Query BambooHR Data as a MySQL Database in Node.js

You can use the SQL Gateway from the ODBC Driver for BambooHR to query BambooHR data through a MySQL interface. Follow the procedure below to start the MySQL remoting service of the SQL Gateway and start querying using Node.js.

Connect to BambooHR Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the BambooHR Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\bamboohr.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for BambooHR (see below).

BambooHR API Profile Settings

In order to authenticate to BambooHR, you'll need to provide your API Key. To generate an API key, log in and click your name in the upper right-hand corner of any page to get to the user context menu. If you have sufficient permissions, there will be an "API Keys" option in that menu to go to the page, where you can create a new API Key. Additionally, set the Domain, found in the domain name of your BambooHR account. For example if your BambooHR account is acmeinc.bamboohr.com, then the Domain should be 'acmeinc'. Set both the API Key and Domain in the ProfileSettings property to connect.

Configure the SQL Gateway

See the SQL Gateway Overview to set up connectivity to BambooHR data as a virtual MySQL database. You will configure a MySQL remoting service that listens for MySQL requests from clients. The service can be configured in the SQL Gateway UI.

👁 Creating a MySQL Remoting Service in SQL Gateway (Salesforce is shown)

Query BambooHR from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to BambooHR with the mysql module. You will need the following information:

• Host name or address, and port: The machine and port where the MySQL remoting service is listening for MySQL connections.
• Username and password: The username and password of a user you authorized on the Users tab of the SQL Gateway.
• Database name: The DSN you configured for the MySQL remoting service.

Connect to BambooHR data and start executing queries with the code below:

var mysql = require('mysql');
var connection = mysql.createConnection({
 host : 'localhost',
 database : 'CData API Sys',
 port	 : '3306',
 user : 'mysql_user',
 password : 'test'
});
connection.connect();
connection.query('SELECT * FROM Employees', function(err, rows, fields) {
 if (err) throw err;
 console.log(rows);
});

connection.end();