Query SAP Ariba Procurement Data in ColdFusion

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

Create a JDBC Data Source for SAP Ariba Procurement 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:saparibaprocurement: and is followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name=value pairs.

     In order to connect with SAP Ariba Procurement, set the following:

     • ANID: Your Ariba Network ID.
     • ANID: Specify which API you would like the provider to retrieve SAP Ariba data from. Select the Buyer or Supplier API based on your business role (possible values are PurchaseOrdersBuyerAPIV1 or PurchaseOrdersSupplierAPIV1).
     • Environment: Indicate whether you are connecting to a test or production environment (possible values are TEST or PRODUCTION).

     Authenticating with OAuth

     After setting connection properties, you need to configure OAuth connectivity to authenticate.

     • Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient.
     • Register an application with the service to obtain the APIKey, OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.

       For more information on creating an OAuth application, refer to the Help documentation.

     Automatic OAuth

     After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

     APIKey: The Application key in your app settings. OAuthClientId: The OAuth Client Id in your app settings. OAuthClientSecret: The OAuth Secret in your app settings.

     When you connect, the provider automatically completes the OAuth process:

     1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Ariba and uses it to request data.
     2. The provider refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.
     3. The OAuth values are saved in memory relative to the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.saparibaprocurement.jar

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

     A typical JDBC URL is below:

     jdbc:saparibaprocurement:ANID=AN02000000280;API=PurchaseOrdersBuyerAPI-V1;APIKey=wWVLn7WTAXrIRMAzZ6VnuEj7Ekot5jnU;AuthScheme=OAuthClient;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
   • Driver Class: Enter the driver class. The driver class is cdata.jdbc.saparibaprocurement.SAPAribaProcurementDriver.
   • 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 SAP Ariba Procurement data source in the Actions column. After reporting a status of OK, the SAP Ariba Procurement data source is ready for use.

Execute Queries

The cfquery tag can pass SQL statements to SAP Ariba Procurement. 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 OrderStatus = ?", 
  [
    { value="CHANGED", cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar" }
  ],
  { datasource="CDataSAPAribaProcurement" }
);

writeDump( var= result );
</cfscript> 

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