Connect to Avalara AvaTax Data in RapidMiner

This article shows how you can easily integrate the CData JDBC driver for Avalara AvaTax into your processes in RapidMiner. This article uses the CData JDBC Driver for Avalara AvaTax to transfer Avalara AvaTax data to a process in RapidMiner.

Connect to Avalara AvaTax in RapidMiner as a JDBC Data Source

You can follow the procedure below to establish a JDBC connection to Avalara AvaTax:

1. Add a new database driver for Avalara AvaTax: Click Connections -> Manage Database Drivers.
2. In the resulting wizard, click the Add button and enter a name for the connection.
3. Enter the prefix for the JDBC URL:

   jdbc:avalaraavatax:
   

4. Enter the path to the cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. Enter the driver class:

   cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.AvalaraAvataxDriver
   

   👁 The JDBC driver configuration. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
6. Create a new Avalara AvaTax connection: Click Connections -> Manage Database Connections.
7. Enter a name for your connection.
8. For Database System, select the Avalara AvaTax driver you configured previously.
9. Enter your connection string in the Host box.

   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.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

   For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Avalara AvaTax JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.jar
   

   Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

   👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)
   

   A typical connection string is below:

   User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;
   

10. Enter your username and password if necessary. 👁 The connection to the JDBC data source. (Salesforce is shown.)
    

You can now use your Avalara AvaTax connection with the various RapidMiner operators in your process. To retrieve Avalara AvaTax data, drag the Retrieve operator from the Operators view. 👁 A Retrieve operation to select data. (Salesforce is shown.)
With the Retrieve operator selected, you can then define which table to retrieve in the Parameters view by clicking the folder icon next to the "repository entry." In the resulting Repository Browser, you can expand your connection node to select the desired example set.

Finally, wire the output to the Retrieve process to a result, and run the process to see the Avalara AvaTax data.