PowerShell Scripting to Replicate QuickBooks Data to MySQL

The CData Cmdlets for QuickBooks offer live access to QuickBooks 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 QuickBooks and the CData Cmdlets for MySQL in PowerShell to replicate QuickBooks data to a MySQL database.

Getting Started

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

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.

Collecting QuickBooks Data

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module QuickBooksCmdlets

2. Connect to QuickBooks:

    $quickbooks = Connect-QB -URL $URL -User $User -Password $Password
    

3. Retrieve the data from a specific resource:

    $data = Select-QB -Connection $quickbooks -Table "Customers"
    

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

    $data = Invoke-QB -Connection $quickbooks -Query 'SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE Type = @Type' -Params @{'@Type'='Commercial'}
    

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

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

Inserting QuickBooks 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 QuickBooks 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 QuickBooks resource (Customers) and to exist in the database.

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

You have now replicated your QuickBooks data to a MySQL database. This gives you freedom to work with QuickBooks 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 QuickBooks and MySQL in PowerShell, you can pipe command results to perform the replication in a single line:

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

• If you wish to replicate the QuickBooks 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-QB 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')}