Build a PostgreSQL Interface for SAP Fieldglass Data using the CData JDBC Driver

There are a vast number of PostgreSQL clients available on the Internet. From standard Drivers to BI and Analytics tools, PostgreSQL is a popular interface for data access. Using our JDBC Drivers, you can now create PostgreSQL entry-points that you can connect to from any standard client.

To access SAP Fieldglass data as a PostgreSQL database, use the CData JDBC Driver for SAP Fieldglass and a JDBC foreign data wrapper (FDW). In this article, we compile the FDW, install it, and query SAP Fieldglass data from PostgreSQL Server.

Connect to SAP Fieldglass Data as a JDBC Data Source

To connect to SAP Fieldglass as a JDBC data source, you will need the following:

• Driver JAR path: The JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

• Driver class:

  cdata.jdbc.sapfieldglass.SAPFieldglassDriver
  

• JDBC URL: The URL must start with "jdbc:sapfieldglass:" and can include any of the connection properties in name-value pairs separated with semicolons.

  To authenticate, specify the Username, Password, APIKey, and EnvironmentURL connection properties.

  To obtain an APIKey, log in to the SAP API Business Hub and click on Get API Key.

  Built-in Connection String Designer

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

  java -jar cdata.jdbc.sapfieldglass.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 JDBC URL is below:

  jdbc:sapfieldglass:EnvironmentURL='https://myinstance.com';Username=myuser;Password=mypassword;APIKey=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
  

Build the JDBC Foreign Data Wrapper

The Foreign Data Wrapper can be installed as an extension to PostgreSQL, without recompiling PostgreSQL. The jdbc2_fdw extension is used as an example (downloadable here).

1. Add a symlink from the shared object for your version of the JRE to /usr/lib/libjvm.so. For example:

   ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/server/libjvm.so /usr/lib/libjvm.so
   

2. Start the build:

   make install USE_PGXS=1
   

Query SAP Fieldglass Data as a PostgreSQL Database

After you have installed the extension, follow the steps below to start executing queries to SAP Fieldglass data:

1. Log into your database.
2. Load the extension for the database:

   CREATE EXTENSION jdbc2_fdw;
   

3. Create a server object for SAP Fieldglass:

   CREATE SERVER SAPFieldglass 
   FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER jdbc2_fdw OPTIONS (
   drivername 'cdata.jdbc.sapfieldglass.SAPFieldglassDriver',
   url 'jdbc:sapfieldglass:EnvironmentURL='https://myinstance.com';Username=myuser;Password=mypassword;APIKey=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;',
   querytimeout '15',
   jarfile '/home/MyUser/CData/CData\ JDBC\ Driver\ for\ Salesforce MyDriverEdition/lib/cdata.jdbc.sapfieldglass.jar'); 
   

4. Create a user mapping for the username and password of a user known to the MySQL daemon.

   CREATE USER MAPPING for postgres SERVER SAPFieldglass OPTIONS (
   username 'admin', 
   password 'test');
   

5. Create a foreign table in your local database:

   postgres=# CREATE FOREIGN TABLE audittrails (
   audittrails_id text,
   audittrails_Id text,
   audittrails_Category numeric) 
   SERVER SAPFieldglass OPTIONS (
   table_name 'audittrails');
   

You can now execute SELECT commands to SAP Fieldglass:

postgres=# SELECT * FROM audittrails;