Connectors → Custom SQL

About the Custom SQL Connector

The Custom SQL Connector enables Incorta to access data stored in any SQL database. It is recommended that this connector be used when a dedicated Incorta database connector does not already exist. You can access the data you want with a standard SQL query. The Custom SQL connector supports the following Incorta specific functionality:

Feature	Supported
Chunking	✔
Data Agent	✔
Encryption at Ingest	✔
Incremental Load	✔
Multi-Source	✔
OAuth
Performance Optimized	✔
Remote
Single-Source	✔
Spark Extraction	✔
Webhook Callbacks	✔

Deploy the JAR file

The Custom SQL connector requires that you have a custom JDBC jar file for the database vendor. The following is a generic example

company.jdbc.jar

Please contact Incorta Support to assist you with deploying the jar.

Note

Starting the 2024.1.0 release, Incorta has changed the directory used for the custom SQL connectors. After upgrading to this release, you must contact Incorta Support to assist you with moving the custom SQL connectors you have configured previously to the appropriate directory. In case of using a Data Agent, you must also copy the custom SQL JDBC driver jars to incorta.dataagent/extensions/connectors/shared-libs/ on the Data Agent host.

Steps to connect a Custom SQL Database and Incorta

To connect a Custom SQL Database and Incorta, here are the high level steps, tools, and procedures:

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

Create an external data source

Here are the steps to create a external data source with the Custom SQL 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 Custom, select Custom SQL.
In the New Data Source dialog, specify the applicable connector properties.
To test, select Test Connection.
Select Ok to save your changes.

Custom SQL connector properties

Here are the properties for the Custom SQL connector:

Property	Control	Description
Data Source Name	text box	Enter the name of the data source
Username	text box	Enter the database username
Password	text box	Enter the database password
Connection Pool	text box	Enter the connection pool. The default is 30.
Driver Class	text box	Enter the driver class for the database. For example, the Informix driver class is `com.informix.jdbc.IfxDriver`.
Connection String	text box	Enter the database connection string. For example, the Informix database connection string is: `jdbc:informix-sqli://<host>:<port>/<database>:informixserver=<dbservername>`
Connection Properties	text box	Optionally enter connector properties for a custom connection to the database in the format: `propertyName=propertyValue`, where each connector property is on a new line. The available connector properties are specified by the database JDBC driver.
Validation Query	text box	Optional. Enter the database-specific validation query. The Validation query is a SQL query that can be used by the pool to validate connections before they are returned to the application. This query must be a SQL SELECT statement that returns at least one row. Examples of validation queries: ● IBM Informix: `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYSTABLES` ● Apache Derby: `VALUES 1` or `SELECT 1 FROM SYSIBM.SYSDUMMY1` ● HSQLDB: `SELECT 1 FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SYSTEM_USERS` ● Firebird: `SELECT 1 FROM rdb$database`
Current Time Query	text box	Optional. Enter the database-specific Current Time query. The Current Time query is a SQL query that Incorta can use to get the database server current time. Examples of Current Time queries: ● IBM Informix: `SELECT CURRENT` or `SELECT SYSDATE` ● Apache Derby: `VALUES CURRENT TIMESTAMP` ● HSQLDB: `VALUES (current_timestamp)` or `CALL current_timestamp` ● Firebird: `Select timestamp 'NOW' from rdb$database` or `Select CURRENT_TIMESTAMP From rdb$database`
Set Fetch Direction	toggle	Enable to have the fetch direction set to forward. This property is only compatible with a data sources that supports this feature.
Use Data Agent	toggle	Enable using a data agent to securely ingest data from an external data source that is behind a firewall. For more information, please review Tools → Data Agent and Tools → Data Manager.
Data Agent	drop down list	Enable Use Data Agent to configure this property. Select from the data agents created in the tenant, if any.

Important: Data Agent

A data agent is a service that runs on a remote host. It is also a data agent object in the Data Manager for a given tenant. An authentication file shared between the data agent object and the data agent service enables an authorized connection without using a VPN or SSH tunnel. With a data agent, you can securely extract data from one or more databases behind a firewall to an Incorta cluster. Your Incorta cluster can reside on-premises or in the cloud. A CMC Administrator must enable and configure an Incorta cluster to support the use of Data Agents. Only a Tenant Administrator (Super User) or user that belongs to a group with the SuperRole role for a given tenant can create a data agent that connects to a data agent service. To learn more, see Concepts → Data Agent and Tools → Data Agent.

