Query Facebook Data in DataGrip

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

Create a New Driver Definition for Facebook

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

1. In DataGrip, click File -> New > Project and name the project
2. In the Database Explorer, click the plus icon () and select Driver.
3. In the Driver tab:
   • Set Name to a user-friendly name (e.g. "CData Facebook 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.facebook.jar).
   • Set Class to cdata.jdbc.facebook.Facebook.jar
   Additionally, in the advanced tab you can change driver properties and some other settings like VM Options, VM environment, VM home path, DBMS, etc
   • For most cases, change the DBMS type to "Unknown" in Expert options to avoid native SQL Server queries (Transact-SQL), which might result in an invalid function error
4. Click "Apply" then "OK" to save the Connection

Configure a Connection to Facebook

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

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.facebook.jar

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

   Most tables require user authentication as well as application authentication. Facebook uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate to Facebook, you can use the embedded OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL or you can obtain your own by registering an app with Facebook.

   See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

3. Set URL to the connection string, e.g., jdbc:facebook:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
4. Click "Apply" and "OK" to save the connection string

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

Execute SQL Queries Against Facebook

To browse through the Facebook 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 FromName, LikesCount FROM Posts

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