Build a PostgreSQL Interface for Azure Table Data using the CData JDBC Driver

There are a vast number of PostgreSQL clients available on the Internet. From standard Drivers to BI and Analytics tools, PostgreSQL is a popular interface for data access. Using our JDBC Drivers, you can now create PostgreSQL entry-points that you can connect to from any standard client.

To access Azure Table data as a PostgreSQL database, use the CData JDBC Driver for Azure Table and a JDBC foreign data wrapper (FDW). In this article, we compile the FDW, install it, and query Azure Table data from PostgreSQL Server.

Connect to Azure Table Data as a JDBC Data Source

To connect to Azure Table as a JDBC data source, you will need the following:

• Driver JAR path: The JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

• Driver class:

  cdata.jdbc.azuretables.AzureTablesDriver
  

• JDBC URL: The URL must start with "jdbc:azuretables:" and can include any of the connection properties in name-value pairs separated with semicolons.

  Specify your AccessKey and your Account to connect. Set the Account property to the Storage Account Name and set AccessKey to one of the Access Keys. Either the Primary or Secondary Access Keys can be used. To obtain these values, navigate to the Storage Accounts blade in the Azure portal. You can obtain the access key by selecting your account and clicking Access Keys in the Settings section.

  Built-in Connection String Designer

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

  java -jar cdata.jdbc.azuretables.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:azuretables:AccessKey=myAccessKey;Account=myAccountName;
  

Build the JDBC Foreign Data Wrapper

The Foreign Data Wrapper can be installed as an extension to PostgreSQL, without recompiling PostgreSQL. The jdbc2_fdw extension is used as an example (downloadable here).

1. Add a symlink from the shared object for your version of the JRE to /usr/lib/libjvm.so. For example:

   ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/server/libjvm.so /usr/lib/libjvm.so
   

2. Start the build:

   make install USE_PGXS=1
   

Query Azure Table Data as a PostgreSQL Database

After you have installed the extension, follow the steps below to start executing queries to Azure Table data:

1. Log into your database.
2. Load the extension for the database:

   CREATE EXTENSION jdbc2_fdw;
   

3. Create a server object for Azure Table:

   CREATE SERVER AzureTables 
   FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER jdbc2_fdw OPTIONS (
   drivername 'cdata.jdbc.azuretables.AzureTablesDriver',
   url 'jdbc:azuretables:AccessKey=myAccessKey;Account=myAccountName;',
   querytimeout '15',
   jarfile '/home/MyUser/CData/CData\ JDBC\ Driver\ for\ Salesforce MyDriverEdition/lib/cdata.jdbc.azuretables.jar'); 
   

4. Create a user mapping for the username and password of a user known to the MySQL daemon.

   CREATE USER MAPPING for postgres SERVER AzureTables OPTIONS (
   username 'admin', 
   password 'test');
   

5. Create a foreign table in your local database:

   postgres=# CREATE FOREIGN TABLE northwindproducts (
   northwindproducts_id text,
   northwindproducts_Name text,
   northwindproducts_Price numeric) 
   SERVER AzureTables OPTIONS (
   table_name 'northwindproducts');
   

You can now execute read/write commands to Azure Table:

postgres=# SELECT * FROM northwindproducts;