PowerShell Scripting to Replicate Quickbase Data to MySQL

The CData Cmdlets for Quickbase offer live access to Quickbase data from within PowerShell. Using PowerShell scripts, you can easily automate regular tasks like data replication. This article will walk through using the CData Cmdlets for Quickbase and the CData Cmdlets for MySQL in PowerShell to replicate Quickbase data to a MySQL database.

After obtaining the needed connection properties, accessing Quickbase data in PowerShell and preparing for replication consists of four basic steps.

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.

Collecting Quickbase Data

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module QuickBaseCmdlets

2. Connect to Quickbase:

    $quickbase = Connect-QuickBase -User $User -Password $Password -Domain $Domain -ApplicationToken $ApplicationToken
    

3. Retrieve the data from a specific resource:

    $data = Select-QuickBase -Connection $quickbase -Table "SampleTable_1"
    

   You can also use the Invoke-QuickBase cmdlet to execute pure SQL-92 statements:

    $data = Invoke-QuickBase -Connection $quickbase -Query 'SELECT * FROM SampleTable_1 WHERE Column2 = @Column2' -Params @{'@Column2'='100'}
    

4. Save a list of the column names from the returned data.

    $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name
    

Inserting Quickbase Data into the MySQL Database

With the data and column names collected, you are ready to replicate the data into a MySQL database.

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module MySQLCmdlets

2. Connect to MySQL, using the server address and port of the MySQL server, valid user credentials, and a specific database with the table in which the data will be replicated:

    $mysql = Connect-MySQL -User $User -Password $Password -Database $Database -Server $Server -Port $Port
    

3. Loop through the Quickbase data, store the values, and use the Add-MySQL cmdlet to insert the data into the MySQL database, one row at a time. In this example, the table will need to have the same name as the Quickbase resource (SampleTable_1) and to exist in the database.

    $data | % {
    $row = $_
    $values = @()
    $columns | % {
    $col = $_
    $values += $row.$($col)
    }
    Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "SampleTable_1" -Columns $columns -Values $values
    }
    

You have now replicated your Quickbase data to a MySQL database. This gives you freedom to work with Quickbase data in the same way that you work with other MySQL tables, whether that is performing analytics, building reports, or other business functions.

Notes

• Once you have connected to Quickbase and MySQL in PowerShell, you can pipe command results to perform the replication in a single line:

   Select-QuickBase -Connection $quickbase -Table "SampleTable_1" | % {
   $row = $_
   $values = @()
   $columns | % {
   $col = $_
   $values += $row.$($col)
   }
   Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "SampleTable_1" -Columns $columns -Values $values
   }
   

• If you wish to replicate the Quickbase data to another database using another PowerShell module, you will want to exclude the Columns, Connection, and Table columns from the data returned by the Select-QuickBase cmdlet since those columns are used to help pipe data from one CData cmdlet to another:

   $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name | ? {$_ -NotIn @('Columns','Connection','Table')}