Connect to Foursquare Data in CloverDX (formerly CloverETL)

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

Connect to Foursquare as a JDBC Data Source

1. Create the connection to Foursquare 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.api.jar file.
3. Enter the JDBC URL.

   Using API Key Authentication

   Foursquare Places API uses Service Key (Bearer token) authentication. To obtain a Service Key:

   1. Go to the Foursquare Developer Console at https://foursquare.com/developers/
   2. Create a new project or select an existing one
   3. Navigate to the API Keys section
   4. Generate a new Service Key for the Places API

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

   • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
   • ServiceKey: Set this to your Foursquare Service Key obtained from the Developer Console.
   • XPlacesApiVersion: (Optional) Set this to the API version date. Defaults to 2025-06-17.

   Example APIKey connection string

   Profile=C:\profiles\Foursquare.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_access_token';
   

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Foursquare 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 JDBC URL is below:

   jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Foursquare.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_access_token';

Query Foursquare 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 Foursquare JDBC data source from the drop-down menu.
3. Enter the SQL query. For example:

   SELECT , FROM Autocomplete WHERE Query = 'abc'

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 Autocomplete table. (You can also open this menu by right-clicking the input port for the UniversalDataWriter.)
6. Click Run to write to the file.