How to use SQLAlchemy ORM to access MYOB AccountRight Data in Python

The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems effectively. With the CData Python Connector for MYOB AccountRight and the SQLAlchemy toolkit, you can build MYOB AccountRight-connected Python applications and scripts. This article shows how to use SQLAlchemy to connect to MYOB AccountRight data to query, update, delete, and insert MYOB AccountRight data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData Python Connector offers unmatched performance for interacting with live MYOB AccountRight data in Python. When you issue complex SQL queries from MYOB AccountRight, the CData Connector pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to MYOB AccountRight and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to MYOB AccountRight Data

Connecting to MYOB AccountRight data looks just like connecting to any relational data source. Create a connection string using the required connection properties. For this article, you will pass the connection string as a parameter to the create_engine function.

These properties are required when connecting to a company file (both for Cloud and On-Premise instances).

• CompanyFileId: You can find this by starting MYOB, opening your data file, and selecting Help -> About MYOB
• User: The username associated with your company file.
• Password: The password associated with your company file.

Connecting to a Cloud Instance

To connect to a cloud instance of MYOB, you can use the embedded OAuth credentials or create an OAuth app with MYOB. This process is detailed in the Help documentation.

Connecting to an On-Premise instance:

When connecting to an on-premise instance, set the following connection property in addition to those above:

• InitiateOauth: Set this to OFF.
• Url: The Url of your MYOB instance.

Follow the procedure below to install SQLAlchemy and start accessing MYOB AccountRight through Python objects.

Install Required Modules

Use the pip utility to install the SQLAlchemy toolkit and SQLAlchemy ORM package:

pip install sqlalchemy
pip install sqlalchemy.orm

Be sure to import the appropriate modules:

from sqlalchemy import create_engine, String, Column
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker

Model MYOB AccountRight Data in Python

You can now connect with a connection string. Use the create_engine function to create an Engine for working with MYOB AccountRight data.

NOTE: Users should URL encode the any connection string properties that include special characters. For more information, refer to the SQL Alchemy documentation.

engine = create_engine("myob:///?OAuthClientId=YourClientId& OAuthClientSecret=YourClientSecret& CompanyFileId=yourCompanyFileId& CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333& User=companyFileUser& Password=companyFilePassword&InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH")

Declare a Mapping Class for MYOB AccountRight Data

After establishing the connection, declare a mapping class for the table you wish to model in the ORM (in this article, we will model the Accounts table). Use the sqlalchemy.ext.declarative.declarative_base function and create a new class with some or all of the fields (columns) defined.

base = declarative_base()
class Accounts(base):
	__tablename__ = "Accounts"
	Id = Column(String,primary_key=True)
	Name = Column(String)
	...

Query MYOB AccountRight Data

With the mapping class prepared, you can use a session object to query the data source. After binding the Engine to the session, provide the mapping class to the session query method.

Using the query Method

engine = create_engine("myob:///?OAuthClientId=YourClientId& OAuthClientSecret=YourClientSecret& CompanyFileId=yourCompanyFileId& CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333& User=companyFileUser& Password=companyFilePassword&InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH")
factory = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = factory()
for instance in session.query(Accounts).filter_by(Type="Bank"):
	print("Id: ", instance.Id)
	print("Name: ", instance.Name)
	print("---------")

Alternatively, you can use the execute method with the appropriate table object. The code below works with an active session.

Using the execute Method

Accounts_table = Accounts.metadata.tables["Accounts"]
for instance in session.execute(Accounts_table.select().where(Accounts_table.c.Type == "Bank")):
	print("Id: ", instance.Id)
	print("Name: ", instance.Name)
	print("---------")

For examples of more complex querying, including JOINs, aggregations, limits, and more, refer to the Help documentation for the extension.

Insert MYOB AccountRight Data

To insert MYOB AccountRight data, define an instance of the mapped class and add it to the active session. Call the commit function on the session to push all added instances to MYOB AccountRight.

new_rec = Accounts(Id="placeholder", Type="Bank")
session.add(new_rec)
session.commit()

Update MYOB AccountRight Data

To update MYOB AccountRight data, fetch the desired record(s) with a filter query. Then, modify the values of the fields and call the commit function on the session to push the modified record to MYOB AccountRight.

updated_rec = session.query(Accounts).filter_by(SOME_ID_COLUMN="SOME_ID_VALUE").first()
updated_rec.Type = "Bank"
session.commit()

Delete MYOB AccountRight Data

To delete MYOB AccountRight data, fetch the desired record(s) with a filter query. Then delete the record with the active session and call the commit function on the session to perform the delete operation on the provided records (rows).

deleted_rec = session.query(Accounts).filter_by(SOME_ID_COLUMN="SOME_ID_VALUE").first()
session.delete(deleted_rec)
session.commit()

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData Python Connector for MYOB AccountRight to start building Python apps and scripts with connectivity to MYOB AccountRight data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.