Connect to LinkedIn Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for LinkedIn into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for LinkedIn to transfer LinkedIn data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to LinkedIn in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to LinkedIn:

1. Add a new database driver for LinkedIn: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL: jdbc:linkedin:
4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.linkedin.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class: cdata.jdbc.linkedin.LinkedInDriver
6. Create a new LinkedIn connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the LinkedIn driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box. LinkedIn uses the OAuth 2 authentication standard. You will need to obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret by registering an app with LinkedIn. For more information refer to our authentication guide.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.linkedin.jar

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

   A typical connection string is below:

   OAuthClientId=MyOAuthClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyOAuthClientSecret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:portNumber;CompanyId=XXXXXXXInitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH
10. Enter your username and password if necessary.

You can now use your LinkedIn connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve LinkedIn data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the LinkedIn data.