Extend Google Sheets with Paylocity Data

Make calls to the API Server from Google Apps Script.

Interact with Paylocity data from Google Sheets through macros, custom functions, and add-ons. The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Paylocity (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), enables connectivity to Paylocity data from cloud-based and mobile applications like Google Sheets. The API Server is a lightweight Web application that produces OData services for Paylocity and any source supported by the CData ADO.NET Providers.

Google Apps Script can consume these OData services in the JSON format. This article shows how to create a simple add-on that populates a Google Spreadsheet with Employee data and, as you make changes, executes updates to Paylocity data.

Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Paylocity OData services:

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 Paylocity

After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Paylocity, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Paylocity by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.

Set the following to establish a connection to Paylocity:

RSAPublicKey: Set this to the RSA Key associated with your Paylocity, if the RSA Encryption is enabled in the Paylocity account.
This property is required for executing Insert and Update statements, and it is not required if the feature is disabled.
UseSandbox: Set to true if you are using sandbox account.
CustomFieldsCategory: Set this to the Customfields category. This is required when IncludeCustomFields is set to true. The default value for this property is PayrollAndHR.
Key: The AES symmetric key(base 64 encoded) encrypted with the Paylocity Public Key. It is the key used to encrypt the content.
Paylocity will decrypt the AES key using RSA decryption.
It is an optional property if the IV value not provided, The driver will generate a key internally.
IV: The AES IV (base 64 encoded) used when encrypting the content. It is an optional property if the Key value not provided, The driver will generate an IV internally.

Connect Using OAuth Authentication

You must use OAuth to authenticate with Paylocity. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Paylocity using the browser. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.

The Pay Entry API

The Pay Entry API is completely separate from the rest of the Paylocity API. It uses a separate Client ID and Secret, and must be explicitly requested from Paylocity for access to be granted for an account. The Pay Entry API allows you to automatically submit payroll information for individual employees, and little else. Due to the extremely limited nature of what is offered by the Pay Entry API, we have elected not to give it a separate schema, but it may be enabled via the UsePayEntryAPI connection property.

Please be aware that when setting UsePayEntryAPI to true, you may only use the CreatePayEntryImportBatch & MergePayEntryImportBatchgtable stored procedures, the InputTimeEntry table, and the OAuth stored procedures. Attempts to use other features of the product will result in an error. You must also store your OAuthAccessToken separately, which often means setting a different OAuthSettingsLocation when using this connection property.

You can then choose the Paylocity entities you want to allow the API Server to access by clicking Settings -> Resources.

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. Access can also be restricted based on IP address: Connections from all addresses except localhost are blocked by default, so you will need to allow connections from Google's servers for this article. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.

Retrieve Paylocity Data

Open the Script Editor from your spreadsheet by clicking Tools -> Script Editor. In the Script Editor, add the following function to populate a spreadsheet with the results of an OData query:



function retrieve(){
  var url = "https://MyUrl/api.rsc/Employee?select=Id,FirstName,LastName,EmployeeId";
  var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url,{
    headers: {"Authorization": "Basic " + Utilities.base64Encode("MyUser:MyAuthtoken")}
  }); 
  var json = response.getContentText();
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  var a1 = sheet.getRange('a1');
  var index=1;
  var employee = JSON.parse(json).value;

  var cols = [["Id","FirstName","LastName","EmployeeId"]]; 
  sheet.getRange(1,1,1,4).setValues(cols);

  row=2;
  for(var i in employee){
    for (var j in employee[i]) {
      switch (j) {
        case "Id":
          a1.offset(row,0).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "FirstName":
          a1.offset(row,1).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "LastName":
          a1.offset(row,2).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
        case "EmployeeId":
          a1.offset(row,3).setValue(account[i][j]);
          break;
      }      
    }
    row++;
  }
}

Follow the steps below to add an installable trigger to populate the spreadsheet when opened:

Click Resources -> Current Project's Triggers -> Add a New Trigger.
Select retrieve in the Run menu.
Select From Spreadsheet.
Select On open.

After closing the dialog, you are prompted to allow access to the application.

Post Changes to Paylocity Data

Add the following function to post changes to cells back to the API Server:



function buildReq(e){
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  var changes = e.range;
  var id = sheet.getRange(changes.getRow(),1).getValue();
  var col = sheet.getRange(1,changes.getColumn()).getValue();
  
  var url = "http://MyServer/api.rsc/Employee("+id+")";
  var putdata = "{\"@odata.type\" : \"CDataAPI.Employee\",  \""+col+"\": \""+changes.getValue()+"\"}";;
  UrlFetchApp.fetch(url,{
    method: "put",
    contentType: "application/json",
    payload: putdata,
    headers: {"Authorization": "Basic " + Utilities.base64Encode("MyUser:MyAuthtoken")}
  });

}

Follow the steps below to add the update trigger:

Click Resources -> Current Project's Triggers.
Select buildReq in the Run menu.
Select From Spreadsheet.
Select On edit.

You can test the script by clicking Publish -> Test as Add-On. Select the version, installation type, and spreadsheet to create a test configuration. You can then select and run the test configuration.

As you make changes to cells, the API Server executes updates to Paylocity data.

Ready to get started?

Learn more or sign up for a free trial:

CData API Server