GPS Event [15] – Coral8 [3]

In the previous post I have managed to send GPS data to Coral8. This time I would like to use Coral8 as a database-loading front end, with minimum changes to the already existing program. I already have MS SQL Server running on the same machine as Coral8, so this should not be too complicated.

Here is the to do list:

  1. Create a database and a table for GPS data;
  2. Create an ODBC connection to the database;
  3. Register the database as a service with Coral8, using the ODBC connection;
  4. Restart Coral8 Server;
  5. Attach a write-to-database output adapter to the output stream;
  6. Test.

Step 1 – Create a database

Using MS SQL Server Manager Studio I have created a new database named DamirTest and and a table GpsData. 

USE DamirTest
CREATE TABLE dbo.GpsData(
	Entity varchar(25) NOT NULL
	,Latitude float
	,Longitude float
	,Course float
	,Speed float
	,TimeUTC datetime NOT NULL
)

As you can see, the idea is to match the record of the output stream (see the previous post).

Step 2 – Create an ODBC connection

Coral8 communicates with MS SQL Server using an ODBC connection, so one has to be added for the database. The dialog can be accessed via Start >>> Administrative Tools >>> Data Sources (ODBC).  For SQL Server 2005 — and latter — specify SQL Native Client for the driver.



Step 3 – Register the database as a service with Coral8

Coral8 remote services are listed in the coral8-services.xml file. The file can be found in /Coral8/Server/conf/ directory. I had to add the following segment to the file:

<service name="DamirTest" type="DATABASE">
    <description>Connection to DamirTest</description>
    <param name="DBDriverType">DBDriverODBC</param>
    <!-- DBDriverConnectString = DSN name -->
    <param name="DBDriverConnectString">DamirTest</param>
    <param name="DBReadNoCommit">True</param>
    <!-- Username and Password -->
    <param name="Username">my_username_here</param>
    <param name="Password">my_password_here</param>
</service>

Step 4 – Restart Coral8 Server

Coral8 reads configuration files on start-up, so the server has to be restarted. There is no need to re-boot the machine, stop and start the program only.

Step 5 – Attach a write-to-database output adapter

No need to remember this syntax. I have simply used point and click to attach the adapter to the output stream — I did have to enter the query in the adapter form.

ATTACH OUTPUT ADAPTER ToDB 
    TYPE WriteToDBAdapterType
    TO STREAM StreamOut
PROPERTIES
    DBNAME = "DamirTest",
    QUERY  = [[
INSERT INTO [DamirTest].[dbo].[GpsData]
    (Entity ,Latitude ,Longitude
    ,Course ,Speed ,TimeUTC)
VALUES
    (?Entity ,?Latitude ,?Longitude
    ,?Course ,?Speed ,?TimeUTC);
 ]],
    COMMITFREQUENCY = "0"
;

Note how all stream field names start with a question mark. They are positionally mapped to the list of database fields; so it is not really necessary to use same names for database and stream fields.

Step 6 – Test

This is all it takes, the rest of the code from the previous post remains unchanged. As in the last example, I have sent ten GPS readings to Coral8. Here they are in the output stream,

and in the database.

To be continued.