How to connect to Avalara AvaTax Data from IntelliJ

The CData JDBC Driver for Avalara AvaTax enables you to access Avalara AvaTax as a JDBC data source, providing integration with rapid development tools in IDEs. This article shows how to use the data source configuration wizard to connect to Avalara AvaTax data in IntelliJ.

Create a JBDC Data Source for Avalara AvaTax

Follow the steps below to add the driver JAR and define connection properties required to connect to Avalara AvaTax data.

1. In the Data Sources window, right-click and then click Add Data Source -> DB Data Source.

2. In the Data Source Properties dialog that appears, the following properties are required:

   • JDBC Driver Files: Click the button next to this menu to add the JDBC Driver file cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.jar, located in the installation directory.
   • JDBC Driver Class: In this menu, select cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.AvalaraAvataxDriver from the list.

   • Database URL: Enter the connection URL in the JDBC URL property. The URL must start with jdbc:avalaraavatax: and includes connection properties separated with semicolons.

     The primary method for performing basic authentication is to provide your login credentials, as follows:

     • User: Set this to your username.
     • Password: Set this to your password.

     Optionally, if you are making use of a sandbox environment, set the following:

     • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are authenticating with a sandbox account.

     Authenticating Using Account Number and License Key

     Alternatively, you can authenticate using your account number and license key. Connect to data using the following:

     • AccountId: Set this to your Account Id. The Account Id is listed in the upper right hand corner of the admin console.
     • LicenseKey: Set this to your Avalara Avatax license key. You can generate a license key by logging into Avalara Avatax as an account administrator and navigating to Settings -> Reset License Key.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.jar

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

     A typical JDBC URL is the following:

     jdbc:avalaraavatax:User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;

Edit and Save Avalara AvaTax Data

To discover schema information, right-click the data source you just created and click Refresh Tables. To query a table, right-click it and then click Open Tables Editor. You can also modify records in the Table Editor.