Connect to Tickspot Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for Tickspot into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for Tickspot to transfer Tickspot data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to Tickspot in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to Tickspot:

1. Add a new database driver for Tickspot: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL:

   jdbc:api:
   

4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.api.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class:

   cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
   

   
6. Create a new Tickspot connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the Tickspot driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

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

   Tickspot API Profile Settings

   Obtain your API Token and Subscription ID by querying the Roles table using your Tickspot login email and password. Use the returned APIKey and SubscriptionId for all subsequent requests.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Tickspot 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 typical connection string is below:

   Profile=C:\profiles\Tickspot.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;SubscriptionId=your_subscription_id';
   

10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

You can now use your Tickspot connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve Tickspot data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the Tickspot data.