Query Redshift Data in ColdFusion

The CData JDBC driver for Redshift seamlessly integrates connectivity to Redshift data with the rapid development tools in ColdFusion. This article shows how to connect to Redshift data in ColdFusion and query Redshift tables.

Create a JDBC Data Source for Redshift in ColdFusion

The JDBC data source enables you to execute SQL from standard ColdFusion tags like cfquery and CFScript like executeQuery.

1. Copy the driver JAR and .lic file from the installation directory onto the ColdFusion classpath. For example, copy the files into C:\MyColdFusionDirectory\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF\lib. Or, open the Java and JVM page in the ColdFusion Administrator and enter the path to the files in the ColdFusion Class Path box.

   The JAR and license for the driver are located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

   Restart the server after this step.

2. Add the driver as a data source:

   From the ColdFusion administrator interface, expand the Data & Services node and click Data Sources. In the Add New Data Source section, enter a name for the data source and select Other in the Driver menu.

3. Populate the driver properties:

   • JDBC URL: Enter connection properties in the JDBC URL. The JDBC URL begins with jdbc:redshift: and is followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name=value pairs.

     To connect to Redshift, set the following:

     • Server: Set this to the host name or IP address of the cluster hosting the Database you want to connect to.
     • Port: Set this to the port of the cluster.
     • Database: Set this to the name of the database. Or, leave this blank to use the default database of the authenticated user.
     • User: Set this to the username you want to use to authenticate to the Server.
     • Password: Set this to the password you want to use to authenticate to the Server.

     You can obtain the Server and Port values in the AWS Management Console:

     1. Open the Amazon Redshift console (http://console.aws.amazon.com/redshift).
     2. On the Clusters page, click the name of the cluster.
     3. On the Configuration tab for the cluster, copy the cluster URL from the connection strings displayed.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.redshift.jar

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

     A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:redshift:User=admin;Password=admin;Database=dev;Server=examplecluster.my.us-west-2.redshift.amazonaws.com;Port=5439;
   • Driver Class: Enter the driver class. The driver class is cdata.jdbc.redshift.RedshiftDriver.
   • Driver Name: Enter a user-defined name for the driver.
   • Username: Enter the username used to authenticate.
   • Password: Enter the password used to authenticate.

You can now test the connection by enabling the CData Redshift data source in the Actions column. After reporting a status of OK, the Redshift data source is ready for use.

Execute Queries

The cfquery tag can pass SQL statements to Redshift, including INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE.. Use the cfqueryparam tag to create parameterized queries and prevent SQL injection through the query string.

Note: To use the cfquery and cfscript, create a .cfm file. Inside the .cfm file, write the code to execute the query (see below). Place the file directly in the root directory of your web server (e.g., wwwroot in Adobe ColdFusion). Restart the service after placing the file for the changes to take effect.

Below is the equivalent in CFScript:

<cfscript>
result = queryExecute(
  "SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE ShipCountry = ?", 
  [
    { value="USA", cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar" }
  ],
  { datasource="CDataRedshift" }
);

writeDump( var= result );
</cfscript> 

You can then make requests to your .cfm like the following: