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Create a Data Access Object for SharePoint Data using JDBI


A brief overview of creating a SQL Object API for SharePoint data in 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 SharePoint integrates connectivity to live SharePoint data in Java applications. By pairing these technologies, you gain simple, programmatic access to SharePoint data. This article walks through building a basic Data Access Object (DAO) and the accompanying code to read and write SharePoint data.

About SharePoint Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from SharePoint has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

  • Access data from a wide range of SharePoint versions, including Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and above, and SharePoint Online.
  • Access all of SharePoint thanks to support for Hidden and Lookup columns.
  • Recursively scan folders to create a relational model of all SharePoint data.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to upload and download documents and attachments.

Most customers rely on CData solutions to integrate SharePoint data into their database or data warehouse, while others integrate their SharePoint data with preferred data tools, like Power BI, Tableau, or Excel.

For more information on how customers are solving problems with CData's SharePoint solutions, refer to our blog: Drivers in Focus: Collaboration Tools.


Getting Started


Create a DAO for the SharePoint MyCustomList 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 MyMyCustomListDAO { //insert new data into SharePoint @SqlUpdate("INSERT INTO MyCustomList (Location, Revenue) values (:location, :revenue)") void insert(@Bind("location") String location, @Bind("revenue") String revenue); //request specific data from SharePoint (String type is used for simplicity) @SqlQuery("SELECT Revenue FROM MyCustomList WHERE Location = :location") String findRevenueByLocation(@Bind("location") String location); /* * close with no args is used to close the connection */ void close(); }

Open a Connection to SharePoint

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

Set the URL property to the base SharePoint site or to a sub-site. This allows you to query any lists and other SharePoint entities defined for the site or sub-site.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SharePoint user credentials when using SharePoint On-Premise.

If you are connecting to SharePoint Online, set the SharePointEdition to SHAREPOINTONLINE along with the User and Password connection string properties. For more details on connecting to SharePoint Online, see the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.sharepoint.jar

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

A connection string for SharePoint will typically look like the following:

jdbc:sharepoint:User=myuseraccount;Password=mypassword;Auth Scheme=NTLM;URL=http://sharepointserver/mysite;SharePointEdition=SharePointOnPremise;

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:sharepoint:User=myuseraccount;Password=mypassword;Auth Scheme=NTLM;URL=http://sharepointserver/mysite;SharePointEdition=SharePointOnPremise;"); MyMyCustomListDAO dao = dbi.open(MyMyCustomListDAO.class); //do stuff with the DAO dao.close();

Read SharePoint Data

With the connection open to SharePoint, simply call the previously defined method to retrieve data from the MyCustomList entity in SharePoint.

//disply the result of our 'find' method String revenue = dao.findRevenueByLocation("Chapel Hill"); System.out.println(revenue);

Write SharePoint Data

It is also simple to write data to SharePoint, using the previously defined method.

//add a new entry to the MyCustomList entity dao.insert(newLocation, newRevenue);

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

Ready to get started?

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Provides Java developers with the power to easily connect their Web, Desktop, and Mobile applications to data in SharePoint Server Lists, Contacts, Calendar, Links, Tasks, and more!

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