Access Zoho Recruit Data in Mule Applications Using the CData JDBC Driver

The CData API Driver for JDBC connects Zoho Recruit 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 Zoho Recruit data.

This article demonstrates how to use the CData API Driver for JDBC inside of a Mule project to create a Web interface for Zoho Recruit data. The application created allows you to request Zoho Recruit 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 Zoho Recruit

     To authenticate to ZohoRecruit, and connect to your own data or to allow other users to connect to their data, you can use the OAuth standard.

     Using OAuth Authentication

     First, you will need to register an OAuth application with ZohoRecruit. To do so, go to the Zoho Developer Console, add a new Client (Server-based application) and set a valid OAuth redirect URL. Your OAuth application will be assigned a client id and a client secret. Additionally, you will need to set the relevant Domain (.com, .eu, .in, .com.cn, or .jp), which defaults to .com.

     After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

     • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
     • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
     • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client_id that is specified in your app settings.
     • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in your app settings.
     • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that is specified in your app settings.
     • Domain: Set this in ProfileSettings to your ZohoRecruit account domain (e.g. .com, .eu, .in, .com.cn, .jp).

     Example connection string:

     Profile=C:\profiles\ZohoRecruit.apip;ProfileSettings='Domain=.com';AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;
     

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Zoho Recruit 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 Zoho Recruit data. For example:

   SELECT ,  FROM Attachments WHERE Module = 'Candidates'

   
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 Zoho Recruit data, navigate to the address you configured for the HTTP Connector (localhost:8081 by default): http://localhost:8081. The Zoho Recruit 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 Zoho Recruit 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 Zoho Recruit and see the CData difference in your Mule Applications today.