Create a physical schema with the Schema Wizard

Here are the steps to create a Custom SQL physical 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 physical schema name.
- For Select a Datasource, select the Custom SQL external data source.
- Optionally create a description.
In the Schema Wizard footer, select Next.
In (2) Manage Tables, in the Data Panel, navigate the directory tree as necessary to select the Custom SQL tables. You can either check the Select All checkbox or select individual sheets.
In the Schema Wizard footer, select Next.
In (3) Finalize, in the Schema Wizard footer, select Create Schema.

Create a physical schema with the Schema Designer

Here are the steps to create a custom SQL physical 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 Name, specify the physical schema name, and select Save.
In Start adding tables to your schema, select SQL Database.
In the Data Source dialog, specify the Custom SQL table data source properties.
Select Add.
In the Table Editor, in the Table Summary section, enter the table name.
To save your changes, select Done in the Action bar.

Custom SQL table data source properties

For a physical schema table in Incorta, you can define the following Custom SQL specific data source properties as follows:

Property	Control	Description
Type	drop down list	Default is SQL Database
Data Source	drop down list	Select the Custom SQL external data source
Incremental	toggle	Enable the incremental load configuration for the physical schema table
Fetch Size	text box	Used for performance improvement, fetch size defines the number of records that will be retrieved from the database in each batch until all records are retrieved. The default is 5000.
Query	text box	Enter the SQL query to retrieve data from the Custom SQL database table
Update Query	text box	Enable Incremental to configure this property. Enter the SQL query to retrieve data updates from the Custom SQL database table.
Incremental Field Type	drop down list	Enable Incremental to configure this property. Select the format of the table date column: ● Timestamp ● Unix Epoch (seconds) ● Unix Epoch (milliseconds)
Chunking Method	drop down list	Chunking methods allow for parallel extraction of large tables. The default is No Chunking. There are two chunking methods: ● By Size of Chunking (Single Table) ● By Date/Timestamp
Chunk Size	text box	Select By Size of Chunking for the Chunking Method to set this property. Enter the number of records to extract in each chunk in relation to the Fetch Size. The default is 3 times the Fetch Size.
Order Column	drop down list	Select By Size of Chunking for the Chunking Method to set this property. Select a column in the source table you want to order by before chunking. It's typically an ID column and it must be numeric.
Upper Bound for Order Column	text box	Optional. Enter the maximum value for the order column.
Lower Bound for Order Column	text box	Optional. Enter the minimum value for the order column.
Order Column [Date/Timestamp]	drop down list	Select By Date/Timestamp for the Chunking Method to set this property. Select a column in the source table you want to order by before chunking. It should be a Date/Timestamp column.
Chunk Period	drop down list	Select the chunk period that will be used in dividing chunks: ● Daily ● Weekly (default) ● Monthly ● Yearly ● Custom
Number of days	text box	Select Custom for the Chunk Period to set this property. Enter the chunking period in days
Enable Spark Based Extraction	toggle	Enable a Spark job to parallelize the data ingest
Max Number of Parallel Queries	text box	Enable Spark Based Extraction to configure this property. Enter the maximum number of parallel queries to run at a time
Column to Parallelize Queries on	drop down list	Enable Spark Based Extraction to configure this property. Select a numerical column in the source table that you want Spark to parallelize the extraction queries on.
Memory per Extractor	text box	Enable Spark Based Extraction to configure this property. Enter the numerical amount of memory to use per extractor in gigabytes (GB).
Callback	toggle	Enable this option to call back on the source data set
Callback URL	text box	Enable Callback to configure this property. Specify the URL.

View the physical schema diagram with the Schema Diagram Viewer

Here are the steps to view the physical 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 Custom SQL schema.
In the Schema Designer, in the Action bar, select Diagram.

Load the physical schema

Here are the steps to perform a Full Load of the Custom SQL physical 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 Custom SQL 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 physical schema

With the full load of the Custom SQL physical 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 Custom SQL schema.
In the Schema Designer, in the Action bar, select Explore Data.

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