Write a Simple Go Application to work with NetSuite Data on Linux

Use CData ODBC drivers and unixODBC to create a simple Go app with live connectivity to NetSuite data.

Go is an open source programming language that enables you to easily build software on Linux/UNIX machines. When Go is paired with the ODBC Driver for NetSuite and unixODBC you are able write applications with connectivity to live NetSuite data. This article will walk you through the process of installing the ODBC Driver for NetSuite, configuring a connection using the unixODBC Driver Manager, and creating a simple Go application to work with NetSuite data.

Using the CData ODBC Drivers on a Unix/Linux Machine

The CData ODBC Drivers are supported in various Red Hat-based and Debian-based systems, including Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora. There are also several libraries and packages that are required, many of which may be installed by default, depending on your system. For more information on the supported versions of Linux operating systems and the required libraries, please refer to the "Getting Started" section in help documentation (installed and found online).

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

Installing the Driver Manager

Before installing the driver, you need to be sure that your system has a driver manager. For this article, you will use unixODBC, a free and open source ODBC driver manager that is widely supported.

For Debian-based systems like Ubuntu, you can install unixODBC with the APT package manager:


apt-get install unixodbc unixodbc-dev

For systems based on Red Hat Linux, you can install unixODBC with yum or dnf:


yum install unixODBC unixODBC-devel

The unixODBC driver manager reads information about drivers from an odbcinst.ini file and about data sources from an odbc.ini file. You can determine the location of the configuration files on your system by entering the following command into a terminal:


odbcinst -j

NOTE: You may need to install odbcinst. Use the following command in a terminal:


apt install odbcinst

The output of the command will display the locations of the configuration files for ODBC data sources and registered ODBC drivers. User data sources can only be accessed by the user account whose home folder the odbc.ini is located in. System data sources can be accessed by all users. Below is an example of the output of this command:


DRIVERS............: /etc/odbcinst.ini
SYSTEM DATA SOURCES: /etc/odbc.ini
FILE DATA SOURCES..: /etc/ODBCDataSources
USER DATA SOURCES..: /home/myuser/.odbc.ini
SQLULEN Size.......: 8
SQLLEN Size........: 8
SQLSETPOSIROW Size.: 8

Installing the Driver

You can download the driver in standard package formats: the Debian .deb package format or the .rpm file format. Once you have downloaded the file, you can install the driver from the terminal.

The driver installer registers the driver with unixODBC and creates a system DSN, which can be used later in any tools or applications that support ODBC connectivity.

For Debian-based systems like Ubuntu, run the following command with sudo or as root: dpkg -i /path/to/package.deb

For systems that support .rpms, run the following command with sudo or as root: rpm -i /path/to/package.rpm

Once the driver is installed, you can list the registered drivers and defined data sources using the unixODBC driver manager:

List the Registered Driver(s)


odbcinst -q -d
CData ODBC Driver for NetSuite
...

List the Defined Data Source(s)


odbcinst -q -s
CData NetSuite Source
...

To use the CData ODBC Driver for NetSuite with unixODBC, you need to ensure that the driver is configured to use UTF-16. To do so, edit the INI file for the driver (cdata.odbc.netsuite.ini), which can be found in the lib folder in the installation location (typically /opt/cdata/cdata-odbc-driver-for-netsuite), as follows:

cdata.odbc.netsuite.ini


...

[Driver]
DriverManagerEncoding = UTF-16

Modifying the DSN

When the driver is installed, a system DSN should be predefined. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties. Additionally, you can create user-specific DSNs that will not require root access to modify in $HOME/.odbc.ini.

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.

/etc/odbc.ini or $HOME/.odbc.ini


[CData NetSuite Source]
Driver = /opt/cdata/cdata-odbc-driver-for-netsuite/lib/libnetsuiteodbc.x64.so
Description = My Description
Account Id = XABC123456
Password = password
User = user
Role Id = 3
Version = 2013_1

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Creating a Simple Go App for NetSuite Data

With the Driver Manager installed and the DSN configured, you are ready to create a simple Go application to work with your NetSuite data. To start, install a Go driver for ODBC databases. While there are several options available, this article will use the odbc driver found at https://github.com/alexbrainman/odbc.

Installing ODBC on Linux

There are a series of steps required to install the ODBC driver for Go.

Create the $HOME/golang/go path (if it does not exist) by entering the following commands in a terminal: mkdir /root/golang mkdir /root/golang/go
Define the GOPATH environment variable: export GOPATH=$HOME/golang/go
Create a module inside the new Go directory: cd $GOPATH go mod init myproject
Install the Go driver for ODBC databases:
go get http://github.com/alexbrainman/odbc

Now you are ready to create and execute a simple Go application.

Sample Go Application

The sample application issues a simple SQL SELECT query for NetSuite data and displays the results. Create the directory $GOPATH/src/cdata-odbc-netsuite and create a new Go source file, copying the source code from below.

cdata-odbc-netsuite.go


package main

import (
  _ "github.com/alexbrainman/odbc"
  "database/sql"
  "log"
  "fmt"
)

func main() {
  db, err := sql.Open("odbc",
    "DSN=CData NetSuite Source")
  if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
  }

  var (
    customername string
    salesordertotal string
  )

  rows, err := db.Query("SELECT CustomerName, SalesOrderTotal FROM SalesOrder WHERE Class_Name = ?", "Furniture : Office")
  if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
  }
  defer rows.Close()
  for rows.Next() {
    err := rows.Scan(&customername, &salesordertotal)
    if err != nil {
      log.Fatal(err)
    }
    fmt.Println(customername, salesordertotal)
  }
  err = rows.Err()
  if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
  }

  defer db.Close()
}

In the terminal, navigate to the Go application directory and build the application:


go build

After the application builds, you will be able to execute the application, displaying your NetSuite data:


./cdata-odbc-netsuite

At this point, you have a simple Go application for working with NetSuite data. From here, you can easily expand the application, adding deeper read/write functionality through familiar SQL queries.

Ready to get started?

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

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Learn more:

NetSuite ODBC Driver

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

Access NetSuite like you would a database - read, write, and update Leads, Contacts, Opportunities, Accounts, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.