PowerShell Scripting to Replicate Zoho Creator Data to MySQL

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

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

The connector is already registered with Zoho Creator as an OAuth application.

If you would prefer to use your own custom OAuth app, see the Help documentation.

Collecting Zoho Creator Data

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module ZohoCreatorCmdlets

2. Connect to Zoho Creator:

    $zohocreator = Connect-ZohoCreator -AccountsServer $AccountsServer -InitiateOAuth $InitiateOAuth
    

3. Retrieve the data from a specific resource:

    $data = Select-ZohoCreator -Connection $zohocreator -Table "Leave_Types"
    

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

    $data = Invoke-ZohoCreator -Connection $zohocreator -Query 'SELECT * FROM Leave_Types WHERE Leave_Type = @Leave_Type' -Params @{'@Leave_Type'='Sick'}
    

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

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

Inserting Zoho Creator 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 Zoho Creator 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 Zoho Creator resource (Leave_Types) and to exist in the database.

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

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

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

• If you wish to replicate the Zoho Creator 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-ZohoCreator 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')}