Connect to Facebook 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 Facebook, Denodo users can work with live Facebook data alongside other enterprise data sources. This article walks through creating a virtual data source for Facebook in the Denodo Virtual DataPort Administrator.

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

Create the Facebook Virtual Port

To connect to live Facebook 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 Facebook 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 Facebook\lib\) to the Denodo external library directory (C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-facebook-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.: facebook
   • Database adapter: Generic
   • Driver class path: C:\Denodo\Denodo Platform\lib-external\jdbc-drivers\cdata-facebook-19
   • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.facebook.FacebookDriver

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

     jdbc:facebook: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 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.

6. Click the "Test connection" button to confirm the configuration and click Save.

View Facebook Data in the VirtualPort Administrator Tool

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

1. Click the "Create base view" button in the newly created VirtualPort (admin.Facebook).
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 Facebook 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_facebook_posts) 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_facebook_posts 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 Facebook data like you would any other data source in Denodo Platform, for example, querying Facebook in the Denodo Data Catalog.

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