Trigger NetSuite IFTTT Flows in Azure App Service



This article shows how to automate IFTTT (if-this-then-that) workflows with standard wizards in Logic Apps.

Through standards-based interfaces like OData and Swagger, the CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for NetSuite (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), provides a native experience in Logic Apps and Power Automate with NetSuite. OData enables real-time connectivity to data; Swagger enables scaffolding, or code generation, of wizards in Logic Apps and Power Automate, as well as scaffolding Power Apps. This article shows how to add NetSuite to an IFTTT (if-this-then-that) workflow in a Logic App.

About NetSuite Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Oracle NetSuite. Customers use CData connectivity to:

  • Access all editions of NetSuite, including Standard, CRM, and OneWorld.
  • Connect with all versions of the SuiteTalk API (SOAP-based) and SuiteQL, which functions like SQL, enabling easier data querying and manipulation.
  • Access predefined and custom reports through support for Saved Searches.
  • Securely authenticate with Token-based and OAuth 2.0, ensuring compatibility and security for all use cases.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to perform functional actions like uploading or downloading files, attaching or detaching records or relationships, retrieving roles, getting extra table or column info, getting job results, and more.

Customers use CData solutions to access live NetSuite data from their preferred analytics tools, Power BI and Excel. They also use CData's solutions to integrate their NetSuite data into comprehensive databases and data warehouse using CData Sync directly or leveraging CData's compatibility with other applications like Azure Data Factory. CData also helps Oracle NetSuite customers easily write apps that can pull data from and push data to NetSuite, allowing organizations to integrate data from other sources with NetSuite.

For more information about our Oracle NetSuite solutions, read our blog: Drivers in Focus Part 2: Replicating and Consolidating ... NetSuite Accounting Data.


Getting Started


Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure and Swagger-enabled NetSuite APIs:

Deploy

The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.

The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.

Connect to NetSuite

After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for NetSuite, provide authentication values and other connection properties by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console. You can then choose the entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid NetSuite user credentials. In addition, the AccountId must be set to the ID of a company account that can be used by the specified User. The RoleId can be optionally specified to log in the user with limited permissions.

See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for more information on connecting to NetSuite.

You will also need to enable CORS and define the following sections on the Settings -> Server page. As an alternative, you can select the option to allow all domains without '*'.

  1. Access-Control-Allow-Origin: Set this to a value of '*'. An Access-Control-Allow-Origin header value of '*' is required to use the API Server in the Logic Apps Designer.
  2. Access-Control-Allow-Methods: Set this to a value of "GET,PUT,POST,OPTIONS".
  3. Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Set this to "x-ms-client-request-id, authorization, content-type".

Authorize API Server Users

After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL. Access can also be restricted by IP address; access is restricted to only the local machine by default.

For simplicity, we will allow the authtoken for API users to be passed in the URL. You will need to add a setting in the Application section of the settings.cfg file, located in the data directory. On Windows, this is the app_data subfolder in the application root. In the Java edition, the location of the data directory depends on your operation system:

  1. Windows: C:\ProgramData\CData
  2. Unix or Mac OS X: ~/cdata
[Application] AllowAuthtokenInURL = true

Access NetSuite in a Logic App

You can use the API Server in a Logic App to create process flows around NetSuite data. The HTTP + Swagger action provides a wizard to define the operations you want to execute to NetSuite. The following steps below show how to retrieve NetSuite data in a Logic App.

If your table has a column containing the creation date of a record, you can follow the steps below to write a function to check the column values for any new records. Otherwise, skip to the Create a Logic App section to send out emails to entities that match a filter.

Check for New NetSuite Entities

To find new NetSuite entities since a certain time, you can write a function that retrieves a datetime value for the start of the interval:

  1. In the Azure Portal, click New -> Function App -> Create.
  2. Enter a name and select the subscription, resource group, App Service plan, and storage account.
  3. Select your Function App and select the Webhook + API scenario.
  4. Select the language. This article uses JavaScript.
  5. Add the following code to return the previous hour in a JSON object:
    module.exports = function (context, data) { 
      var d = new Date();
      d.setHours(d.getHours()-1); 
      // Response of the function to be used later.
      context.res = { 
        body: { 
          start: d 
        } 
      }; 
      context.done(); 
    };
    

Add NetSuite to a Trigger

Follow the steps below to create a trigger that searches NetSuite for results that match a filter. If you created the function above, you can search for objects that were created after the start of the interval returned.

  1. In the Azure Portal, click New and in the Web + Mobile section select Logic App and select a resource group and App Service plan.
  2. You can then use the wizards available in the Logic App Designer, which can be accessed from the settings blade for the Logic App. Select the Blank Logic App template.
  3. Add a Recurrence action that will poll for the NetSuite objects. This article polls every hour. Select the timezone -- the default is UTC.
  4. Add a function action: Expand the menu in the Add Action dialog and select the option to show Azure functions in the same region. Select the Function App you created earlier and select the function that returns the interval start.
  5. Enter an empty pair of curly brackets, "{}", to pass an empty payload object to the function.
  6. Add the HTTP + Swagger action and enter the swagger URL of the API Server: http://MySite:MyPort/api.rsc/@MyAuthtoken/$oas
  7. Select the "Return SalesOrder" operation.
  8. Use the descriptions for each property to specify additional parameters such as the columns to retrieve, filters, etc. Below is an example filter:

    Class_Name eq 'Furniture : Office'

    The API Server returns the descriptions and other documentation in the swagger document. You can find more information on using the OData API and supported OData in the API Server help documentation.

  9. To use the datetime value returned from the getInterval function, use the "ge" operator with a datetime column in the SalesOrder table and select the Body parameter in the dialog. Note that quotes must be used to surround the datetime value.

  10. Switch to Code View and modify the $filter expression to extract the property containing the start of the interval. Use the syntax '@{body('MyFunc')['MyProp']'.

    "getAllAccount": {
      "inputs": {
        "method": "get",
          "queries": {
            "$filter": "CreatedDate ge '@{body('getInterval')['start']}'"
          },
          "uri": "https://MySite:MyPort/api.rsc/@MyAuthtoken/SalesOrder"
      }
    

You can now access NetSuite as data sources and destinations in your workflows.

Email New Records

Follow the steps below to email a report with any new SalesOrder entities.

  1. In the Logic Apps Designer, add an SMTP - Send Email action.
  2. Configure the necessary information for the SMTP server.
  3. Configure the From, To, Subject, and Body. You can add parameters from the NetSuite columns returned.

Click Save and then click Run to send email notifications on any NetSuite records created in the last hour.

Ready to get started?

Learn more or sign up for a free trial:

CData API Server