Mule Connect to remote flat files - jdbc

Question

I am new to Mule and I have been struggling with a simple issue for a while now. I am trying to connect to flat files (.MDB, .DBF) located on a remote desktop through my Mule application using the generic database connector of Mule. I have tried different things here:
I am using StelsDBF and StelsMDB drivers for the JDBC connectivity. I tried connecting directly using jdbc URL - jdbc:jstels:mdb:host/path
I have also tried to access through FTP by using FileZilla server on remote desktop and using jdbc URL in my app - jdbc:jstels:dbf:ftp://user:password#host:21/path
None of these seem to be working as I am always getting Connection exceptions. If anyone has tried this before, what is the best way to go about it? Connecting a remote flat file with Mule? Your response on this will be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

If you want to load the contents of the file inside a Mule flow you should use the file or FTP connector, i don't know for sure about your JDBC option.
With the File connector you can access local files (files on the server where mule is running), you could try to mount the folders as a share.
Or run an FTP server like you already tried, that should work.
There is probably an error in your syntax / connection.
Please paste the complete XML of your Mule flow so we can see what you are trying to do.

Answer 2

Your usecase is still not really clear to me, are you really planning to use http to trigger the DB everytime? Anyway did you try putting the file on a local path and use that path in your database url. Here is someone that says he had it working, he created a separate bean.
http://forums.mulesoft.com/questions/6422/setting_property_dynamically_on_jdbcdatasource.html
I think a local path is maybe possible and it's better to test that first.
Also take note of how to refer to a file path, look at the examples for the file connector: https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-user-guide/v/3.7/file-transport-reference#namespace-and-syntax
If you manage to get it working and you can use the path directly in the JDBC url, you should have a look at the poll scope.
https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-user-guide/v/3.7/poll-reference
You can use your DB connector as an inbound endpoint when wrapped in a poll scope.

Answer 3

I experienced the same issue when connect to Microsoft Access Database (*.mdb, *.accdb) using Mule Database Connector. After further investigation, it's solved by installing Microsoft Access Database Engine
Another issue, I couldn't pass parameter to construct a query as same as I do for other databases. e.g.: SELECT * FROM emplcopy WHERE id = #[payload.id]
To solve this issue:
I changed the Query type from Parameterized into Dynamic.
I generated the query inside Set Payload transformer (generate the query in form of String, e.g.: SELECT * FROM emplcopy WHERE id = '1').
Finally, put it into the Dynamic query area: #[payload]