Like much enterprise software, Redwood’s JSCAPE has its quirks. A glaring issue is its documentation and flexibility, but it’s a robust solution for managed file transfer. It solves the 25 mb problem with instant anonymous drop zone. It’s also smart enough to detect new files on remote servers so you only download unique uploads or changed files. Listeners allows the server to accept ingress traffic, eliminating a dedicated SFTP server. Trading partners can be servers, cloud entities, or logical drives. If utilized properly, JSCAPE can eliminate manual processes when you manage terabytes of file transfers between businesses a day.

Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that JSCAPE’s documentation does not provide enough information for a solo stand-up. Using a demo with an embedded database was simple to build, and I had concepts fleshed out within the week. After the documentation overhaul, I was optimistic, but couldn’t locate the details I needed to communicate to the teams involved. I had no clue what databases I could use, if I needed custom adapters, or how to confirm parts were talking to each other.

JSCAPE Database Configuration

JSCAPE is able to connect to a large variety of databases, and you can install additional JDBC drivers as needed. Generally, you’ll either be making a SQL Server database or a mySQL database. Your dedicated JSCAPE account should be db owner. This works best if your database is empty.

Before you attempt to connect, if on Windows, go to your ODBC driver management (odbcad32.exe) and test a connection to your database to rule out network issues.

JSCAPE defaults its connection string to jdbc:mysql://localhost:3033/. In my installation, the DBA created a SQL Server database. It took some time playing with the connection string to get this running, but here is the format:

jdbc:<db-type>://<dbserver-ip>:<port>;database=<dbname>

I haven’t noticed issues, but the software will still try the default port of 3033 alongside your specified port. I’d write this in your internal documentation in case it trips threat detection.

After that, you can continue your stand up of JSCAPE or attach additional instances for configuration syncing.

Conclusion

I enjoyed standing up JSCAPE as it is a massive time-saver when dealing with terabytes from multiple sources. JSCAPE’s in-box capabilities are acceptable, and while it isn’t flexible enough for scripting and automation, it can make API calls to other components if you don’t want to custom code a function in Java. I hope this helps when connecting JCSAPE to a database.