Connect to Blackbaud FE NXT Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for Blackbaud FE NXT into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT to transfer Blackbaud FE NXT data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to Blackbaud FE NXT in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to Blackbaud FE NXT:

1. Add a new database driver for Blackbaud FE NXT: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL: jdbc:financialedgenxt:
4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.financialedgenxt.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class: cdata.jdbc.financialedgenxt.FinancialEdgeNXTDriver
6. Create a new Blackbaud FE NXT connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the Blackbaud FE NXT driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties.

   See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.financialedgenxt.jar

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

   A typical connection string is below:

   SubscriptionKey=MySubscriptionKey;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

You can now use your Blackbaud FE NXT connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve Blackbaud FE NXT data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the Blackbaud FE NXT data.