Connections

A connection is an object that is used to store connection related data for a single datasource (Kafka, Azure, etc.) like credentials, secrets and urls. Each connection is defined for exactly one datasource.

Tip

To read more about datasources see Retrieving an DatasourceType.

The SDK provides functionality to interact with connections.

This includes operations such as:

• Creating a connection

• Retrieving connection(s)

• Updating a connection

• Deleting a connection

Creating a Connection

In the UI, you can create a new Connection by navigating to Assets -> New asset -> Connect to a datasource.

You will need to choose the desired datasource from the list

and provide a Name and other additional configuration (depending on the selected datasource).

In the SDK, you can create a new Connection object within a Project, by selecting the appropriate project from the Platform and then using the Project.create_connection() method to instantiate the connection.

You must provide a name and datasource type to create connection. DatasourceType is an object defining the data source for which the connection will be created.

By default before creating any connection, server will validate it. If the connection cannot be estabilished with provided parameters, you will get an error and connection will not be saved. To skip validation and create connection anyway set test parameter of Project.create_connection() to False.

Note

To get available datasources see: Retrieving a DatasourceType.

>>> project = platform.projects.get(name="project")
Project(guid='d7831458-4771-4ad4-bb05-fb95fa94361c', name='project')
>>> datasource_type = platform.datasources[28]
DatasourceType(name='http')
>>> connection = project.create_connection(
...     name="Connection Name",
...     datasource_type=datasource_type,
...     description="Description ...",
...     properties={"url": "https://my/connection/url"},
... )
Connection(name='Connection Name')

Important

Each datasource_type defines its own set of required properties.

To get list of available properties see: Retrieving a DatasourceType connection properties.

Retrieving an Existing Connection

In the UI, you can get all Connections by navigating to Assets -> Data access -> Connections.

In the SDK, Connection can be retrieved using Project.connections property. You can also further filter and refine the connections returned based on attributes including name, context, properties and datasource_type.

This property returns a Connections object.

>>> # Returns the first connection matching given `name`
>>> connection = project.connections.get(name="Connection Name")
Connection(name='Connection Name')

>>> # Return a list of all connections that match `properties`
>>> connections = project.connections.get_all(
...     properties={"url": "https://my/connection/url"}
... )
[Connection(name='Connection Name')]

>>> # Return a list of all connections
>>> connections = project.connections
[Connection(name='Connection Name'), (...)]

Tip

For detailed information about parameters and values refer to https://cloud.ibm.com/apidocs/data-ai-common-core#listconnections.

Updating a Connection

In the UI, you can update a Connection by navigating to Assets -> Data access -> Connections and clicking the edit button on the Connection you want to edit. This button is visible only when cursor is over the Connection object.

To update a connection in the SDK, we first modify properties of the connection and then pass the instance to the Project.update_connection() method.

This method returns an HTTP response indicating the status of the update operation.

Similar to Creating a Connection you can skip the validation by setting test parameter of Project.update_connection() to False.

>>> connection = project.connections.get(name="Connection Name")
Connection(name='Connection Name')
>>> connection.name = "New Connection Name"
>>> res = project.update_connection(connection)
<Response [200]>

Deleting a Connection

In the UI, you can delete an existing Connection by navigating to the Assets -> Data access -> Connections.

In the SDK to delete a connection instance you can pass it to Project.delete_connection() method.

This method returns an HTTP response indicating the status of the delete operation.

>>> connection = project.connections.get(name="New Connection Name")
Connection(name='New Connection Name')
>>> res = project.delete_connection(connection)
<Response [204]>