The RJDBC package enables an R application to use the Teradata JDBC Driver to access the Teradata Database.

DBI is the standard database interface for R, and RJDBC is an implementation of DBI that serves as an adapter to translate DBI actions into the corresponding JDBC actions. This combination enables R to use a JDBC Driver, such as the Teradata JDBC Driver.

R application ⇒ RJDBC ⇒ Teradata JDBC Driver ⇒ Teradata Database

Configuring R to use the Teradata JDBC Driver

The DbLink facility allows Teradata users to access data in external systems. However, as distributed, it only supports accessing data from external Oracle and Teradata systems.

In this article we will look at what is required to add support for other data sources. As it turns out, not much, just some basic Java programming abilities.

Many databases provide the ability for accessing external data via a mechanism via a SELECT query. Examples include Linked Tables in MS-Access and External Tables in Oracle. A similar capability will become available in Teradata 15, it will be known as Query Grid. However users of Teradata prior to 15 are out of luck.

Teradata has provided the foundation for accessing external data via a SELECT query ever since Table UDF's were added in or around Teradata 12. There is even reference in the UDF programmers manuals to just such a facility (but no actual code to show how to do it).

In this article, you can download a working facility I've called DbLink that you can setup and use to access data from external data sources without having to write your own UDF.