Manage Foursquare Data in DBArtisan as a JDBC Source

The CData JDBC Driver for Foursquare seamlessly integrates Foursquare data into database management tools like DBArtisan by enabling you to access Foursquare data as a database. This article shows how to create a JDBC source for Foursquare in DBArtisan. You can then edit data visually and execute standard SQL.

Integrate Foursquare Data into DBArtisan Projects

Follow the steps below to register Foursquare data as a database instance in your project:

1. In DBArtisan, click Data Source -> Register Datasource.
2. Select Generic JDBC.
3. Click Manage.
4. In the resulting dialog, click New. Enter a name for the driver and click Add. In the resulting dialog, navigate to the driver JAR. The driver JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory. 👁 The JDBC driver definition in the Register Datasource wizard. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
5. In the Connection URL box, enter credentials and other required connection properties in 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.

   👁 Required JDBC connection properties in the Register Datasource wizard. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

   Below is a typical connection string:

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

6. Finish the wizard to connect to Foursquare data. Foursquare entities are displayed in the Datasource Explorer.

You can now work with Foursquare data as you work with any other database. See the driver help documentation for more information on the queries supported by the Foursquare API.