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DataBind Charts to TaxJar Data


Use the standard ADO.NET procedures for databinding to provide bidirectional access to TaxJar data from controls in the Visual Studio toolbox. This article demonstrates a graphical approach using wizards in Visual Studio, as well as how to databind with only a few lines of code.

DataBinding facilitates two-way interaction with data through UI controls. Using the CData ADO.NET Provider for TaxJar streamlines the process of binding TaxJar data to Windows Forms and Web controls within Visual Studio. In this article, we will demonstrate using wizards to establish a binding between TaxJar data and a chart that dynamically updates. Additionally, the code walk-through section will guide you through the creation of a chart using just 10 lines of code.

DataBind to a Chart

DataBinding consists of three steps: Instantiate the control, configure the data source, and databind.

Configure the Connection and Select Database Objects

To create a chart control and establish a connection to TaxJar, follow the steps outlined below using the Data Source Configuration Wizard. Within the wizard, you'll have the option to choose the specific TaxJar entities you wish to bind to.

  1. In a Windows Forms project, drag and drop a Chart control from the toolbox to the form. In the Data section of the Chart properties, select DataSource and then select Add Project Data Source from the menu.
  2. In the Data Source Configuration Wizard that appears, select Database -> Dataset.
  3. In the Choose Your Data Connection step, click New Connection.

  4. In the Add Connection dialog, click Change to select the CData TaxJar Data Source.

    Below is a typical connection string:

    APIKey=3bb04218ef8t80efdf1739abf7257144;

    To authenticate to the TaxJar API, you will need to first obtain the API Key from the TaxJar UI.

    NOTE: the API is available only for Professional and Premium TaxJar plans.

    If you already have a Professional or Premium plan you can find the API Key by logging in the TaxJar UI and navigating to Account -> TaxJar API. After obtaining the API Key, you can set it in the APIKey connection property.

    Additional Notes

    • By default, the CData connector will retrieve data of the last 3 months in cases where the entity support date range filtering. You can set StartDate to specify the minimum creation date of the data retrieved.
    • If the API Key has been created for a sandbox API account please set UseSandbox to true, but not all endpoints will work as expected. For more information, refer to the TaxJar developer documentation.

    When you configure the connection, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

  5. Choose the database objects you want to work with. This example uses the Orders table.

DataBind

After adding the data source and selecting database objects, you can bind the objects to the chart. This example assigns the x-axis to TransactionID and the y-axis to UserID.

  1. In the Chart properties, click the button in the Series property to open the Series Collection Editor.
  2. In the Series properties, select the columns you want for the x- and y-axes: Select columns from the menu in the XValueMember and YValueMember properties.

The chart is now databound to the TaxJar data. Run the chart to display the current data.

Code Walk-through

DataBinding to TaxJar data requires only a few lines of code and can be completed in three easy steps.

  1. Connect to TaxJar.
  2. Create the TaxJarDataAdapter to execute the query and create a DataSet to be filled with its results.
  3. DataBind the result set to the chart.

Below is the complete code:

TaxJarConnection conn = new TaxJarConnection("APIKey=3bb04218ef8t80efdf1739abf7257144;"); TaxJarCommand comm = new TaxJarCommand("SELECT TransactionID, UserID FROM Orders WHERE TransactionID = '123'", conn); TaxJarDataAdapter da = new TaxJarDataAdapter(comm); DataSet dataset = new DataSet(); da.Fill(dataset); chart1.DataSource = dataset; chart1.Series[0].XValueMember = "TransactionID"; chart1.Series[0].YValueMembers = "UserID"; // Insert code for additional chart formatting here. chart1.DataBind();