Feed Sybase Data into FineReport

The CData JDBC Driver for Sybase fully implements the JDBC standard and can provide Sybase data connectivity to a wide variety of BI, reporting, and ETL tools and custom applications. In this article, we explain how to set Sybase data as JDBC data source in FineReport and view Sybase data as a table in the Report Designer.

Set Up a JDBC Data Source of Sybase Data

Follow the instruction below to set Sybase data as a FineReport database connection.

1. Copy the cdata.jdbc.sybase.jar file from the lib folder in the CData JDBC Driver for Sybase installation directory to the lib folder of the FineReport installation directory. You will need to copy the cdata.jdbc.sybase.lic file as well.
2. From the Server tab, select Define Data Connection, click to add a new connection, and click JDBC.

Next we will set up the data connection definition in the window.

1. Database: Others
2. JDBC Driver: cdata.jdbc.sybase.SybaseDriver
3. URL: A standard JDBC connection string using semicolon-separated connection properties.

   To connect to Sybase, specify the following connection properties:

   • Server: Set this to the name or network address of the Sybase database instance.
   • Database: Set this to the name of the Sybase database running on the specified Server.

   Optionally, you can also secure your connections with TLS/SSL by setting UseSSL to true.

   Sybase supports several methods for authentication including Password and Kerberos.

   Connect Using Password Authentication

   Set the AuthScheme to Password and set the following connection properties to use Sybase authentication.

   • User: Set this to the username of the authenticating Sybase user.
   • Password: Set this to the username of the authenticating Sybase user.

   Connect using LDAP Authentication

   To connect with LDAP authentication, you will need to configure Sybase server-side to use the LDAP authentication mechanism.

   After configuring Sybase for LDAP, you can connect using the same credentials as Password authentication.

   Connect Using Kerberos Authentication

   To leverage Kerberos authentication, begin by enabling it setting AuthScheme to Kerberos. See the Using Kerberos section in the Help documentation for more information on using Kerberos authentication.

   You can find an example connection string below: Server=MyServer;Port=MyPort;User=SampleUser;Password=SamplePassword;Database=MyDB;Kerberos=true;KerberosKDC=MyKDC;KerberosRealm=MYREALM.COM;KerberosSPN=server-name

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.sybase.jar

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

   When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

   A typical JDBC URL is below:

   jdbc:sybase:User=myuser;Password=mypassword;Server=localhost;Database=mydatabase;Charset=iso_1;
4. Click Connection pool attributes and set Test before getting connections to No.

Click Test connection to ensure you have configured the connection properly. With the connection to Sybase set up, you can use it as FineReport data source.

Select Sybase Data in the Report Designer.

1. Click to add a new template data set and select DB query to open the database query window.
2. Choose the JDBC connection that you created from the dropdown list.
3. The Sybase entities will appear as tables on the left pane.
4. Write a SELECT statement for the Sybase data tables and columns that you want to load.
5. Click preview and data is shown as table.

With these simple steps, Sybase can be used as a JDBC data source in FineReport.