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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/qbonline-cloud-datapine.rst

⇱ Build QuickBooks Online-Connected Visualizations in datapine

Build QuickBooks Online-Connected Visualizations in datapine

👁 Dibyendu Datta
Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist
Use CData Connect AI and datapine to build visualizations and dashboards with access to live QuickBooks Online data.

datapine is a browser-based business intelligence platform. When paired with the CData Connect AI, you get access to your QuickBooks Online data directly from your datapine visualizations and dashboards. This article describes connecting to QuickBooks Online in CData Connect AI and building a simple QuickBooks Online-connected visualization in datapine.

CData Connect AI provides a pure SQL Server interface for QuickBooks Online, allowing you to query data from QuickBooks Online without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to QuickBooks Online, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested QuickBooks Online data quickly.

About QuickBooks Online Data Integration

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

  • Realize high-performance data reads thanks to push-down query optimization for complex operations like filters and aggregations.
  • Read, write, update, and delete QuickBooks Online data.
  • Run reports, download attachments, and send or void invoices directly from code using SQL stored procedures.
  • Connect securely using OAuth and modern cryptography, including TLS 1.2, SHA-256, and ECC.

Many users access live QuickBooks Online data from preferred analytics tools like Power BI and Excel, directly from databases with federated access, and use CData solutions to easily integrate QuickBooks Online data with automated workflows for business-to-business communications.

For more information on how customers are solving problems with CData's QuickBooks Online solutions, refer to our blog: https://www.cdata.com/blog/360-view-of-your-customers.


Getting Started


Configure QuickBooks Online Connectivity for datapine

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

  1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
    2. 👁 Adding a Connection
  2. Select "QuickBooks Online" from the Add Connection panel
    3. 👁 Selecting a data source
  3. QuickBooks Online uses OAuth to authenticate. Click "Sign in" to authenticate with QuickBooks Online. 👁 Authenticating with OAuth (Salesforce is shown).
  4. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add QuickBooks Online 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 QuickBooks Online data from datapine.

Connecting to QuickBooks Online from datapine

Once you configure your connection to QuickBooks Online in Connect AI, you are ready to connect to QuickBooks Online from datapine.

  1. Log into datapine
  2. Click Connect to navigate to the "Connect" page
  3. Select MS SQL Server as the data source
  4. In the Integration step, fill in the connection properties and click "Save and Proceed"
    • Set the Internal Name
    • Set Database Name to the name of the connection we just configured (e.g. QuickBooksOnline1)
    • Set Host / IP to "tds.cdata.com"
    • Set Username to your Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected])
    • Set Password to the corresponding PAT
    • Set Database Port to "14333"
    👁 Configuring the connection to CData Connect AI
  5. In the Data Schema step, select the tables and fields to visualize and click "Save and Proceed" 👁 Selecting tables and fields to visualize (Salesforce is shown)
  6. In the References step, define any relationships between your selected tables and click "Save and Proceed" 👁 Defining foreign key relationships
  7. In the Data Transfer step, click "Go to Analyzer"

Visualize QuickBooks Online Data in datapine

After connecting to CData Connect AI, you are ready to visualize your QuickBooks Online data in datapine. Simply select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize!

👁 Visualizing data in datapine (Salesforce is shown)

Having connect to QuickBooks Online from datapine, you are now able to visualize and analyze real-time QuickBooks Online data no matter where you are. To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from datapine, try CData Connect AI today!