Connect to ShipEngine Data in JRuby

JRuby is a high-performance, stable, fully threaded Java implementation of the Ruby programming language. The CData JDBC Driver for ShipEngine makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live ShipEngine data in JRuby. This article shows how to create a simple JRuby app that connects to ShipEngine data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Configure a JDBC Connection to ShipEngine Data

Before creating the app, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for ShipEngine\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to ShipEngine and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the ShipEngine Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\ShipEngine.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for ShipEngine (see below).

ShipEngine API Profile Settings

Retrieve your ShipEngine API Key from the Dashboard at app.shipengine.com under API Management.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for ShipEngine:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\ShipEngine.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to ShipEngine Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: APISelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

require 'java'
require 'rubygems'
require 'C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for ShipEngine 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\ShipEngine.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT BatchId, Error FROM BatchErrors")
while (rs.next) do
  puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

With the file completed, you are ready to display your ShipEngine data with JRuby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

jruby -S APISelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to ShipEngine allows you to quickly and easily incorporate ShipEngine data into your own JRuby applications. Download a free trial today!