Build Xero WorkflowMax-Connected Apps in Mendix

Mendix is a high-productivity app platform that allows you to build and maintain both mobile and web applications at-scale. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, Mendix provides instant, cloud-to-cloud access to Xero WorkflowMax data for applications. This article demonstrates how to connect to a CData Connect Cloud data source from within Mendix.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Xero WorkflowMax, allowing you to import data from live Xero WorkflowMax data in Mendix — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you build web and mobile applications from within Mendix, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Xero WorkflowMax, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Xero WorkflowMax data quickly.

Configure Xero WorkflowMax Connectivity for Mendix

Connectivity to Xero WorkflowMax from Mendix is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Xero WorkflowMax data from Mendix, we start by creating and configuring a Xero WorkflowMax connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Xero WorkflowMax" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Xero WorkflowMax.

   To connect to the WorkflowMax API, obtain an APIKey and AccountKey from Xero. This can only be done by contacting Xero support (https://www.workflowmax.com/contact-us).

   After obtaining an API Key and Account Key, set the values in the APIKey and AccountKey connection properties. Once these are set, you are ready to connect.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Xero WorkflowMax Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add Xero WorkflowMax OData Endpoints in Connect Cloud

After connecting to Xero WorkflowMax, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the OData page and click Add to create new OData endpoints
2. Select the Xero WorkflowMax connection (e.g. XeroWorkflowMax1) and click Next
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm

With the connection and OData endpoints configured, you are ready to connect to Xero WorkflowMax data from Mendix.

Build a Xero WorkflowMax-Connected App

With OData endpoints added to Connect Cloud, you can build an app in Mendix with live access to Xero WorkflowMax data.

Downloading the OData Metadata File

When creating a connection in Mendix, the connection flow requires a Data Source Contract File. Follow these steps to download the OData metadata file for CData Connect Cloud using curl, a command line tool:

1. Open a command-line window for your operating system. On Windows, open the start menu, type cmd, and press the Enter key to open a command prompt. On macOS and Linux, open a Terminal window.
2. To check if curl is installed on your system, type curl -help and press the enter key. If it is not installed, install it from the curl website.
3. Issue the following curl command, replacing USER with your CData Connect Cloud username and PAT with the PAT you generated above: curl -u USER:PAT https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/service/$metadata -o metadata.xml
4. Locate the metadata.xml file that the curl command created and move it to an accessible location.

Connecting to CData Connect Cloud in Mendix

Follow these steps to establish a connection from Mendix to CData Connect Cloud:

1. Login to Mendix and open the Data Hub page.
2. In the Register a Data Source section, select OData.
3. Upload the metadata.xml file from the steps above and click Next.
4. Enter your desired values for Data Source Name and Data Source Version. In the Data Source Relative Path field, enter /api/odata/service and click Next.
5. On the Application information page, click Register a new application.
6. Enter a name in Application Name and select a technical owner (by default, this is the user who is currently logged in).
7. Click Next. In the Environment Name field, enter a desired name (for example, CData Connect Cloud). In the Environment Location field, enter https://cloud.cdata.com and select the appropriate Environment Type (e.g. Production), depending on what is needed.
8. Click Done! to create your connection.

You can now use your connection in Mendix Studio Pro to easily create applications with access to live Xero WorkflowMax data.

Get CData Connect Cloud

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