PowerShell Scripting to Replicate TSheets Data to MySQL

The CData Cmdlets for TSheets offer live access to TSheets data from within PowerShell. Using PowerShell scripts, you can easily automate regular tasks like data replication. This article will walk through using the CData Cmdlets for TSheets and the CData Cmdlets for MySQL in PowerShell to replicate TSheets data to a MySQL database.

After obtaining the needed connection properties, accessing TSheets data in PowerShell and preparing for replication consists of four basic steps.

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.

Collecting TSheets Data

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module TSheetsCmdlets

2. Connect to TSheets:

   $tsheets = Connect-TSheets -OAuthClientId $OAuthClientId -OAuthClientSecret $OAuthClientSecret -CallbackUrl $CallbackUrl

3. Retrieve the data from a specific resource:

   $data = Select-TSheets -Connection $tsheets -Table "Timesheets"

   You can also use the Invoke-TSheets cmdlet to execute pure SQL-92 statements:

   $data = Invoke-TSheets -Connection $tsheets -Query 'SELECT * FROM Timesheets WHERE JobCodeType = @JobCodeType' -Params @{'@JobCodeType'='regular'}

4. Save a list of the column names from the returned data.

   $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name

Inserting TSheets Data into the MySQL Database

With the data and column names collected, you are ready to replicate the data into a MySQL database.

1. Install the module:

   Install-Module MySQLCmdlets

2. Connect to MySQL, using the server address and port of the MySQL server, valid user credentials, and a specific database with the table in which the data will be replicated:

   $mysql = Connect-MySQL -User $User -Password $Password -Database $Database -Server $Server -Port $Port

3. Loop through the TSheets data, store the values, and use the Add-MySQL cmdlet to insert the data into the MySQL database, one row at a time. In this example, the table will need to have the same name as the TSheets resource (Timesheets) and to exist in the database.

   $data | % { $row = $_ $values = @() $columns | % { $col = $_ $values += $row.$($col) } Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "Timesheets" -Columns $columns -Values $values }

You have now replicated your TSheets data to a MySQL database. This gives you freedom to work with TSheets data in the same way that you work with other MySQL tables, whether that is performing analytics, building reports, or other business functions.

Notes

• Once you have connected to TSheets and MySQL in PowerShell, you can pipe command results to perform the replication in a single line:

  Select-TSheets -Connection $tsheets -Table "Timesheets" | % { $row = $_ $values = @() $columns | % { $col = $_ $values += $row.$($col) } Add-MySQL -Connection $mysql -Table "Timesheets" -Columns $columns -Values $values }

• If you wish to replicate the TSheets data to another database using another PowerShell module, you will want to exclude the Columns, Connection, and Table columns from the data returned by the Select-TSheets cmdlet since those columns are used to help pipe data from one CData cmdlet to another:

  $columns = ($data | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | Select-Object -Property Name).Name | ? {$_ -NotIn @('Columns','Connection','Table')}