Load TaxJar Data to a Database Using Embulk

Embulk is an open source bulk data loader. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for TaxJar, Embulk easily loads data from TaxJar to any supported destination. In this article, we explain how to use the CData JDBC Driver for TaxJar in Embulk to load TaxJar data to a MySQL dtabase.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live TaxJar data. When you issue complex SQL queries to TaxJar, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to TaxJar and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Configure a JDBC Connection to TaxJar Data

Before creating a bulk load job in Embulk, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for TaxJar\lib).

Embulk supports JDBC connectivity, so you can easily connect to TaxJar and execute SQL queries. Before creating a bulk load job, create a JDBC URL for authenticating with TaxJar.

To authenticate to the TaxJar API, first obtain the API Key from the TaxJar UI.

NOTE: the API is available only for Professional and Premium TaxJar plans.

If you already have a Professional or Premium plan you can find the API Key by logging in the TaxJar UI and navigating to Account -> TaxJar API. After obtaining the API Key, you can set it in the APIKey connection property.

Additional Notes

• By default, the CData connector will retrieve data of the last 3 months in cases where the entity support date range filtering. You can set StartDate to specify the minimum creation date of the data retrieved.
• If the API Key has been created for a sandbox API account please set UseSandbox to true, but not all endpoints will work as expected. For more information, refer to the TaxJar developer documentation.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.taxjar.jar

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

👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for TaxJar:

jdbc:taxjar:APIKey=3bb04218ef8t80efdf1739abf7257144;

Load TaxJar Data in Embulk

After installing the CData JDBC Driver and creating a JDBC connection string, install the required Embulk plugins.

Install Embulk Input & Output Plugins

1. Install the JDBC Input Plugin in Embulk.
   https://github.com/embulk/embulk-input-jdbc/tree/master/embulk-input-jdbc

embulk gem install embulk-input-jdbc

2. In this article, we use MySQL as the destination database. You can also choose SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or Google BigQuery as the destination using the output Plugins.
   https://github.com/embulk/embulk-output-jdbc/tree/master/embulk-output-mysql

   embulk gem install embulk-output-mysql
   

With the input and output plugins installed, we are ready to load TaxJar data into MySQL using Embulk.

Create a Job to Load TaxJar Data

Start by creating a config file in Embulk, using a name like taxjar-mysql.yml.

1. For the input plugin options, use the CData JDBC Driver for TaxJar, including the path to the driver JAR file, the driver class (e.g. cdata.jdbc.taxjar.TaxJarDriver), and the JDBC URL from above
2. For the output plugin options, use the values and credentials for the MySQL database

Sample Config File (taxjar-mysql.yml)

in:
	type: jdbc
	driver_path: C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] 20xx\lib\cdata.jdbc.taxjar.jar
	driver_class: cdata.jdbc.taxjar.TaxJarDriver
	url: jdbc:taxjar:APIKey=3bb04218ef8t80efdf1739abf7257144;
	table: "Orders"
out: 
	type: mysql
	host: localhost
	database: DatabaseName
	user: UserId
	password: UserPassword
	table: "Orders"
	mode: insert

After creating the file, run the Embulk job.

embulk run taxjar-mysql.yml

After running the the Embulk job, find the Salesforce data in the MySQL table.

Load Filtered TaxJar Data

In addition to loading data directly from a table, you can use a custom SQL query to have more granular control of the data loaded. You can also perform increment loads by setting a last updated column in a SQL WHERE clause in the query field.

in:
	type: jdbc
	driver_path: C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] 20xx\lib\cdata.jdbc.taxjar.jar
	driver_class: cdata.jdbc.taxjar.TaxJarDriver
	url: jdbc:taxjar:APIKey=3bb04218ef8t80efdf1739abf7257144;
	query: "SELECT TransactionID, UserID FROM Orders WHERE [RecordId] = 1"
out: 
	type: mysql
	host: localhost
	database: DatabaseName
	user: UserId
	password: UserPassword
	table: "Orders"
	mode: insert

More Information & Free Trial

By using CData JDBC Driver for TaxJar as a connector, Embulk can integrate TaxJar data into your data load jobs. And with drivers for more than 200+ other enterprise sources, you can integrate any enterprise SaaS, big data, or NoSQL source as well. Download a 30-day free trial and get started today.