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Consume QuickBooks OData Feeds in PowerBuilder
This article demonstrates how to consume QuickBooks data as OData feeds from PowerBuilder using the API Server.
The CData API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for QuickBooks (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), produces secure feeds of QuickBooks data that you can consume in PowerBuilder DataWindows. The API Server supports the major Web services, including OData, Atom, JSON, HTML, CSV, TSV, and RSS. It also supports the major authentication schemes and SSL.
This article shows how to create a DataWindow that uses the CData API Server to execute reads and writes.
About QuickBooks Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live QuickBooks data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Access both local and remote company files.
- Connect across editions and regions: QuickBooks Premier, Professional, Enterprise, and Simple Start edition 2002+, as well as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and UK editions from 2003+.
- Use SQL stored procedures to perform actions like voiding or clearing transactions, merging lists, searching entities, and more.
Customers regularly integrate their QuickBooks data with preferred tools, like Power BI, Tableau, or Excel, and integrate QuickBooks data into their database or data warehouse.
Getting Started
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure QuickBooks 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 QuickBooks
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for QuickBooks, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to QuickBooks by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
When you are connecting to a local QuickBooks instance, you do not need to set any connection properties.
Requests are made to QuickBooks through the Remote Connector. The Remote Connector runs on the same machine as QuickBooks and accepts connections through a lightweight, embedded Web server. The server supports SSL/TLS, enabling users to connect securely from remote machines.
The first time you connect, authorize the Remote Connector with QuickBooks. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide.
You can then choose the QuickBooks entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.
Additionally, click Settings -> Server and change the following settings for compatibility with PowerBuilder:
- Default Format: Select XML (Atom) in the menu.
- Default Version: Select 2.0 in the menu.
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; by default, only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.
Create a Profile for QuickBooks
Follow the steps below to use the Database Painter tool to create a database profile for the OData API of the API Server. In the Database Painter, you can graphically manipulate data as well as execute SQL queries.
- Click Tools -> Database Painter.
- Right-click the OData node and click New Profile.
- In the Database Profile Setup dialog, enter the following:
- Profile Name: Enter a user-friendly name for the profile.
- URI: Enter the URL to the OData endpoint of the API Server. This URL will resemble the one below:
http://MyServer:8032/api.rsc - Supply User Id and Password: Click this option to use HTTP Basic authentication. Note that the API Server also supports Windows authentication.
- User Id: Enter the name of an user in the API Server.
- Password: Enter the authtoken of an user in the API Server.
- To view and modify a table, right-click a table and then click Edit Data -> Grid.
Using QuickBooks Data with PowerBuilder Controls
You can use standard PowerBuilder objects to connect to OData feeds and execute queries. The following example shows how to retrieve QuickBooks data into a DataWindow.
You can add the following code to the open method:
SQLCA.DBMS = "ODT"
SQLCA.DBParm = "ConnectString='URI=http://MyServer:8032/api.rsc;UID=MyAPIUser;PWD=MyAuthtoken'";
CONNECT USING SQLCA;
dw_customers.SetTransObject(SQLCA);
dw_customers.Retrieve();
