Connect to QuickBooks Online Data in JRuby

JRuby is a high-performance, stable, fully threaded Java implementation of the Ruby programming language. The CData JDBC Driver for QuickBooks Online makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live QuickBooks Online data in JRuby. This article shows how to create a simple JRuby app that connects to QuickBooks Online data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Getting Started

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Configure a JDBC Connection to QuickBooks Online Data

Before creating the app, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for QuickBooks Online\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to QuickBooks Online and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

QuickBooks Online uses the OAuth authentication standard. OAuth requires the authenticating user to log in through the browser. To authenticate using OAuth, you can use the embedded OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL or you can obtain your own by registering an app with Intuit. Additionally, if you want to connect to sandbox data, set UseSandbox to true.

See the Getting Started chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the QuickBooks Online JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.quickbooksonline.jar

Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for QuickBooks Online:

jdbc:quickbooksonline:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to QuickBooks Online Data

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

require 'java'
require 'rubygems'
require 'C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for QuickBooks Online 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.quickbooksonline.jar'

url = "jdbc:quickbooksonline:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT DisplayName, Balance FROM Customers")
while (rs.next) do
 puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

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

jruby -S QuickBooksOnlineSelect.rb

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