Stream Zoho Projects Data into Apache Kafka Topics

Apache Kafka is an open-source stream processing platform that is primarily used for building real-time data pipelines and event-driven applications. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Zoho Projects, Kafka can work with live Zoho Projects data. This article describes how to connect, access and stream Zoho Projects data into Apache Kafka Topics and to start Confluent Control Center to help users secure, manage, and monitor the Zoho Projects data received using Kafka infrastructure in the Confluent Platform.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Zoho Projects data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Zoho Projects, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Zoho Projects 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 Zoho Projects data using native data types.

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming Zoho Projects data in Apache Kafka Topics, install and configure the following in the client Linux-based system.

1. Confluent Platform for Apache Kafka
2. Confluent Hub CLI Installation
3. Self-Managed Kafka JDBC Source Connector for Confluent Platform

Define a New JDBC Connection to Zoho Projects data

1. Download CData JDBC Driver for Zoho Projects on a Linux-based system
2. Follow the given instructions to create a new directory extract all the driver contents into it:
   1. Create a new directory named Zoho Projects

      		mkdir ZohoProjects
      		

   2. Move the downloaded driver file (.zip) into this new directory

      		mv ZohoProjectsJDBCDriver.zip ZohoProjects/
      		

   3. Unzip the CData ZohoProjectsJDBCDriver contents into this new directory

      		unzip ZohoProjectsJDBCDriver.zip
      		

3. Open the Zoho Projects directory and navigate to the lib folder

   ls
   cd lib/
   

4. Copy the contents of the lib folder of the CData JDBC Driver for Zoho Projects into the lib folder of Kafka Connect JDBC. Check the Kafka Connect JDBC folder contents to confirm that the cdata.jdbc.zohoprojects.jar file is successfully copied into the lib folder

   cp -r /path/to/CData JDBC Driver for Zoho Projects/lib/* /usr/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
   cd /usr/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
   

5. Install the CData Zoho Projects JDBC driver license using the given command, followed by your Name and Email ID

   	java -jar cdata.jdbc.zohoprojects.jar -l
   	

6. Enter the product key or "TRIAL" (In the scenarios of license expiry, please contact our CData Support team)
7. Start the Confluent local services using the command:

   	confluent local services start
   	

   This starts all the Confluent Services like Zookeeper, Kafka, Schema Registry, Kafka REST, Kafka CONNECT, ksqlDB and Control Center. You are now ready to use the CData JDBC driver for Zoho Projects to stream messages using Kafka Connect Driver into Kafka Topics on ksqlDB.

   👁 Start the Confluent local services
   
8. Create the Kafka topics manually using a POST HTTP API Request:

    curl --location 'server_address:8083/connectors' 
   	--header 'Content-Type: application/json'
   	--data '{ 
   		"name": "jdbc_source_cdata_zohoprojects_01", 
   		"config": { 
   			"connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", 
   			"connection.url": "jdbc:zohoprojects:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;",
   		"topic.prefix": "zohoprojects-01-", 
   		"mode": "bulk" 
   		} 
   	}'
   

   Let us understand the fields used in the HTTP POST body (shown above):

   • connector.class: Specifies the Java class of the Kafka Connect connector to be used.
   • connection.url: The JDBC connection URL to connect with Zoho Projects data.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     		java -jar cdata.jdbc.zohoprojects.jar
     		

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     The connector uses OAuth to authenticate with Zoho Projects. CData Software has already registered an OAuth application with Zoho Project which is embedded and used to authenticate.

     If you use the embedded credentials, set the InitiateOAuth connection property to "GETANDREFRESH".

     If you would prefer to use your own custom OAuth app, see the Help documentation.

     👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
     
   • topic.prefix: A prefix that will be added to the Kafka topics created by the connector. It's set to "zohoprojects-01-".
   • mode: Specifies the mode in which the connector operates. In this case, it's set to "bulk", which suggests that the connector is configured to perform bulk data transfer.

   This request adds all the tables/contents from Zoho Projects as Kafka Topics.

   Note: The IP Address (server) to POST the request (shown above) is the Linux Network IP Address.

9. Run ksqlDB and list the topics. Use the commands:

   ksql
   list topics;
   

   👁 List the Kafka Topics (BigCommerce is shown)
   
10. To view the data inside the topics, type the SQL Statement:

    PRINT topic FROM BEGINNING;
    

Connecting with the Confluent Control Center

To access the Confluent Control Center user interface, ensure to run the "confluent local services" as described in the above section and type http://<server address>:9021/clusters/ on your local browser.

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Zoho Projects and start streaming Zoho Projects data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.