Query Zoho Inventory Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

You can use CData Connect AI to query Zoho Inventory data through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for Zoho Inventory in Connect AI and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect AI provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for Zoho Inventory, allowing you to easily query live Zoho Inventory data in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Zoho Inventory, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Zoho Inventory data.

Configure Zoho Inventory Connectivity for NodeJS

Connectivity to Zoho Inventory from NodeJS is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Zoho Inventory data from NodeJS, we start by creating and configuring a Zoho Inventory connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Zoho Inventory" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Zoho Inventory.

   In order to connect to Zoho Inventory, set the following connection properties:

   • OrganizationId: set this to the ID associated with your specific Zoho Inventory organization
   • InitiateOAuth: set the to "GETANDREFRESH"
   • AccountsServer (Optional): set this full Account Server URL (only when manually refreshing the OAuth token)

   The connectors use OAuth to authenticate with Zoho Inventory. For more information, refer to the Getting Started section of the Help documentation.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Zoho Inventory Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Zoho Inventory data from Node.js.

Query Zoho Inventory from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to Zoho Inventory with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

• server: tds.cdata.com
• port: 14333
• user: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
• password: the PAT for the above user
• database: The connection you configured for Zoho Inventory (ZohoInventory1)

Connect to Zoho Inventory data and start executing queries with the code below:

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: '[email protected]', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'ZohoInventory1'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
 if(err){
 throw err ;
 }
 new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM Contacts', (err, result) => {
 console.dir(result)
 })
 
});

sql.on('error', err => {
 console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})