HubDB Reporting in OBIEE with the HubDB JDBC Driver

The CData JDBC Driver for HubDB is a standard database driver that can integrate real-time access to HubDB data into your Java-based reporting server. This article shows how to deploy the driver to Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) and create reports on HubDB data that reflect any changes.

Deploy the JDBC Driver

Follow the steps below to add the JDBC driver to WebLogic's classpath.

For WebLogic 12.2.1, simply place the driver JAR and .lic file into DOMAIN_HOME\lib; for example, ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\MY_DOMAIN\lib. These files will be added to the server classpath at startup.

You can also manually add the driver to the classpath: This is required for earlier versions. Prepend the following to PRE_CLASSPATH in setDomainEnv.cmd (Windows) or setDomainEnv.sh (Unix). This script is located in the bin subfolder of the folder for that domain. For example: ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\MY_DOMAIN\bin.

set PRE_CLASSPATH=your-installation-directory\lib\cdata.jdbc.hubdb.jar;%PRE_CLASSPATH%

Restart all servers; for example, run the stop and start commands in DOMAIN_HOME\bitools\bin.

Create a JDBC Data Source for HubDB

After deploying the JDBC driver, you can create a JDBC data source from BI Publisher.

1. Log into BI Publisher, at the URL http://localhost:9502/analytics, for example, and click Administration -> Manage BI Publisher.
2. Click JDBC Connection -> Add Data Source.
3. Enter the following information:
   • Data Source Name: Enter the name that users will create connections to in their reports.
   • Driver Type: Select Other.
   • Database DriverClass: Enter the driver class, cdata.jdbc.hubdb.HubDBDriver.
   • Connection String: Enter the JDBC URL.

     There are two authentication methods available for connecting to HubDB data source: OAuth Authentication with a public HubSpot application and authentication with a Private application token.

     Using a Custom OAuth App

     AuthScheme must be set to "OAuth" in all OAuth flows. Be sure to review the Help documentation for the required connection properties for you specific authentication needs (desktop applications, web applications, and headless machines).

     Follow the steps below to register an application and obtain the OAuth client credentials:

     1. Log into your HubSpot app developer account.
        • Note that it must be an app developer account. Standard HubSpot accounts cannot create public apps.
     2. On the developer account home page, click the Apps tab.
     3. Click Create app.
     4. On the App info tab, enter and optionally modify values that are displayed to users when they connect. These values include the public application name, application logo, and a description of the application.
     5. On the Auth tab, supply a callback URL in the "Redirect URLs" box.
        • If you're creating a desktop application, set this to a locally accessible URL like http://localhost:33333.
        • If you are creating a Web application, set this to a trusted URL where you want users to be redirected to when they authorize your application.
     6. Click Create App. HubSpot then generates the application, along with its associated credentials.
     7. On the Auth tab, note the Client ID and Client secret. You will use these later to configure the driver.

     8. Under Scopes, select any scopes you need for your application's intended functionality.

        A minimum of the following scopes is required to access tables:

        • hubdb
        • oauth
        • crm.objects.owners.read
     9. Click Save changes.
     10. Install the application into a production portal with access to the features that are required by the integration.
         • Under "Install URL (OAuth)", click Copy full URL to copy the installation URL for your application.
         • Navigate to the copied link in your browser. Select a standard account in which to install the application.
         • Click Connect app. You can close the resulting tab.

     Using a Private App

     To connect using a HubSpot private application token, set the AuthScheme property to "PrivateApp."

     You can generate a private application token by following the steps below:

     1. In your HubDB account, click the settings icon (the gear) in the main navigation bar.
     2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Integrations > Private Apps.
     3. Click Create private app.
     4. On the Basic Info tab, configure the details of your application (name, logo, and description).
     5. On the Scopes tab, select Read or Write for each scope you want your private application to be able to access.
     6. A minimum of hubdb and crm.objects.owners.read is required to access tables.
     7. After you are done configuring your application, click Create app in the top right.
     8. Review the info about your application's access token, click Continue creating, and then Show token.
     9. Click Copy to copy the private application token.

     To connect, set PrivateAppToken to the private application token you retrieved.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.hubdb.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.)
     

     When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

     A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:hubdb:AuthScheme=OAuth;OAuthClientID=MyOAuthClientID;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;

   • Username: Enter the username.
   • Password: Enter the password.
4. In the Security section, select the allowed user roles. 👁 The required settings for a JDBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

Create Real-Time HubDB Reports

You can now create reports and analyses based on real-time HubDB data. Follow the steps below to use the standard report wizard to create an interactive report that reflects any changes to HubDB data.

1. On the global header, click New -> Data Model.
2. On the Diagram tab, select SQL query in the menu.
3. Enter a name for the query and in the Data Source menu select the HubDB JDBC data source you created.
4. Select standard SQL and enter a query like the following:

   SELECT PartitionKey, Name FROM NorthwindProducts WHERE Id = '1'

   👁 The SQL query to be used to create the data set for the report's data model. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
5. Click View Data to generate the sample data to be used as you build your report.
6. Select the number of rows to include in the sample data, click View, and then click Save As Sample Data.
7. Click Create Report -> Use Data Model.
8. Select Guide Me and on the Select Layout page select the report objects you want to include. In this example we select Chart and Table.
9. Drop a numeric column like Name onto the Drop Value Here box on the y-axis. Drop a dimension column like PartitionKey onto the Drop Label Here box on the x-axis. 👁 The dimensions and measures for a chart. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
10. Click Refresh to pick up any changes to the HubDB data. 👁 An interactive, refresh-on-demand report. (Salesforce is shown.)