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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/netsuite-cloud-appsheet.rst

⇱ Create NetSuite-Connected Business Apps in AppSheet

Create NetSuite-Connected Business Apps in AppSheet

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Connect to NetSuite Data via CData Connect AI in Google AppSheet and create custom business applications with real-time access to NetSuite data.

Google AppSheet is a no-code development platform for application software, enabling users to design mobile, tablet, and web applications. When combined with CData Connect AI, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to NetSuite data for business applications. This article outlines the process of connecting to NetSuite using Connect AI and constructing a basic app from NetSuite data within AppSheet.

CData Connect AI offers a dedicated cloud-to-cloud interface for NetSuite, enabling the creation of reports directly from live NetSuite data within AppSheet, all without the need for data replication to a native database. When you design applications that interact with data, AppSheet formulates SQL queries to retrieve the required information. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect AI efficiently channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to NetSuite. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly deliver the requested NetSuite data.

About NetSuite Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Oracle NetSuite. Customers use CData connectivity to:

  • Access all editions of NetSuite, including Standard, CRM, and OneWorld.
  • Connect with all versions of the SuiteTalk API (SOAP-based) and SuiteQL, which functions like SQL, enabling easier data querying and manipulation.
  • Access predefined and custom reports through support for Saved Searches.
  • Securely authenticate with Token-based and OAuth 2.0, ensuring compatibility and security for all use cases.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to perform functional actions like uploading or downloading files, attaching or detaching records or relationships, retrieving roles, getting extra table or column info, getting job results, and more.

Customers use CData solutions to access live NetSuite data from their preferred analytics tools, Power BI and Excel. They also use CData's solutions to integrate their NetSuite data into comprehensive databases and data warehouse using CData Sync directly or leveraging CData's compatibility with other applications like Azure Data Factory. CData also helps Oracle NetSuite customers easily write apps that can pull data from and push data to NetSuite, allowing organizations to integrate data from other sources with NetSuite.

For more information about our Oracle NetSuite solutions, read our blog: Drivers in Focus Part 2: Replicating and Consolidating ... NetSuite Accounting Data.


Getting Started


Configure NetSuite Connectivity for AppSheet

Connectivity to NetSuite from AppSheet is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with NetSuite data from AppSheet, we start by creating and configuring a NetSuite connection.

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
    2. 👁 Adding a Connection
  2. Select "NetSuite" from the Add Connection panel
    3. 👁 Selecting a data source
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to NetSuite.

    The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid NetSuite user credentials. In addition, the AccountId must be set to the ID of a company account that can be used by the specified User. The RoleId can be optionally specified to log in the user with limited permissions.

    See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for more information on connecting to NetSuite.

    👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add NetSuite Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

  1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
  2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
  3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
  4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to NetSuite data from AppSheet.

Connect to NetSuite from AppSheet

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect AI from AppSheet to create a new NetSuite data source.

  1. Log into AppSheet
  2. Click "My account" in the menu
  3. Click the Sources tab and add a new data source 👁 Creating a new data source
  4. Select Cloud Database and set the connection information
    • Type: Sql Server
    • Server: tds.cdata.com,14333
    • Database: the NetSuite connection, for example, NetSuite1
    • Username: a Connect AI user, for example, [email protected]
    • Password: the PAT for the above Connect AI user
    • SSL: Require SSL
    👁 Connecting to Connect AI
  5. Click "Test Connection"
  6. Click "Authorize Access"

Create an App

Once you create the data source for NetSuite, you can start building apps on NetSuite data. Start by clicking "My apps" in the menu.

  1. Click to create a new app and select "Start with your own data"
  2. Name the app and select an appropriate category, based on your data
  3. Select the newly created data source
  4. Select the table or view with the data you want 👁 Selecting a table

At this point, you can configure the design of your app, selecting which columns from the selected table to display, use as labels, and more. Preview the app in the preview panel and then publish or share it when ready.

👁 Configuring an app connected to Connect AI.

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect AI today!