Query Twitter 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 Twitter, DataGrip can work with live Twitter data. This article shows how to establish a connection to Twitter data in DataGrip and use the table editor to load Twitter data.

Create a New Driver Definition for Twitter

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

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 Twitter 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.twitter.jar).
   • Set Class to cdata.jdbc.twitter.Twitter.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 Twitter

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

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.twitter.jar

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

   All tables require authentication. You can connect using your User and Password or OAuth. To authenticate using OAuth, you can use the embedded OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL or you can register an app to obtain your own.

   If you intend to communicate with Twitter only as the currently authenticated user, then you can obtain the OAuthAccessToken and OAuthAccessTokenSecret directly by registering an app.

   See the Getting Started chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

3. Set URL to the connection string, e.g., jdbc:twitter: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 Twitter

To browse through the Twitter 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 From_User_Name, Retweet_Count FROM Tweets

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