Import Real-Time Xero Data via ODBC in ColdFusion to Build Applications

Dibyendu Datta
Lead Technology Evangelist

Use CData ODBC drivers to import and use Xero data in ColdFusion.

Adobe ColdFusion is a web and mobile application development platform. It uses its own scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), to create data-driven websites as well as generate remote services, such as REST. When ColdFusion is paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Xero, you can link your ColdFusion web and mobile applications to operational Xero data. This allows for your applications to be more robust and complete. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to create a table populated with Xero data from within a ColdFusion markup file.

About Xero Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Xero has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

Connect to Xero Accounts and both US and Australian Payroll APIs.
Read, write, update, and delete Xero objects like Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts and more.
Use SQL stored procedures for actions like adding items to a cart, submitting orders, and downloading attachments.
Work with accounting, payroll, file, fixed asset, and project data.

Customers regularly integrate their Xero data with preferred tools, like Tableau, Qlik Sense, or Excel, and integrate Xero data into their database or data warehouse.

Getting Started

To follow along with this tutorial, you need to install the CData ODBC Driver for Xero and Adobe ColdFusion.

Configuring the Connection

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (Data Source Name). This is the last step of the driver installation process. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

To connect, set the Schema connection property in addition to any authentication values. Xero offers authentication for private applications, public applications, and partner applications. Set the XeroAppAuthentication property to PUBLIC, PRIVATE, or PARTNER, depending on the type of application configured. To connect from a private application, you will additionally need to set the OAuthAccessToken, OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, CertificateStoreType, CertificateStore, and CertificateStorePassword.

To connect from a public or partner application, you can use the embedded OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL, or you can register an app to obtain your own OAuth values.

See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to authenticating to Xero.

Adding a Data Source and Creating a Table

After creating a DSN, follow the steps below to add a new data source, test our connection to it, create a ColdFusion markup file, and, finally, import Xero Data and display it in a table in ColdFusion:

From the ColdFusion administrator interface, choose Data & Services. 👁 Selecting Data & Services
Here, click "Add New Data Source". The data source name can be any name, provided it conforms to the ColdFusion variable naming conventions. For our ODBC driver, choose "ODBC Socket", then click the "Add" button. 👁 Adding Data Source Name
From the ODBC DSN Dropdown menu select CData Xero Sys. Under the Advanced Settings section, leave the Connection String blank. Note that any properties specified in this input field will override the ones specified in the DSN Configuration. 👁 Populating driver properties
Now, test the connection by pressing the check mark to the left of the CDataXeroODBC data source you just created. When the data source reports an "OK" status, it is ready for use. 👁 Testing the connection

Next, create a new ColdFusion Markup file (.cfm) and place it in the wwwroot directory ("C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\wwwroot") for ColdFusion.

The following code queries the data source:

 
 <cfquery name="XeroQuery" dataSource="CDataXeroODBC"> 
 SELECT * FROM Items 
 </cfquery>

And a CFTable can be used to quickly output the table in HTML:

 
 <cftable 
 query = "XeroQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 

 <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Name"/> 

 <cfcol header="<b>QuantityOnHand</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="QuantityOnHand"/> 

 ...

 </cftable>

Full code, including the HTML portion is available below:

 
 <html> 
 <head><title>CData Software | Xero Items Table Demo </title></head> 
 <body> 
 <cfoutput>#ucase("Xero Items Table Demo")#</cfoutput> 
 <cfquery name="XeroQuery" dataSource="CDataXeroODBC"> 

 SELECT * FROM Items 

 </cfquery> 
 <cftable 
 query = "XeroQuery" 
 border = "1" 
 colHeaders 
 colSpacing = "2" 
 headerLines = "2" 
 HTMLTable 
 maxRows = "500" 
 startRow = "1"> 
 <cfcol header="<b>Name</b>" align="Left" width=2 text="Name"/> 

 <cfcol header="<b>QuantityOnHand</b>" align="Left" width=15 text="QuantityOnHand"/> 

 ...

 </cftable> 
 </body> 

 </html>

Finally, run the code in a browser. It produces a table populated with Xero data! 👁 Running the code

As a note, the CData ODBC Drivers also support parameterized queries using the cfqueryparam element. For example:

SELECT * FROM Account WHERE name =

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Xero and start building Xero-connected applications with Adobe ColdFusion. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Xero ODBC Driver to get started:

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Learn more:

👁 Xero Icon
Xero ODBC Driver

The Xero ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from Xero accounting software , directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Xero data like you would a database - read, write, and update Xero Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/xero-odbc-coldfusion.rst