Feed SFTP Data into FineReport

The CData JDBC Driver for SFTP fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide SFTP data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set SFTP data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view SFTP data as a table in the Report Designer.

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of SFTP Data

Follow the instruction below to set SFTP data as a FineReport database connection.

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.sftp.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for SFTP installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.sftp.lic file as well.
2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.
👁 FineReport Server Tab (Salesforce is shown.)

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

1. Database: Others
2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.sftp.SFTPDriver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

   SFTP can be used to transfer files to and from SFTP servers using the SFTP Protocol. To connect, specify the RemoteHost;. service uses the User and Password and public key authentication (SSHClientCert). Choose an SSHAuthMode and specify connection values based on your selection.

   Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:

   • RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
   • TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of subfolders to report as views.
   • FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve files recursively and list them in the Root table.
   Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See gdatamodel for more on using SQL to interact with the server.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.sftp.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:sftp:RemoteHost=MyFTPServer;
    

👁 FineReport data connection definition window (Salesforce is shown.)

4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.
👁 FineReport connection pool (Salesforce is shown.)

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to SFTP set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select SFTP Data in the Report Designer.

1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.
👁 Adding a new DB query.

2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
3. The SFTP entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the SFTP data tables and columns that you want to load.
👁 FineReport database query (Salesforce is shown.)

5. Click preview and data is shown as table.
👁 FineReport database query preview (Salesforce is shown.)

With these simple steps, SFTP can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.