Create a Data Access Object for ServiceDesk Plus Data using JDBI

JDBI is a SQL convenience library for Java that exposes two different style APIs, a fluent style and a SQL object style. The CData JDBC Driver for ServiceDesk Plus integrates connectivity to live ServiceDesk Plus data in Java applications. By pairing these technologies, you gain simple, programmatic access to ServiceDesk Plus data. This article explains how to build a basic Data Access Object (DAO) and the accompanying code to read ServiceDesk Plus data.

Create a DAO for the ServiceDesk Plus AnnouncementComments Entity

The interface below declares the desired behavior for the SQL object to create a single method for each SQL statement to be implemented.

public interface MyAnnouncementCommentsDAO {
  //request specific data from ServiceDesk Plus (String type is used for simplicity)
  @SqlQuery("SELECT  FROM AnnouncementComments WHERE AnnouncementId = :announcementId")
  String findByAnnouncementId(@Bind("announcementId") String announcementId);

  /*
   * close with no args is used to close the connection
   */
  void close();
}

Open a Connection to ServiceDesk Plus

Collect the necessary connection properties and construct the appropriate JDBC URL for connecting to ServiceDesk Plus.

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.

A connection string for ServiceDesk Plus will typically look like the following:

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;

Use the configured JDBC URL to obtain an instance of the DAO interface. The particular method shown below will open a handle bound to the instance, so the instance needs to be closed explicitly to release the handle and the bound JDBC connection.

DBI dbi = new DBI("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;");
MyAnnouncementCommentsDAO dao = dbi.open(MyAnnouncementCommentsDAO.class);

//do stuff with the DAO

dao.close();

Read ServiceDesk Plus Data

With the connection open to ServiceDesk Plus, simply call the previously defined method to retrieve data from the AnnouncementComments entity in ServiceDesk Plus.

//disply the result of our 'find' method
String  = dao.findByAnnouncementId("12345");
System.out.println();

Since the JDBI library is able to work with JDBC connections, you can easily produce a SQL Object API for ServiceDesk Plus by integrating with the CData JDBC Driver for ServiceDesk Plus. Download a free trial and work with live ServiceDesk Plus data in custom Java applications today.