Query Stack Exchange Data in DataGrip

DataGrip is a database IDE that allows SQL developers to query, create, and manage databases. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, DataGrip can work with live Stack Exchange data. This article shows how to establish a connection to Stack Exchange data in DataGrip.

Create a New Driver Definition for Stack Exchange

The steps below describe how to create a new Data Source in DataGrip for Stack Exchange.

1. In DataGrip, click File -> New > Project and name the project 👁 Creating a new DataGrip project.
   
2. In the Database Explorer, click the plus icon () and select Driver. 👁 Adding a new Driver.
   
3. In the Driver tab:
   • Set Name to a user-friendly name (e.g. "CData Stack Exchange Driver")
   • Set Driver Files to the appropriate JAR file. To add the file, click the plus (), select "Add Files," navigate to the "lib" folder in the driver's installation directory and select the JAR file (e.g. cdata.jdbc.api.jar).
   • Set Class to cdata.jdbc.api.API.jar
4. Click "Apply" then "OK" to save the Connection 👁 A configured Driver (Salesforce is shown).
   

Configure a Connection to Stack Exchange

1. Once the connection is saved, click the plus (), then "Data Source" then "CData Stack Exchange Driver" to create a new Stack Exchange Data Source.
2. In the new window, configure the connection to Stack Exchange with a JDBC URL.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Stack Exchange Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\StackExchange.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Stack Exchange (see below).

   Stack Exchange API Profile Settings

   Register an application on StackApps to obtain an API Key. The Site property specifies which Stack Exchange site to query (e.g., stackoverflow).

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

   jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\StackExchange.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;Site=stackoverflow';

4. Click "Apply" and "OK" to save the connection string 👁 A configured Data Source (Salesforce is shown).
   

At this point, you will see the data source in the Data Explorer.

Execute SQL Queries Against Stack Exchange

To browse through the Stack Exchange entities (available as tables) accessible through the JDBC Driver, expand the Data Source.

To execute queries, right click on any table and select "New" -> "Query Console."

In the Console, write the SQL query you wish to execute. For example:

SELECT AnswerId, CreationDate FROM Answers WHERE IsAccepted = 'true'

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