Query Adobe Target Data in ColdFusion

The CData JDBC driver for Adobe Target seamlessly integrates connectivity to Adobe Target data with the rapid development tools in ColdFusion. This article shows how to connect to Adobe Target data in ColdFusion and query Adobe Target tables.

Create a JDBC Data Source for Adobe Target in ColdFusion

The JDBC data source enables you to execute SQL from standard ColdFusion tags like cfquery and CFScript like executeQuery.

1. Copy the driver JAR and .lic file from the installation directory onto the ColdFusion classpath. For example, copy the files into C:\MyColdFusionDirectory\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF\lib. Or, open the Java and JVM page in the ColdFusion Administrator and enter the path to the files in the ColdFusion Class Path box.

   The JAR and license for the driver are located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

   Restart the server after this step.

2. Add the driver as a data source:

   From the ColdFusion administrator interface, expand the Data & Services node and click Data Sources. In the Add New Data Source section, enter a name for the data source and select Other in the Driver menu.

   👁 Adding a JDBC data source to ColdFusion. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

3. Populate the driver properties:

   • JDBC URL: Enter connection properties in the JDBC URL. The JDBC URL begins with jdbc:adobetarget: and is followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name=value pairs.

     To connect to Adobe Target, you must provide the Tenant property along with OAuth connection properties mentioned below. Note that while other connection properties can influence processing behavior, they do not affect the ability to connect.

     To determine your Tenant name:

     1. Log in to Adobe Experience. The URL will look similar to: "https://experience.adobe.com/#/@mycompanyname/preferences/general-section".
     2. Extract the value after the "/#/@". In this example, it is "mycompanyname".
     3. Set the Tenant connection property to that value.

     User Accounts (OAuth)

     You must set AuthScheme to OAuthClient for all user account flows.

     Note: Adobe authentication via OAuth requires updating your token every two weeks.

     All Applications

     CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth authentication. Alternatively, you can create a custom OAuth application. Review Creating a Custom OAuth App in the Help documentation for more information.

     Obtaining the OAuth Access Token

     Set the following properties to connect:

     • InitiateOAuth: Set to GETANDREFRESH to automatically perform the OAuth exchange and refresh the OAuthAccessToken as needed.
     • OAuthClientId : Set to the client Id assigned when you registered your app.
     • OAuthClientSecret : Set to the client secret assigned when you registered your app.
     • CallbackURL : Set to the redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:3333

     With these settings, the provider obtains an access token from Adobe Target, which it uses to request data. The OAuth values are stored in the location specified by OAuthSettingsLocation, ensuring they persist across connections.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Adobe Target JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.adobetarget.jar
     

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     

     A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:adobetarget:Tenant=mycompanyname;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;

   • Driver Class: Enter the driver class. The driver class is cdata.jdbc.adobetarget.AdobeTargetDriver.
   • Driver Name: Enter a user-defined name for the driver.
   • Username: Enter the username used to authenticate.
   • Password: Enter the password used to authenticate.

You can now test the connection by enabling the CData Adobe Target data source in the Actions column. After reporting a status of OK, the Adobe Target data source is ready for use.

Execute Queries

The cfquery tag can pass SQL statements to Adobe Target. Use the cfqueryparam tag to create parameterized queries and prevent SQL injection through the query string.

Note: To use the cfquery and cfscript, create a .cfm file. Inside the .cfm file, write the code to execute the query (see below). Place the file directly in the root directory of your web server (e.g., wwwroot in Adobe ColdFusion). Restart the service after placing the file for the changes to take effect.

<cfquery name="AdobeTargetQuery" dataSource="CDataAdobeTarget">
 SELECT * FROM Activities WHERE Type = <cfqueryparam value="#Type#" cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar">
</cfquery>
<cfdump var="#AdobeTargetQuery#">

Below is the equivalent in CFScript:

<cfscript>
result = queryExecute(
 "SELECT * FROM Activities WHERE Type = ?", 
 [
 { value="AB", cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar" }
 ],
 { datasource="CDataAdobeTarget" }
);

writeDump( var= result );
</cfscript> 

You can then make requests to your .cfm like the following:

http://MyServer:8500/query.cfm?Type=AB