Process & Analyze ScrapingBee Data in Databricks (AWS)

Databricks is a cloud-based service that provides data processing capabilities through Apache Spark. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver, customers can use Databricks to perform data engineering and data science on live ScrapingBee data. This article explains how to host the CData JDBC Driver in AWS, as well as connect to and process live ScrapingBee data in Databricks.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live ScrapingBee data. When you issue complex SQL queries to ScrapingBee, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to ScrapingBee and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze ScrapingBee data using native data types.

Install the CData JDBC Driver in Databricks

To work with live ScrapingBee data in Databricks, install the driver on your Databricks cluster.

1. Navigate to your Databricks administration screen and select the target cluster.
2. On the Libraries tab, click "Install New."
3. Select "Upload" as the Library Source and "Jar" as the Library Type.
4. Upload the JDBC JAR file (cdata.jdbc.api.jar) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib).

👁 Loading the JDBC JAR File into AWS

Access ScrapingBee Data in your Notebook: Python

With the JAR file installed, we are ready to work with live ScrapingBee data in Databricks. Start by creating a new notebook in your workspace. Name the notebook, select Python as the language (though Scala is available as well), and choose the cluster where you installed the JDBC driver. When the notebook launches, we can configure the connection, query ScrapingBee, and create a basic report.

Configure the Connection to ScrapingBee

Connect to ScrapingBee by referencing the JDBC Driver class and constructing a connection string to use in the JDBC URL. Additionally, you will need to set the property in the JDBC URL (unless you are using a Beta driver). You can view the licensing file included in the installation for information on how to set this property.

Step 1: Connection Information

driver = "cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver"
url = "jdbc:api:RTK=5246...;Profile=C:\profiles\ScrapingBee.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key";"

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the ScrapingBee 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 API Key Authentication

ScrapingBee uses API key authentication. To obtain an API key:

1. Sign in to your ScrapingBee account at https://app.scrapingbee.com
2. Navigate to the Dashboard and locate your API key in the top section.
3. Copy the API key for use in the connection string.

After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.

Set the following in the ProfileSettings connection property:

• APIKey: Set this to your ScrapingBee API key.

Example Connection String

Profile=C:\profiles\ScrapingBee.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings="APIKey=your_api_key";

Connecting to ScrapingBee

Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to ScrapingBee and query data from any of the available tables. All tables require at least one input parameter (such as a search query or product ID) to retrieve data.

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

Load ScrapingBee Data

Once you configure the connection, you can load ScrapingBee data as a dataframe using the CData JDBC Driver and the connection information.

Step 2: Reading the data

remote_table = spark.read.format ( "jdbc" ) \
	.option ( "driver" , driver) \
	.option ( "url" , url) \
	.option ( "dbtable" , "GoogleSearchResults") \
	.load ()

Display ScrapingBee Data

Check the loaded ScrapingBee data by calling the display function.

Step 3: Checking the result

display (remote_table.select (""))

👁 Displaying ScrapingBee Data

Analyze ScrapingBee Data in Databricks

If you want to process data with Databricks SparkSQL, register the loaded data as a Temp View.

Step 4: Create a view or table

remote_table.createOrReplaceTempView ( "SAMPLE_VIEW" )

With the Temp View created, you can use SparkSQL to retrieve the ScrapingBee data for reporting, visualization, and analysis.

% sql

SELECT , FROM SAMPLE_VIEW ORDER BY DESC LIMIT 5

👁 Displaying ScrapingBee Data

The data from ScrapingBee is only available in the target notebook. If you want to use it with other users, save it as a table.

remote_table.write.format ( "parquet" ) .saveAsTable ( "SAMPLE_TABLE" )

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live ScrapingBee data in Databricks. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.