Connect to Factorial Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for Factorial into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for Factorial to transfer Factorial data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to Factorial in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to Factorial:

1. Add a new database driver for Factorial: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL:

   jdbc:api:
   

4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.api.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class:

   cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
   

   👁 The JDBC driver configuration. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
6. Create a new Factorial connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the Factorial driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   Authentication

   Factorial uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication to connect to your HR data or to allow other users to connect to their data.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   To connect using OAuth, follow these steps:

   1. Navigate to your Factorial admin panel and create a new OAuth application.
   2. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret from your application configuration.
   3. Configure the following connection properties:

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to your OAuth Client ID.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to your OAuth Client Secret.
   • Scope: Set this to specify the data access permissions (default: "read write").

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.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 connection string is below:

   Profile=C:\profiles\Factorial.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;
   

10. Enter your username and password if necessary. 👁 The connection to the JDBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)
    

You can now use your Factorial connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve Factorial data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. 👁 A Retrieve operation to select data. (Salesforce is shown.)
With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the Factorial data.