Connectors → JSON

About JSON

JavaScript Object Notation JSON is a lightweight data-interchange format that is human and machine readable. JSON is schema-less, unordered, and is often hierarchical in nature.

Here are the basic rules for JSON syntax:

• curly braces { } surround an object
• an object consists of one or more "key":value pairs
• a key is a string in quotes such as "key"
• a colon separates the key from the value
• a value is a string, number, object, array, boolean or null
• a comma separates "key":value pairs
• square brackets [ ] surround an array with a comma , separating values within the array
• an array value array must be of type string, number, object, array, boolean or null

About the JSON Connector

The JSON Connector utilizes the CDATA JDBC driver for JSON. In order to query a JSON data source using a SQL SELECT statement, the driver supports the configuration of various JDBC connection properties, including OAuth authentication. The JSON connector also supports a JSON Path query expressions to separate an array of values as rows.

As a result, the connector allows you to connect to local and remote JSON data sources using an Universal Resource Indicator (URI) which includes both service and storage providers such as AWS S3, Azure, Dropbox, Box, Google Cloud Storage, Google Drive, OneDrive, Sharepoint, FTP, and more.

In addition, the JSON connector allows for the configuration of a JSON data model: Document, FlattenedDocuments, or Relational.

The JSON connector uses the cdata.jdbc.json.jar driver to connect to a JSON data source and get data.

The JSON connector supports the following Incorta specific functionality:

Deploy the JAR file

The JSON Connector requires the following JAR file:

• cdata.jdbc.json.jar

The JSON connector requires the deployment of a JAR file to the Incorta Node hosts of the Analytics Service and the Loader Service. A systems administrator with root access to the host can deploy the JAR file. A CMC Administrator can restart the Incorta cluster.

Here are the steps to copy the JAR file to standalone Incorta cluster:

• Secure copy the cdata.jdbc.json.jar file to the host. Here is an example using scp:

  Copy
  INCORTA_NODE_HOST=100.101.102.103
  cd ~/Downloads
  scp -i ~/.ssh/host_pemkey.pem  cdata.jdbc.json.jar incorta@${INCORTA_NODE_HOST}:/tmp/
  
  
  

• Secure shell into the host

  Copy
  ssh -i ~/.ssh/host_pemkey.pem incorta@${INCORTA_NODE_HOST}
  
  

• Copy the cdata.jdbc.json.jar to the IncortaNode/runtime/lib/ directory in bash shell

  Copy
  sudo incorta
  INCORTA_INSTALLATION_PATH=/home/incorta/IncortaAnalytics/
  
  cp /tmp/cdata.jdbc.json.jar $INCORTA_INSTALLATION_PATH/IncortaNode/runtime/lib/cdata.jdbc.json.jar
  
  
  

Here are the steps to restart the standalone Incorta cluster:

• Sign in to the Cluster Management Console (CMC) as the CMC Administrator.
• In the Navigation bar, select Clusters.
• Select the cluster name in the list.
• In Details, select Restart.

Steps to connect JSON data source and Incorta

To connect a JSON data source and Incorta, here are the high-level steps, tools, and procedures:

• Create an external data source
• Create a schema with the Schema Wizard
• or, Create a schema with the Schema Designer
• Load the schema
• Explore the schema

Create an external data source

A Tenant Administrator (Super User), a user that belongs to a group with the SuperRole role, or a user that belongs to a group with the Schema Manager role can create an external data source for a given tenant.

Here are the steps to create an external data source with the JSON connector:

• Sign in to the Incorta Direct Data Platform™.
• In the Navigation bar, select Data.
• In the Action bar, select + New → Add Data Source.
• In the Choose a Data Source dialog, in File System, select JSON.
• In the New Data Source dialog, specify the applicable connector properties.
• To test, select Test Connection.
• Select Ok to save your changes.

The JSON connector properties

Here are the properties for the JSON connector:

Create a schema with the Schema Wizard

Here are the steps to create a JSON schema with the Schema Wizard:

• Sign in to the Incorta Direct Data Platform™.
• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the Action bar, select + New → Schema Wizard.
• In (1) Choose a Source, specify the following:
  • For Enter a name, enter the schema name.
  • For Select a Datasource, select the JSON data source.
  • Optionally, enter a description.
• In the Schema Wizard footer, select Next.
• In (2) Manage Tables, in the Data Panel, first select the name of the Data Source, and then check the Select All checkbox.
• In the Schema Wizard footer, select Next.
• In (3) Finalize, in the Schema Wizard footer, select Create Schema.

Create a schema with the Schema Designer

Here are the steps to create a JSON schema using the Schema Designer:

• Sign in to the Incorta Direct Data Platform™.
• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the Action bar, select + New → Create Schema.
• In the Create Schema dialog, in Name, specify the schema name, and then select Save.
• In Start adding tables to your schema, select JSON.
• In the Data Source dialog, specify the JSON table data source properties.
• Select Add.
• In the Table Editor, in the Table Summary section, enter the table name.
• To save your changes, in the Action bar, select Done.

JSON table data source properties

For a schema table in Incorta, you can define the following JSON-specific data source properties as follows:

View the schema diagram with the Schema Diagram Viewer

Here are the steps to view the schema diagram using the Schema Diagram Viewer:

• Sign in to the Incorta Direct Data Platform™.
• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the list of schemas, select the JSON schema.
• In the Schema Designer, in the Action bar, select Diagram.

Load the schema

Here are the steps to perform a Full Load of the JSON schema using the Schema Designer:

• Sign in to the Incorta Direct Data Platform™.
• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the list of schemas, select the JSON schema.
• In the Schema Designer, in the Action bar, select Load → Load Now → Full.
• To review the load status, in Last Load Status, select the date.

Explore the schema

With the full load of the JSON schema complete, you can use the Analyzer to explore the schema, create your first insight, and save the insight to a new dashboard.

To open the Analyzer from the schema, follow these steps:

• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the Schema Manager, in the List view, select the JSON schema.
• In the Schema Designer, in the Action bar, select Explore Data.

For more information about how to use the Analyzer to create insights, see Analyzer and Visualizations.

Additional Considerations

Types of Incremental Load

You can enable Incremental Load for a JSON table data source. There are two types of incremental extracts:

Last Successful Extract Time

Fetch updates since the last time the tables were loaded. This is determined by the difference between the current time and the database timestamp.

Maximum Value of a Column

The column-based strategy depends on an extra column called "Incremental Column" in each table. The JSON connector supports both timestamp and numeric columns. A timestamp column is of the type date or timestamp. A numeric column is of the type int or long.

Incremental Load Example

In this example, the invoices table must contain a column of the type Date or Timestamp in order to load the table incrementally with a last successful extract time strategy. In this case, the name of the date column is ModifiedDate and the format of the column is Timestamp.

Here are the data source property values for this example:

Incremental is enabled

Query contains SELECT * FROM invoices

Update Query contains SELECT * FROM invoices WHERE ModifiedDate > ?

Incremental Field Type = Timestamp

Valid Query Types

When creating a query for the JSON connector, only SELECT statements are valid.