Connect to NetSuite Data in Ruby

The CData ODBC Driver for NetSuite makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live NetSuite data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to NetSuite data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Getting Started

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Create an ODBC Connection to NetSuite Data

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

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.

Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems

If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:

gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc

Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to NetSuite Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: NetSuiteSelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

#connect to the DSN
require 'dbi'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData NetSuite Source','','')

#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT Customer.FirstName AS CustomerName, SalesOrder.Total AS SalesOrderTotal FROM SalesOrder, Customer")

#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
 print name, "\t"
end
puts

#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
 (0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
 print row[n], "\t"
 end
 puts
end
resultSet.finish

#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn

With the file completed, you are ready to display your NetSuite data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

ruby NetSuiteSelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to NetSuite allows you to quickly and easily incorporate NetSuite data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!