Connect to QuickBooks Time Data in Ruby



Connect to QuickBooks Time data in Ruby with ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc.

The CData ODBC Driver for QuickBooks Time makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live QuickBooks Time data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to QuickBooks Time data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Create an ODBC Connection to QuickBooks Time Data

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

TSheets uses the OAuth2 standard for authentication and authorization. To construct your own OAuth app and connect to data, refer to OAuth section in the Help.

Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems

If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:

gem install dbi gem install dbd-odbc gem install ruby-odbc

Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to QuickBooks Time Data

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

#connect to the DSN require 'dbi' cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData TSheets Source','','') #execute a SELECT query and store the result set resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT Id, JobcodeId FROM Timesheets WHERE JobCodeType = 'regular'") #display the names of the columns resultSet.column_names.each do |name| print name, "\t" end puts #display the results while row = resultSet.fetch do (0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n| print row[n], "\t" end puts end resultSet.finish #close the connection cnxn.disconnect if cnxn

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

ruby TSheetsSelect.rb Writing SQL-92 queries to QuickBooks Time allows you to quickly and easily incorporate QuickBooks Time data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the QuickBooks Time ODBC Driver to get started:

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QuickBooks Time Icon QuickBooks Time ODBC Driver

The QuickBooks Time ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from QuickBooks Time, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access QuickBooks Time data like you would a database - read QuickBooks Time Payroll, Timesheets, Schedules, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.