Feed Zendesk Data into FineReport

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

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of Zendesk Data

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

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.zendesk.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for Zendesk installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.zendesk.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.zendesk.ZendeskDriver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

   Connecting to Zendesk

   To connect, set the URL and provide authentication. The URL is your Zendesk Support URL: https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com.

   Authenticating to Zendesk

   You can authenticate using the Basic or OAuth methods.

   Using Basic Authentication

   To use Basic authentication, specify your email address and password or your email address and an API token. Set User to your email address and follow the steps below to provide the Password or ApiToken.

   • Enable password access in the Zendesk Support admin interface at Admin > Channels > API.
   • Manage API tokens in the Zendesk Support Admin interface at Admin > Channels > API. More than one token can be active at the same time. Deleting a token deactivates it permanently.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for an authentication guide.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.zendesk.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:zendesk:URL=https://subdomain.zendesk.com;[email protected];Password=test123;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;
    

👁 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 Zendesk set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select Zendesk 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 Zendesk entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the Zendesk 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, Zendesk can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.