Connect to Airtable Data in JRuby

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

Configure a JDBC Connection to Airtable 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 Airtable\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Airtable and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

APIKey, BaseId and TableNames parameters are required to connect to Airtable. ViewNames is an optional parameter where views of the tables may be specified.

• APIKey : API Key of your account. To obtain this value, after logging in go to Account. In API section click Generate API key.
• BaseId : Id of your base. To obtain this value, it is in the same section as the APIKey. Click on Airtable API, or navigate to https://airtable.com/api and select a base. In the introduction section you can find "The ID of this base is appxxN2ftedc0nEG7."
• TableNames : A comma separated list of table names for the selected base. These are the same names of tables as found in the UI.
• ViewNames : A comma separated list of views in the format of (table.view) names. These are the same names of the views as found in the UI.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.airtable.jar

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

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Airtable:

jdbc:airtable:APIKey=keymz3adb53RqsU;BaseId=appxxN2fe34r3rjdG7;TableNames=Table1,...;ViewNames=Table1.View1,...;

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Airtable Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: AirtableSelect.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 Airtable 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.airtable.jar'

url = "jdbc:airtable:APIKey=keymz3adb53RqsU;BaseId=appxxN2fe34r3rjdG7;TableNames=Table1,...;ViewNames=Table1.View1,...;"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT Id, Column1 FROM SampleTable_1")
while (rs.next) do
 puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

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

jruby -S AirtableSelect.rb

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