Connect to Cvent Data in the Denodo Platform

Denodo Platform is a data virtualization product providing a single point of contact for enterprise database data. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Cvent, Denodo users can work with live Cvent data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article walks through creating a virtual data source for Cvent in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

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

Create the Cvent Virtual Port

To connect to live Cvent data from Denodo, you need to copy the JDBC Driver JAR file to the external library directory for Denodo and create a new JDBC Data Source from the Virtual DataPort Administrator tool.

1. Download the CData JDBC Driver for Cvent installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.
2. Copy the JAR File (and license file if it exists) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Cvent\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-cvent-19).
3. Open the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator tool and navigate to the Server Explorer tab.
4. Right-click "admin" and select New -> Data source -> JDBC.
5. Configure the JDBC Connection:
   • Name: your choice, e.g.: cvent
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-cvent-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.cvent.CventDriver

   • Database URI: Set this to a JDBC URL using the necessary connection properties. For example,

     jdbc:cvent:OAuthClientId=MyOAuthClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

     Information on creating the Database URI follows:

     Built-In Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.cvent.jar

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

     Before you can authenticate to Cvent, you must create a workspace and an OAuth application.

     Creating a Workspace

     To create a workspace:

     1. Sign into Cvent and navigate to App Switcher (the blue button in the upper right corner of the page) >> Admin.
     2. In the Admin menu, navigate to Integrations >> REST API.
     3. A new tab launches for Developer Management. Click on Manage API Access in the new tab.
     4. Create a Workspace and name it. Select the scopes you would like your developers to have access to. Scopes control what data domains the developer can access.
        • Choose All to allow developers to choose any scope, and any future scopes added to the REST API.
        • Choose Custom to limit the scopes developers can choose for their OAuth apps to selected scopes. To access all tables exposed by the driver, you need to set the following scopes:

          event/attendees:read	event/attendees:write	event/contacts:read
          event/contacts:write	event/custom-fields:read	event/custom-fields:write
          event/events:read	event/events:write	event/sessions:delete
          event/sessions:read	event/sessions:write	event/speakers:delete
          event/speakers:read	event/speakers:write	budget/budget-items:read
          budget/budget-items:write	exhibitor/exhibitors:read	exhibitor/exhibitors:write
          survey/surveys:read	survey/surveys:write

     Creating an OAuth Application

     After you have set up a Workspace and invited them, developers can sign up and create a custom OAuth app. See the Creating a Custom OAuth Application section in the Help documentation for more information.

     Connecting to Cvent

     After creating an OAuth application, set the following connection properties to connect to Cvent:

     • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
     • OAuthClientId: The Client ID associated with the OAuth application. You can find this on the Applications page in the Cvent Developer Portal.
     • OAuthClientSecret: The Client secret associated with the OAuth application. You can find this on the Applications page in the Cvent Developer Portal.
6. Click the "Test connection" button to confirm the configuration and click Save.

View Cvent Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

After creating the data source, you can create a base view of Cvent data for use in the Denodo Platform.

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.Cvent).
2. Expand the object tree and select the objects (tables) you wish to import.
3. Click the "Create selected" button to create views of the Cvent data.
   Optional: Click "Create associations from foreign keys" to define relationships between the objects.
4. With the view(s) created, navigate to a table (cdata_cvent_events) in the Server Explorer and double-click the selected table.
5. In the new tab, click "Execution panel" to open a query panel.
6. Customize the query in the "Execute" tab or use the default:

   SELECT * FROM cdata_cvent_events CONTEXT ('i18n'='us_est', 'cache_wait_for_load'='true')
   

7. Click Execute to view the data.

With the base view created, you can now work with live Cvent data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying Cvent in the Denodo Data Catalog.

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