Integrate FreshBooks 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 FreshBooks, in their SnapLogic workflows.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live FreshBooks data. When platforms issue complex SQL queries to FreshBooks, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to FreshBooks 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 FreshBooks data using native data types.

Connect to FreshBooks in SnapLogic

To connect to FreshBooks data in SnapLogic, download and install the CData FreshBooks 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 FreshBooks/lib by default).

Upload the FreshBooks 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 FreshBooks.

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.freshbooks.FreshBooksDriver

   • Set JDBC URL to a JDBC connection string for the FreshBooks JDBC Driver, for example:

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

     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 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.

     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.

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

Read FreshBooks Data

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

• Set Schema name to "FreshBooks"
• Set Table name to a table for FreshBooks using the schema name, for example: "FreshBooks"."Clients" (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 FreshBooks data to another endpoint.

Piping FreshBooks 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 FreshBooks data to a Google Spreadsheet

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

Piping External Data to FreshBooks

As mentioned above, you can also use the JDBC Driver for FreshBooks in SnapLogic to write data to FreshBooks. 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 "FreshBooks"
   • Set Table name to a table for FreshBooks using the schema name, for example: "FreshBooks"."Clients" (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 FreshBooks, inserting new records or updating existing ones.

More Information & Free Trial

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