Connect to FreshBooks Data in CloverDX (formerly CloverETL)

The CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks enables you to use the data transformation components in CloverDX (formerly CloverETL) to work with FreshBooks as sources and destinations. In this article, you will use the JDBC Driver for FreshBooks to set up a simple transfer into a flat file. The CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks enables you to use the data transformation components in CloverDX (formerly CloverETL) to work with FreshBooks as sources and destinations. In this article, you will use the JDBC Driver for FreshBooks to set up a simple transfer into a flat file.

Connect to FreshBooks as a JDBC Data Source

1. Create the connection to FreshBooks data. In a new CloverDX graph, right-click the Connections node in the Outline pane and click Connections -> Create Connection. The Database Connection wizard is displayed.
2. Click the plus icon to load a driver from a JAR. Browse to the lib subfolder of the installation directory and select the cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.jar file.
3. Enter the JDBC URL.

   To connect to FreshBooks, you can set the CompanyName and Token connection properties. Alternatively, you can use the OAuth authentication standard.

   OAuth can be used to enable other users to access their own company data. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret by registering an app. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.jar

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

   A typical JDBC URL is below:

   jdbc:freshbooks:CompanyName=CData;Token=token;

Query FreshBooks Data with the DBInputTable Component

1. Drag a DBInputTable from the Readers selection of the Palette onto the job flow and double-click it to open the configuration editor.
2. In the DB connection property, select the FreshBooks JDBC data source from the drop-down menu.
3. Enter the SQL query. For example: SELECT Username, Credit FROM Clients

Write the Output of the Query to a UniversalDataWriter

1. Drag a UniversalDataWriter from the Writers selection onto the jobflow.
2. Double-click the UniversalDataWriter to open the configuration editor and add a file URL.
3. Right-click the DBInputTable and then click Extract Metadata.
4. Connect the output port of the DBInputTable to the UniversalDataWriter.
5. In the resulting Select Metadata menu for the UniversalDataWriter, choose the Clients table. (You can also open this menu by right-clicking the input port for the UniversalDataWriter.)
6. Click Run to write to the file.