Connect to Dropbox Data in CloverDX (formerly CloverETL)

The CData JDBC Driver for Dropbox enables you to use the data transformation components in CloverDX (formerly CloverETL) to work with Dropbox as sources and destinations. In this article, you will use the JDBC Driver for Dropbox to set up a simple transfer into a flat file. The CData JDBC Driver for Dropbox enables you to use the data transformation components in CloverDX (formerly CloverETL) to work with Dropbox as sources and destinations. In this article, you will use the JDBC Driver for Dropbox to set up a simple transfer into a flat file.

Connect to Dropbox as a JDBC Data Source

1. Create the connection to Dropbox data. In a new CloverDX graph, right-click the Connections node in the Outline pane and click Connections -> Create Connection. The Database Connection wizard is displayed.
2. Click the plus icon to load a driver from a JAR. Browse to the lib subfolder of the installation directory and select the cdata.jdbc.dropbox.jar file.
3. Enter the JDBC URL.

   Dropbox uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you can use the embedded credentials or register an app with Dropbox.

   See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.dropbox.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:dropbox:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;

Query Dropbox Data with the DBInputTable Component

1. Drag a DBInputTable from the Readers selection of the Palette onto the job flow and double-click it to open the configuration editor.
2. In the DB connection property, select the Dropbox JDBC data source from the drop-down menu.
3. Enter the SQL query. For example:

   SELECT Id, Name FROM Files

Write the Output of the Query to a UniversalDataWriter

1. Drag a UniversalDataWriter from the Writers selection onto the jobflow.
2. Double-click the UniversalDataWriter to open the configuration editor and add a file URL.
3. Right-click the DBInputTable and then click Extract Metadata.
4. Connect the output port of the DBInputTable to the UniversalDataWriter.
5. In the resulting Select Metadata menu for the UniversalDataWriter, choose the Files table. (You can also open this menu by right-clicking the input port for the UniversalDataWriter.)
6. Click Run to write to the file.