Import Real-Time Avalara AvaTax Data in ColdFusion to Build Applications


Use CData ODBC drivers to import and use Avalara AvaTax data in ColdFusion.

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST. When ColdFusion is paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Avalara, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Avalara AvaTax data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create a table populated with Avalara AvaTax data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData ODBC Driver for Avalara and Adobe ColdFusion.

Configuring the Connection

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (Data Source Name). This is the last step of the driver installation process. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

The primary method for performing basic authentication is to provide your login credentials, as follows:

  • User: Set this to your username.
  • Password: Set this to your password.

Optionally, if you are making use of a sandbox environment, set the following:

  • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are authenticating with a sandbox account.

Authenticating Using Account Number and License Key

Alternatively, you can authenticate using your account number and license key. Connect to data using the following:

  • AccountId: Set this to your Account Id. The Account Id is listed in the upper right hand corner of the admin console.
  • LicenseKey: Set this to your Avalara Avatax license key. You can generate a license key by logging into Avalara Avatax as an account administrator and navigating to Settings -> Reset License Key.

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After creating a DSN, follow the steps below to add a new data source, test our connection to it, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, import Avalara AvaTax Avalara AvaTax data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

  1. From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services.
  2. Here, click "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our ODBC driver, choose "ODBC Socket", then click the "Add" button.
  3. From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData Avalara AvaTax Sys. Under the Advanced Settings section, leave the Connection String blank. Note that any properties specified in this input field will override the ones specified in the DSN Configuration.
  4. Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataAvalara AvaTaxODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use.
  5. Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

    The following code queries the data source: 

                
        <cfquery name="Avalara AvaTaxQuery" dataSource="CDataAvalara AvaTaxODBC"> 
          SELECT * FROM Transactions 
        </cfquery>
    And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML: 
                
          <cftable  
          query = "Avalara AvaTaxQuery" 
          border = "1" 
          colHeaders 
          colSpacing = "2" 
          headerLines = "2" 
          HTMLTable 
          maxRows = "500" 
          startRow = "1"> 

          <cfcol header="<b>Id</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Id"/> 

          <cfcol header="<b>TotalTax</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="TotalTax"/> 

          ...

        </cftable>
    Full code, including the HTML portion is available below: 
                
        <html> 
        <head><title>CData Software | Avalara AvaTax Transactions Table Demo </title></head> 
        <body> 
        <cfoutput>#ucase("Avalara AvaTax Transactions Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
        <cfquery name="Avalara AvaTaxQuery" dataSource="CDataAvalara AvaTaxODBC"> 

          SELECT * FROM Transactions 

        </cfquery> 
        <cftable  
          query = "Avalara AvaTaxQuery" 
          border = "1" 
          colHeaders 
          colSpacing = "2" 
          headerLines = "2" 
          HTMLTable 
          maxRows = "500" 
          startRow = "1"> 
          <cfcol header="<b>Id</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Id"/> 

          <cfcol header="<b>TotalTax</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="TotalTax"/> 

          ...

        </cftable> 
        </body> 

        </html>
  6. Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with Avalara AvaTax data!

As a note, the CData ODBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example: SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Avalara AvaTax and start building Avalara AvaTax-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

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Download a free trial of the Avalara ODBC Driver to get started:

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Learn more:

Avalara AvaTax Icon Avalara ODBC Driver

The AvaTax ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from AvaTax, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access AvaTax data like you would a database - read, write, and update AvaTax Accounts, Customers, TaxCodes, Transactions, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

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