Integrate Blackbaud FE NXT with External Services using SnapLogic

SnapLogic is an integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) that allows users to create data integration flows with no code. When paired with the CData JDBC Drivers, users get access to live data from more than 250+ SaaS, Big Data and NoSQL sources, including Blackbaud FE NXT, in their SnapLogic workflows.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Blackbaud FE NXT data. When platforms issue complex SQL queries to Blackbaud FE NXT, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Blackbaud FE NXT and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying lets you work with Blackbaud FE NXT data using native data types.

Connect to Blackbaud FE NXT in SnapLogic

To connect to Blackbaud FE NXT data in SnapLogic, download and install the CData Blackbaud FE NXT JDBC Driver. Follow the installation dialog. When the installation is complete, the JAR file can be found in the installation directory (C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT/lib by default).

Upload the Blackbaud FE NXT JDBC Driver

After installation, upload the JDBC JAR file to a location in SnapLogic (for example, projects/Jerod Johnson) from the Manager tab.

Configure the Connection

Once the JDBC Driver is uploaded, we can create the connection to Blackbaud FE NXT.

1. Navigate to the Designer tab
2. Expand "JDBC" from Snaps and drag a "Generic JDBC - Select" snap onto the designer
3. Click Add Account (or select an existing one) and click "Continue"
4. In the next form, configure the JDBC connection properties:
   • Under JDBC JARs, add the JAR file we previously uploaded
   • Set JDBC Driver Class to cdata.jdbc.financialedgenxt.FinancialEdgeNXTDriver

   • Set JDBC URL to a JDBC connection string for the Blackbaud FE NXT JDBC Driver, for example:

     jdbc:financialedgenxt:SubscriptionKey=MySubscriptionKey;RTK=XXXXXX;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

     NOTE: RTK is a trial or full key. Contact our Support team for more information.

     Built-In Connection String Designer

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

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.financialedgenxt.jar

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

     Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties.

     See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

5. After entering the connection properties, click "Validate" and "Apply"

Read Blackbaud FE NXT Data

In the form that opens after validating and applying the connection, configure your query.

• Set Schema name to "FinancialEdgeNXT"
• Set Table name to a table for Blackbaud FE NXT using the schema name, for example: "FinancialEdgeNXT"."Accounts" (use the drop-down to see the full list of available tables)
• Add Output fields for each item you wish to work with from the table

Save the Generic JDBC - Select snap.

With connection and query configured, click the end of the snap to preview the data (highlighted below).

Once you confirm the results are what you expect, you can add additional snaps to funnel your Blackbaud FE NXT data to another endpoint.

Piping Blackbaud FE NXT Data to External Services

For this article, we will load data in a Google Spreadsheet. You can use any of the supported snaps, or even use a Generic JDBC snap with another CData JDBC Driver, to move data into an external service.

1. Start by dropping a "Worksheet Writer" snap onto the end of the "Generic JDBC - Select" snap.
2. Add an account to connect to Google Sheets
3. Configure the Worksheet Writer snap to write your Blackbaud FE NXT data to a Google Spreadsheet

You can now execute the fully configured pipeline to extract data from Blackbaud FE NXT and push it into a Google Spreadsheet.

Piping External Data to Blackbaud FE NXT

As mentioned above, you can also use the JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT in SnapLogic to write data to Blackbaud FE NXT. Start by adding a Generic JDBC - Insert or Generic JDBC - Update snap to the dashboard.

1. Select the existing "Account" (connection) or create a new one
2. Configure the query:
   • Set Schema name to "FinancialEdgeNXT"
   • Set Table name to a table for Blackbaud FE NXT using the schema name, for example: "FinancialEdgeNXT"."Accounts" (use the drop-down to see the full list of available tables)
3. Save the Generic JDBC - Insert/Update snap

At this point, you have configured a snap to write data to Blackbaud FE NXT, inserting new records or updating existing ones.

More Information & Free Trial

Using the CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT you can create a pipeline in SnapLogic for integrating Blackbaud FE NXT data with external services. For more information about connecting to Blackbaud FE NXT, check at our CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT page. Download a free, 30 day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Blackbaud FE NXT and get started today.