Process & Analyze Exact Online Data in Databricks (AWS)

Databricks is a cloud-based service that provides data processing capabilities through Apache Spark. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver, customers can use Databricks to perform data engineering and data science on live Exact Online data. This article explains how to host the CData JDBC Driver in AWS, as well as connect to and process live Exact Online data in Databricks.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Exact Online data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Exact Online, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Exact Online and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Exact Online data using native data types.

Install the CData JDBC Driver in Databricks

To work with live Exact Online data in Databricks, install the driver on your Databricks cluster.

1. Navigate to your Databricks administration screen and select the target cluster.
2. On the Libraries tab, click "Install New."
3. Select "Upload" as the Library Source and "Jar" as the Library Type.
4. Upload the JDBC JAR file (cdata.jdbc.exactonline.jar) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib).

👁 Loading the JDBC JAR File into AWS

Access Exact Online Data in your Notebook: Python

With the JAR file installed, we are ready to work with live Exact Online data in Databricks. Start by creating a new notebook in your workspace. Name the notebook, select Python as the language (though Scala is available as well), and choose the cluster where you installed the JDBC driver. When the notebook launches, we can configure the connection, query Exact Online, and create a basic report.

Configure the Connection to Exact Online

Connect to Exact Online by referencing the JDBC Driver class and constructing a connection string to use in the JDBC URL. Additionally, you will need to set the property in the JDBC URL (unless you are using a Beta driver). You can view the licensing file included in the installation for information on how to set this property.

Step 1: Connection Information

driver = "cdata.jdbc.exactonline.ExactOnlineDriver"
url = "jdbc:exactonline:RTK=5246...;Region='United States';Division=5512;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;"

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.exactonline.jar

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

Exact Online uses the OAuth authentication standard. The InitiateOAuth connection property facilitates the OAuth flow -- by default, this is set to GETANDREFRESH. You can also use the embedded OAuth credentials or you can register an OAuth app with Exact to obtain your own. In addition to the OAuth values, provide the Region. If Division is not set, the default Division is determined.

See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for more information.

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

Load Exact Online Data

Once you configure the connection, you can load Exact Online data as a dataframe using the CData JDBC Driver and the connection information.

Step 2: Reading the data

remote_table = spark.read.format ( "jdbc" ) \
	.option ( "driver" , driver) \
	.option ( "url" , url) \
	.option ( "dbtable" , "Accounts") \
	.load ()

Display Exact Online Data

Check the loaded Exact Online data by calling the display function.

Step 3: Checking the result

display (remote_table.select ("Name"))

👁 Displaying Exact Online Data

Analyze Exact Online Data in Databricks

If you want to process data with Databricks SparkSQL, register the loaded data as a Temp View.

Step 4: Create a view or table

remote_table.createOrReplaceTempView ( "SAMPLE_VIEW" )

With the Temp View created, you can use SparkSQL to retrieve the Exact Online data for reporting, visualization, and analysis.

% sql

SELECT Name, CreditLinePurchase FROM SAMPLE_VIEW ORDER BY CreditLinePurchase DESC LIMIT 5

👁 Displaying Exact Online Data

The data from Exact Online is only available in the target notebook. If you want to use it with other users, save it as a table.

remote_table.write.format ( "parquet" ) .saveAsTable ( "SAMPLE_TABLE" )

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Exact Online and start working with your live Exact Online data in Databricks. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.