PowerShell Scripting to Replicate Xero Data to MySQL

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

Getting Started

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

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.

Collecting Xero Data

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module XeroCmdlets

2. Connect to Xero:

    $xero = Connect-Xero -InitiateOAuth $InitiateOAuth
    

3. Retrieve the data from a specific resource:

    $data = Select-Xero -Connection $xero -Table "Items"
    

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

    $data = Invoke-Xero -Connection $xero -Query 'SELECT * FROM Items WHERE Name = @Name' -Params @{'@Name'='Golf balls - white single'}
    

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

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

Inserting Xero 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 Xero 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 Xero resource (Items) and to exist in the database.

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

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

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

• If you wish to replicate the Xero 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-Xero 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')}