Use Updategrams with Avalara AvaTax Data

In this article, you will create updategrams that can be executed by the CData BizTalk Adapter for Avalara AvaTax. You will design a schema and use it as a template for generating insert, update, and delete updategrams.

Add the Adapter for Avalara AvaTax to Your Project

Use the Add Adapter wizard to add the adapter to a BizTalk Server project in Visual Studio. You will use the adapter to query Avalara AvaTax for metadata about the table you want to modify.

1. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and click Add -> Add Generated Items.
2. Select Add Adapter Metadata in the resulting dialog box.
3. In the resulting Add Adapter Wizard, select the CData BizTalk Adapter for Avalara AvaTax from the list view.
4. In the Port menu, leave the selection blank. Or, select a receive location or send port that has been configured to use the adapter.
5. When you click Next, the Schema Wizard is displayed.

Generate a Schema for an Updategram

Follow the steps below to create a schema in a BizTalk Server project in Visual Studio.

1. If you have not already done so, add the Avalara AvaTax adapter to your project.
2. On the Connection String page of the Add Adapter wizard, enter authentication credentials and other connection properties, if they were not already configured in the send port or receive location. Below is a typical connection string: User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;

   The primary method for performing basic authentication is to provide your login credentials, as follows:

   • User: Set this to your username.
   • Password: Set this to your password.

   Optionally, if you are making use of a sandbox environment, set the following:

   • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are authenticating with a sandbox account.

   Authenticating Using Account Number and License Key

   Alternatively, you can authenticate using your account number and license key. Connect to data using the following:

   • AccountId: Set this to your Account Id. The Account Id is listed in the upper right hand corner of the admin console.
   • LicenseKey: Set this to your Avalara Avatax license key. You can generate a license key by logging into Avalara Avatax as an account administrator and navigating to Settings -> Reset License Key.

   See the "BizTalk Configuration" chapter in the help documentation for more information on the required connection properties.

3. On the Schema Information page, click Send Port in the General Options section. Select Updategram from the CommandType menu. If you are using the adapter in a solicit-response send port, disable the One-Way option.

4. On the next page, Statement Information, select the type of the updategram: Insert, Update, or Delete. Select the Table name and the columns you want to include in the schema. If you want to update or delete, the Id column is required.

   Note: When you create the updategram, you are limited to modifying the columns you include in the schema.

5. Click Next to view a summary of the schema and finish the wizard to create the schema. The resulting .xsd file is added to your project.

Generate Insert, Update, and Delete Instance Messages

After you create the updategram schema, you can use the .xsd file to generate the updategram: Right-click the .xsd file and select Generate Instance. You can also use this file as a template to manually create updategrams. Below are example generated updategram instances for inserts, updates, and deletes:

Insert

An example of INSERT is below. In this instance, there is only an after block, which specifies how the data will change.

Update

An example of UPDATE is below. In this instance, there is both a before block (how the data currently exists in the table) and an after block (how the data will change).

Delete

An example for DELETE is below. The after block will be empty to show that it is removing the item.

Processing Schemas

To use updategrams to insert, update, or delete Avalara AvaTax records, see the tutorial.