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Complete read-write access to FreshBooks enables developers to search (Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts, etc.), update items, edit customers, and more, from any Java/J2EE application.

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Connect to FreshBooks Data in JRuby


Create a simple JRuby app with access to live FreshBooks data.

JRuby is a high-performance, stable, fully threaded Java implementation of the Ruby programming language. The CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live FreshBooks data in JRuby. This article shows how to create a simple JRuby app that connects to FreshBooks data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Configure a JDBC Connection to FreshBooks Data

Before creating the app, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to FreshBooks and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

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.

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for FreshBooks:

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

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to FreshBooks Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: FreshBooksSelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

require 'java' require 'rubygems' require 'C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.jar' url = "jdbc:freshbooks:CompanyName=CData;Token=token;" conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url) stmt = conn.createStatement rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT Username, Credit FROM Clients") while (rs.next) do puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2) end

With the file completed, you are ready to display your FreshBooks data with JRuby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

jruby -S FreshBooksSelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to FreshBooks allows you to quickly and easily incorporate FreshBooks data into your own JRuby applications. Download a free trial today!