Connect to Shortcut Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Shortcut 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 Shortcut\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Shortcut 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 Shortcut Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Shortcut.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Shortcut (see below).

Shortcut API Profile Settings

Log into your Shortcut account, navigate to Settings > API Tokens, and click Generate Token.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Shortcut 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 Shortcut:

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

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Shortcut 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 Shortcut 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

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

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

jruby -S APISelect.rb

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