Connect to QuickBooks Data from PowerBuilder via ADO.NET

This article demonstrates using the CData ADO.NET Provider for QuickBooks in PowerBuilder, showcasing the ease of use and compatibility of these standards-based controls across various platforms and development technologies that support Microsoft .NET, including Appeon PowerBuilder.

This article shows how to create a basic PowerBuilder application that uses the CData ADO.NET Provider for QuickBooks to perform reads and writes.

Getting Started

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1. In a new WPF Window Application solution, add all the Visual Controls needed for the connection properties. Below is a typical connection string:

   URL=http://remotehost:8166;User=admin;Password=admin123;

   When you are connecting to a local QuickBooks instance, you do not need to set any connection properties.

   Requests are made to QuickBooks through the Remote Connector. The Remote Connector runs on the same machine as QuickBooks and accepts connections through a lightweight, embedded Web server. The server supports SSL/TLS, enabling users to connect securely from remote machines.

   The first time you connect, authorize the Remote Connector with QuickBooks. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide.

2. Add the DataGrid control from the .NET controls.
3. Configure the columns of the DataGrid control. Below are several columns from the Account table:

   <DataGrid AutoGenerateColumns="False" Margin="13,249,12,14" Name="datagrid1" TabIndex="70" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
   <DataGrid.Columns>
    <DataGridTextColumn x:Name="idColumn" Binding="{Binding Path=Id}" Header="Id" Width="SizeToHeader" />
    <DataGridTextColumn x:Name="nameColumn" Binding="{Binding Path=Name}" Header="Name" Width="SizeToHeader" />
   		...
   	</DataGrid.Columns>
   </DataGrid>
   

4. Add a reference to the CData ADO.NET Provider for QuickBooks assembly.

Connect the DataGrid

Once the visual elements have been configured, you can use standard ADO.NET objects like Connection, Command, and DataAdapter to populate a DataTable with the results of an SQL query:

System.Data.CData.QuickBooks.QuickBooksConnection conn 
conn = create System.Data.CData.QuickBooks.QuickBooksConnection(connectionString)

System.Data.CData.QuickBooks.QuickBooksCommand comm 
comm = create System.Data.CData.QuickBooks.QuickBooksCommand(command, conn)

System.Data.DataTable table
table = create System.Data.DataTable

System.Data.CData.QuickBooks.QuickBooksDataAdapter dataAdapter
dataAdapter = create System.Data.CData.QuickBooks.QuickBooksDataAdapter(comm)
dataAdapter.Fill(table)	
datagrid1.ItemsSource=table.DefaultView

The code above can be used to bind data from the specified query to the DataGrid.