Access UKG Pro WFM Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver

The CData API Driver for JDBC connects UKG Pro WFM data to Mule applications enabling read functionality with familiar SQL queries. The JDBC Driver allows users to easily create Mule applications to backup, transform, report, and analyze UKG Pro WFM data.

This article demonstrates how to use the CData API Driver for JDBC inside of a Mule project to create a Web interface for UKG Pro WFM data. The application created allows you to request UKG Pro WFM data using an HTTP request and have the results returned as JSON. The exact same procedure outlined below can be used with any CData JDBC Driver to create a Web interface for the hundreds of available data sources.

1. Create a new Mule Project in Anypoint Studio.
2. Add an HTTP Connector to the Message Flow.
3. Configure the address for the HTTP Connector.
4. Add a Database Select Connector to the same flow, after the HTTP Connector.
5. Create a new Connection (or edit an existing one) and configure the properties.
   • Set Connection to "Generic Connection"
   • Select the CData JDBC Driver JAR file in the Required Libraries section (e.g. cdata.jdbc.api.jar).
   • Set the URL to the connection string for UKG Pro WFM

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

     UKGProWFM API Profile Settings

     UKG Pro Workforce Management uses OAuth 2.0 with the Resource Owner Password Credentials grant (grant_type=password) to authorize access to the API. Unlike most OAuth-based profiles, this does not use a browser redirect/authorization-code step: the driver exchanges your UKG Pro WFM username, password, client ID, and client secret directly for an access token.

     Set the following connection properties to authenticate:

     • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuthPassword.
     • Host: Set this to the hostname of your UKG Pro Workforce Management datacenter/tenant (for example, yourcompany.mykronos.com). Do not include the protocol (https://) or a trailing slash.
     • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client ID issued for your UKG Pro Workforce Management OAuth application.
     • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret issued for your UKG Pro Workforce Management OAuth application.
     • User: Set this to your UKG Pro Workforce Management username.
     • Password: Set this to your UKG Pro Workforce Management password.

     Access tokens are obtained from https://{Host}/api/authentication/access_token. Refresh tokens issued by UKG Pro Workforce Management expire after 7 days; if a refresh attempt fails because the refresh token itself has expired, the driver must re-authenticate with your User/Password credentials to obtain a new access token.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the UKG Pro WFM 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.

   • Set the Driver class name to cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver.
   • Click Test Connection.
6. Set the SQL Query Text to a SQL query to request UKG Pro WFM data. For example:

   SELECT PersonNumber, UserName FROM Employees WHERE PersonId = '12345'

   
7. Add a Transform Message Component to the flow.
8. Set the Output script to the following to convert the payload to JSON:

   %dw 2.0
   output application/json
   ---
   payload
           

   
9. To view your UKG Pro WFM data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The UKG Pro WFM data is available as JSON in your Web browser and any other tools capable of consuming JSON endpoints.

At this point, you have a simple Web interface for working with UKG Pro WFM data (as JSON data) in custom apps and a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools. Download a free, 30 day trial of the JDBC Driver for UKG Pro WFM and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.