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Connect to Avalara AvaTax Data in Ruby
Connect to Avalara AvaTax data in Ruby with ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc.
The CData ODBC Driver for Avalara makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Avalara AvaTax data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to Avalara AvaTax data, executes a query, and displays the results.
Create an ODBC Connection to Avalara AvaTax Data
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. 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.
Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems
If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:
gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc
Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to Avalara AvaTax Data
Create a new Ruby file (for example: AvalaraAvataxSelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:
#connect to the DSN
require 'dbi'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData AvalaraAvatax Source','','')
#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT Id, TotalTax FROM Transactions WHERE Code = '051349'")
#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
print name, "\t"
end
puts
#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
(0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
print row[n], "\t"
end
puts
end
resultSet.finish
#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn
With the file completed, you are ready to display your Avalara AvaTax data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:
ruby AvalaraAvataxSelect.rb
Writing SQL-92 queries to Avalara AvaTax allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Avalara AvaTax data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!
Ready to get started?
Download a free trial of the Avalara ODBC Driver to get started:
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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.
