Feed ServiceDesk Plus Data into FineReport

The CData JDBC Driver for ServiceDesk Plus fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide ServiceDesk Plus data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set ServiceDesk Plus data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view ServiceDesk Plus data as a table in the Report Designer.

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of ServiceDesk Plus Data

Follow the instruction below to set ServiceDesk Plus data as a FineReport database connection.

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.api.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for ServiceDesk Plus installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.api.lic file as well.
2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

1. Database: Others
2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   ServiceDeskPlus uses Zoho OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication. To set up OAuth access:

   1. Register your application in the Zoho Developer Console at https://api-console.zoho.com
   2. Configure your redirect URI to match your application setup
   3. Note your Client ID and Client Secret from the application settings

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

   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to your Zoho application Client ID.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to your Zoho application Client Secret.
   • Scope: Set this to the required ServiceDeskPlus permissions (default includes read access to requests, problems, assets, and projects).
   • Domain: Set this to your ServiceDeskPlus domain
   • Portal: Set this to your ServiceDeskPlus portal

   Example Connection String

   Profile=C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip;ProfileSettings="Portal=itdesk;Domain=.in;Scope=SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ";AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;
   

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   A typical JDBC URL is below:

       jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\ServiceDeskPlus.apip;ProfileSettings="Portal=itdesk;Domain=.in;Scope=SDPOnDemand.requests.READ SDPOnDemand.problems.READ SDPOnDemand.assets.READ SDPOnDemand.projects.READ";AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;
     


4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to ServiceDesk Plus set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select ServiceDesk Plus Data in the Report Designer.

1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.

2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
3. The ServiceDesk Plus entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the ServiceDesk Plus data tables and columns that you want to load.

5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

With these simple steps, ServiceDesk Plus can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.