Connect to FreshBooks Data in RapidMiner

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

Connect to FreshBooks in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to FreshBooks:

1. Add a new database driver for FreshBooks: 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:freshbooks:
4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class: cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.FreshBooksDriver
6. Create a new FreshBooks connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the FreshBooks driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   To connect to FreshBooks, you can set the CompanyName and Token connection properties. Alternatively, you can use the OAuth authentication standard.

   OAuth can be used to enable other users to access their own company data. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret by registering an app. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.jar

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

   A typical connection string is below:

   CompanyName=CData;Token=token;
10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

You can now use your FreshBooks connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve FreshBooks 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 FreshBooks data.