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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/quickbase-cloud-nodejs.rst

⇱ Query Quickbase Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

Query Quickbase Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Execute SQL Server queries against Quickbase data from Node.js.

You can use CData Connect AI to query Quickbase data through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for Quickbase in Connect AI and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect AI provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for Quickbase, allowing you to easily query live Quickbase data in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Quickbase, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Quickbase data.

Configure Quickbase Connectivity for NodeJS

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

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

    User Authentication Method

    To authenticate with user credentials, specify the following connection properties:

    1. Set the User and Password.
    2. If your application requires an ApplicationToken;, you must provide it otherwise an error will be thrown. You can find the ApplicationToken under SpecificApp > Settings > App management > App properties > Advanced settings > Security options > Manage Application Token.

    User Token Authentication

    To authenticate with a user token, specify the following connection properties:

    1. Set UserToken and you are ready to connect. You can find the UserToken under Quick Base > My Preferences > My User Information > Manage User Tokens.
    👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
  4. Click Save & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Quickbase 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 Quickbase data from Node.js.

Query Quickbase from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to Quickbase with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

  • server: tds.cdata.com
  • port: 14333
  • user: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
  • password: the PAT for the above user
  • database: The connection you configured for Quickbase (QuickBase1)

Connect to Quickbase data and start executing queries with the code below: 

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: '[email protected]', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'QuickBase1'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
 if(err){
 throw err ;
 }
 new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM SampleTable_1', (err, result) => {
 console.dir(result)
 })
 
});

sql.on('error', err => {
 console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})