariba Source, Spring Boot can work with live SAP Ariba Source data. This article shows how to configure data sources and retrieve data in your Java Spring Boot Application, using the CData JDBC Driver for SAP Ariba Source.

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

Creating the Spring Boot Project in Java

In an IDE (in this tutorial, we use IntelliJ), choose a Maven project: In the generated project, go to the pom.xml file, and add the required dependencies for Spring Boot:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd"> <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion> <parent> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId> <version>2.7.2</version> <relativePath/> </parent> <groupId>com.example</groupId> <artifactId>demo</artifactId> <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version> <name>demo</name> <description>Demo project for Spring Boot</description> <properties> <java.version>1.8</java.version> </properties> <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId> </plugin> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-install-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.5.1</version> <executions> <execution> <id>id.install-file</id> <phase>clean</phase> <goals> <goal>install-file</goal> </goals> <configuration> <file>C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] ####\lib\cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.jar</file> <groupId>org.cdata.connectors</groupId> <artifactId>cdata-saparibasource-connector</artifactId> <version>23</version> <packaging>jar</packaging> </configuration> </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> <dependencies> <dependency> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-jdbc</artifactId> <version>2.7.0</version> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.cdata.connectors</groupId> <artifactId>cdata-saparibasource-connector</artifactId> <version>23</version> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId> <scope>test</scope> </dependency> </dependencies> <distributionManagement> <repository> <uniqueVersion>false</uniqueVersion> <id>test</id> <name>My Repository</name> <url>scp://repo/maven2</url> <layout>default</layout> </repository> </distributionManagement> </project>

Note: The year (####) and the version number (as seen in the provided XML script) should be adjusted according to the current version of the CData JDBC driver being utilized.

Project Structure

In the java directory, create a new package. Usually the name of the package is the name of the groupId (com.example) followed by the artifactId (.MDS).

Mark the "java" directory as the "Sources Root" (denoted by a blue color). To do this, right-click the java directory and choose Mark Directory as -> Sources Root (As shown below). Additionally, mark the "resources" directory as the "Resources Root."

Store Database Connection Properties

Create an "application.properties" file to store the database connection properties. To do this, right-click on the "resources" folder, opt for New -> File, input the file name as "application.properties," and press Enter.

In the application.properties file, we set the configuration properties for the SAP Ariba Source JDBC Driver, using the Class name and JDBC URL:

spring.datasource.driver=cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.SAPAribaSourceDriver spring.datasource.url=jdbc:saparibasource:API=SupplierDataAPIWithPagination-V4;APIKey=wWVLn7WTAXrIRMAzZ6VnuEj7Ekot5jnU;Environment=SANDBOX;Realm=testRealm;AuthScheme=OAuthClient;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.jar

In order to connect with SAP Ariba Source, set the following:

  • API: Specify which API you would like the provider to retrieve SAP Ariba data from. Select the Supplier, Sourcing Project Management, or Contract API based on your business role (possible values are SupplierDataAPIWithPaginationV4, SourcingProjectManagementAPIV2, or ContractAPIV1).
  • DataCenter: The data center where your account's data is hosted.
  • Realm: The name of the site you want to access.
  • Environment: Indicate whether you are connecting to a test or production environment (possible values are TEST or PRODUCTION).

If you are connecting to the Supplier Data API or the Contract API, additionally set the following:

  • User: Id of the user on whose behalf API calls are invoked.
  • PasswordAdapter: The password associated with the authenticating User.

If you're connecting to the Supplier API, set ProjectId to the Id of the sourcing project you want to retrieve data from.

Authenticating with OAuth

After setting connection properties, you need to configure OAuth connectivity to authenticate.

  • Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.
  • Register an application with the service to obtain the APIKey, OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.

    For more information on creating an OAuth application, refer to the Help documentation.

Automatic OAuth

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

    APIKey: The Application key in your app settings. OAuthClientId: The OAuth Client Id in your app settings. OAuthClientSecret: The OAuth Secret in your app settings.

When you connect, the provider automatically completes the OAuth process:

  1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Ariba and uses it to request data.
  2. The provider refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.
  3. The OAuth values are saved in memory relative to the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation.

After setting the properties in the application.properties file, we now configure them.

Data Source Configuration

First, we mark the SAP Ariba Source data source as our primary data source. Then, we create a Data Source Bean.

Create a DriverManagerDataSource.java file and create a Bean within it, as shown below. If @Bean gives an error, Spring Boot may not have loaded properly. To fix this, go to File -> Invalidate Caches and restart. Additionally, make sure that Maven has added the Spring Boot dependencies.

To create a data source bean, we use the DriverManagerDataSource Class. This class allows us to set the properties of the data source. To create this Java class, right-click on "com.example.MDS" package, and choose New -> Java Class.

The following code shows the bean definition of our data source. Each driver should have a bean.

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired; import org.springframework.boot.jdbc.DataSourceBuilder; import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean; import org.springframework.context.annotation.Primary; import org.springframework.core.env.Environment; import javax.sql.DataSource; public class DriverManagerDataSource{ @Autowired private static Environment env; @Bean(name ="SAPAribaSource") @Primary public static DataSource SAPAribaSourceDataSource() { DataSourceBuilder<?> dataSourceBuilder = DataSourceBuilder.create(); dataSourceBuilder.driverClassName("cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.SAPAribaSourceDriver"); dataSourceBuilder.url("jdbc:saparibasource:API=SupplierDataAPIWithPagination-V4;APIKey=wWVLn7WTAXrIRMAzZ6VnuEj7Ekot5jnU;Environment=SANDBOX;Realm=testRealm;AuthScheme=OAuthClient;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH"); return dataSourceBuilder.build(); } //@Override public void setEnvironment( final Environment environment) { env=environment; } }

Next, move the SAP Ariba Source jar file to the Documents folder (see path in command below) - The idea is to have a path without any spaces for the jar file. Then, click the Maven icon (top right corner of IntelliJ) and click "Execute Maven Goal." Now, run the following command:

mvn install:install-file "-Dfile=C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] ####\lib\cdata.jdbc.saparibasource.jar" -DgroupId=org.cdata.connectors -DartifactId=cdata-saparibasource-connector -Dversion=23 -Dpackaging=jar

Follow either of the given steps to run this command:

  1. The "-Dfile location" can be kept as the default installation path of the CData JDBC Driver. Make sure to keep the path in quotations in this case. Also, change the year and "Dversion" based on the current version of the driver being used.
  2. As mentioned earlier in the article, in case you relocate the jar file to the Documents folder, make sure to modify the path in the provided command. In such instances, avoid enclosing the Dfile location in quotations and edit "Dversion" based on the current version of the driver being used.

After pressing enter, we see the following output:

Testing the Connection

The last step is testing the connection. Create a new Java class following the format (e.g., "MDSApplication"). You have the flexibility to select any name for the application class. We call the data source in the main method of MDSApplication.java:

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication; import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication; import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.jdbc.DataSourceAutoConfiguration; import java.sql.Connection; import java.sql.SQLException; import static com.example.demo.DriverManagerDataSources.SAPAribaSourceDataSource; @SpringBootApplication(exclude = {DataSourceAutoConfiguration.class}) public class MDSApplication { //remove the comment on the line below public static void main (){ SpringApplication.run(DemoApplication.class, args); Connection conn = SAPAribaSourceDataSource().getConnection(); System.out.println("Catalog: "+ conn.getCatalog()); } }

The output generated should look like this:

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