Import Real-Time Elasticsearch Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist

Use CData ODBC drivers to import and use Elasticsearch data in ColdFusion.

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST. When ColdFusion is paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Elasticsearch, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Elasticsearch data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create a table populated with Elasticsearch data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

About Elasticsearch Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Elasticsearch has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

Access both the SQL endpoints and REST endpoints, optimizing connectivity and offering more options when it comes to reading and writing Elasticsearch data.
Connect to virtually every Elasticsearch instance starting with v2.2 and Open Source Elasticsearch subscriptions.
Always receive a relevance score for the query results without explicitly requiring the SCORE() function, simplifying access from 3rd party tools and easily seeing how the query results rank in text relevance.
Search through multiple indices, relying on Elasticsearch to manage and process the query and results instead of the client machine.

Users frequently integrate Elasticsearch data with analytics tools such as Crystal Reports, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to enable a single, federated access layer to all of their data sources, including Elasticsearch.

For more information on CData's Elasticsearch solutions, check out our Knowledge Base article: CData Elasticsearch Driver Features & Differentiators.

Getting Started

To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData ODBC Driver for Elasticsearch and Adobe ColdFusion.

Configuring the Connection

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (Data Source Name). This is the last step of the driver installation process. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Set the Server and Port connection properties to connect. To authenticate, set the User and Password properties, PKI (public key infrastructure) properties, or both. To use PKI, set the SSLClientCert, SSLClientCertType, SSLClientCertSubject, and SSLClientCertPassword properties.

The data provider uses X-Pack Security for TLS/SSL and authentication. To connect over TLS/SSL, prefix the Server value with 'https://'. Note: TLS/SSL and client authentication must be enabled on X-Pack to use PKI.

Once the data provider is connected, X-Pack will then perform user authentication and grant role permissions based on the realms you have configured.

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After creating a DSN, follow the steps below to add a new data source, test our connection to it, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, import Elasticsearch Data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services. 👁 Selecting Data & Services
Here, click "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our ODBC driver, choose "ODBC Socket", then click the "Add" button. 👁 Adding Data Source Name
From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData Elasticsearch Sys. Under the Advanced Settings section, leave the Connection String blank. Note that any properties specified in this input field will override the ones specified in the DSN Configuration. 👁 Populating driver properties
Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataElasticsearchODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use. 👁 Testing the connection

Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

The following code queries the data source:

 
 <cfquery name="ElasticsearchQuery" dataSource="CDataElasticsearchODBC"> 
 SELECT * FROM Orders 
 </cfquery>

And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:

 
 <cftable 
 query = "ElasticsearchQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 

 <cfcol header="<b>OrderName</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="OrderName"/> 

 <cfcol header="<b>Freight</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Freight"/> 

 ...

 </cftable>

Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:

 
 <html> 
 <head><title>CData Software | Elasticsearch Orders Table Demo </title></head> 
 <body> 
 <cfoutput>#ucase("Elasticsearch Orders Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
 <cfquery name="ElasticsearchQuery" dataSource="CDataElasticsearchODBC"> 

 SELECT * FROM Orders 

 </cfquery> 
 <cftable 
 query = "ElasticsearchQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 
 <cfcol header="<b>OrderName</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="OrderName"/> 

 <cfcol header="<b>Freight</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="Freight"/> 

 ...

 </cftable> 
 </body> 

 </html>

Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with Elasticsearch data! 👁 Running the code

As a note, the CData ODBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example:

SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Elasticsearch and start building Elasticsearch-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Elasticsearch ODBC Driver to get started:

Download Now

Learn more:

👁 Elasticsearch Icon
Elasticsearch ODBC Driver

The Elasticsearch ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live Elasticsearch document databases, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Elasticsearch like you would a database - read, write, and update through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/elasticsearch-odbc-coldfusion.rst