Connect to Google Data Catalog Data in Ruby

The CData ODBC Driver for Google Data Catalog makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Google Data Catalog data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to Google Data Catalog data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Create an ODBC Connection to Google Data Catalog Data

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Google Data Catalog uses the OAuth authentication standard. Authorize access to Google APIs on behalf on individual users or on behalf of users in a domain.

Before connecting, specify the following to identify the organization and project you would like to connect to:

• OrganizationId: The ID associated with the Google Cloud Platform organization resource you would like to connect to. Find this by navigating to the cloud console.

  Click the project selection drop-down, and select your organization from the list. Then, click More -> Settings. The organization ID is displayed on this page.

• ProjectId: The ID associated with the Google Cloud Platform project resource you would like to connect to.

  Find this by navigating to the cloud console dashboard and selecting your project from the Select from drop-down. The project ID will be present in the Project info card.

When you connect, the OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application to completes the OAuth process. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.

Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems

If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:

gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc

Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to Google Data Catalog Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: GoogleDataCatalogSelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

#connect to the DSN
require 'dbi'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData GoogleDataCatalog Source','','')

#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT Type, DatasetName FROM Schemas WHERE ProjectId = 'bigquery-public-data'")

#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
 print name, "\t"
end
puts

#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
 (0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
 print row[n], "\t"
 end
 puts
end
resultSet.finish

#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn

With the file completed, you are ready to display your Google Data Catalog data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

ruby GoogleDataCatalogSelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to Google Data Catalog allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Google Data Catalog data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!