Connect to GitLab Data in the Denodo Platform

Denodo Platform is a data virtualization product providing a single point of contact for enterprise database data. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, Denodo users can work with live GitLab data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article explains how to create a virtual data source for GitLab in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live GitLab data. When you issue complex SQL queries to GitLab, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to GitLab 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 GitLab data using native data types.

Create the GitLab Virtual Port

To connect to live GitLab data from Denodo, you need to copy the JDBC Driver JAR file to the external library directory for Denodo and create a new JDBC Data Source from the Virtual DataPort Administrator tool.

1. Download the CData API Driver for JDBC installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.
2. Copy the JAR File (and license file if it exists) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData API Driver for JDBC\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-api-19).
3. Open the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator tool and navigate to the Server Explorer tab.
4. Right-click "admin" and select New -> Data source -> JDBC. 👁 Creating a new JDBC data source.
   
5. Configure the JDBC Connection:
   • Name: your choice, e.g.: api
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-api-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver

   • Database URI: Set this to a JDBC URL using the necessary connection properties. For example,

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

     👁 Configuring the JDBC connection (NetSuite is shown).
     

     Information on creating the Database URI follows:

     Built-In Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the GitLab 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.

     Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the GitLab Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\GitLab.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for GitLab (see below).

     GitLab API Profile Settings

     Create a Personal Access Token in GitLab under User Settings > Access Tokens, selecting the required scopes (e.g.,

     read_api

     ,

     api

     ). 👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     
6. Click the "Test connection" button to confirm the configuration and click Save.

View GitLab Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

After creating the data source, you can create a base view of GitLab data for use in the Denodo Platform.

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.API).
2. Expand the object tree and select the objects (tables) you wish to import. 👁 Selecting objects to import (NetSuite is shown).
   
3. Click the "Create selected" button to create views of the GitLab data.
   Optional: Click "Create associations from foreign keys" to define relationships between the objects.
4. With the view(s) created, navigate to a table (cdata_api_accessrequests) in the Server Explorer and double-click the selected table.
5. In the new tab, click "Execution panel" to open a query panel.
6. Customize the query in the "Execute" tab or use the default:

   SELECT * FROM cdata_api_accessrequests CONTEXT ('i18n'='us_est', 'cache_wait_for_load'='true')
   

   👁 Configuring the query to view the data.
   
7. Click Execute to view the data. 👁 Viewing the data.
   

With the base view created, you can now work with live GitLab data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying GitLab in the Denodo Data Catalog.

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