Connect to Postmark Data in RapidMiner

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

Connect to Postmark in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

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

1. Add a new database driver for Postmark: 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:api:
   

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

   cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
   

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

   Using API Key Authentication

   Postmark uses server API tokens to authenticate requests. Each Postmark server has its own API token, which controls access to messages, bounces, templates, and statistics associated with that server.

   To obtain your Server API Token, log in to your Postmark account and navigate to the server you want to connect to. Go to API Tokens under the server settings and copy the token labeled Server API token.

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
   • APIKey: Set this to your Postmark Server API Token. This value is sent as the X-Postmark-Server-Token header on every request.

   Example connection string:

   Profile=C:\profiles\Postmark.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your-server-api-token"
   

   Connecting to Postmark

   Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to Postmark and query data from any of the available tables such as OutboundMessages, Bounces, and Templates.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
   

   A typical connection string is below:

   Profile=C:\profiles\Postmark.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your-server-api-token"
   

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

You can now use your Postmark connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve Postmark 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 Postmark data.