Query Slack Data in DataGrip

DataGrip is a database IDE that allows SQL developers to query, create, and manage databases. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Slack, DataGrip can work with live Slack data. This article shows how to establish a connection to Slack data in DataGrip and use the table editor to load Slack data.

Create a New Driver Definition for Slack

The steps below describe how to create a new Data Source in DataGrip for Slack.

1. In DataGrip, click File -> New > Project and name the project
2. In the Database Explorer, click the plus icon () and select Driver.
3. In the Driver tab:
   • Set Name to a user-friendly name (e.g. "CData Slack Driver")
   • Set Driver Files to the appropriate JAR file. To add the file, click the plus (), select "Add Files," navigate to the "lib" folder in the driver's installation directory and select the JAR file (e.g. cdata.jdbc.slack.jar).
   • Set Class to cdata.jdbc.slack.Slack.jar
   Additionally, in the advanced tab you can change driver properties and some other settings like VM Options, VM environment, VM home path, DBMS, etc
   • For most cases, change the DBMS type to "Unknown" in Expert options to avoid native SQL Server queries (Transact-SQL), which might result in an invalid function error
4. Click "Apply" then "OK" to save the Connection

Configure a Connection to Slack

1. Once the connection is saved, click the plus (), then "Data Source" then "CData Slack Driver" to create a new Slack Data Source.
2. In the new window, configure the connection to Slack with a JDBC URL.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.slack.jar

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

   Slack uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties. See the Getting Started section of the help documentation for an authentication guide.
3. Set URL to the connection string, e.g., jdbc:slack:OAuthClientId=MyOAuthClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
4. Click "Apply" and "OK" to save the connection string

At this point, you will see the data source in the Data Explorer.

Execute SQL Queries Against Slack

To browse through the Slack entities (available as tables) accessible through the JDBC Driver, expand the Data Source.

To execute queries, right click on any table and select "New" -> "Query Console."

In the Console, write the SQL query you wish to execute. For example: SELECT Id, Name FROM Channels

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