Connect to PayPal Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for PayPal into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for PayPal to transfer PayPal data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to PayPal in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to PayPal:

1. Add a new database driver for PayPal: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL:

   jdbc:paypal:
   

4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.paypal.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class:

   cdata.jdbc.paypal.PayPalDriver
   

   👁 The JDBC driver configuration. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
6. Create a new PayPal connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the PayPal driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   The provider surfaces tables from two PayPal APIs. The APIs use different authentication methods.

   • The REST API uses the OAuth standard. To authenticate to the REST API, set the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL properties.
   • The Classic API requires Signature API credentials. To authenticate to the Classic API, obtain an API username, password, and signature.

   See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to obtaining the necessary API credentials.

   To select the API you want to work with, you can set the Schema property to REST or SOAP. By default the SOAP schema will be used.

   For testing purposes you can set UseSandbox to true and use sandbox credentials.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.paypal.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 connection string is below:

   Schema=SOAP;Username=sandbox-facilitator_api1.test.com;Password=xyz123;Signature=zx2127;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
   

10. Enter your username and password if necessary. 👁 The connection to the JDBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)
    

You can now use your PayPal connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve PayPal data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. 👁 A Retrieve operation to select data. (Salesforce is shown.)
With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the PayPal data.