Integrate with Avalara AvaTax Data in SnapLogic

SnapLogic's iPaaS platform helps organizations automate application, data and cloud integrations. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, SnapLogic gets access to live Avalara AvaTax data. This article demonstrates how to connect to Avalara AvaTax using Connect Cloud and integrate with Avalara AvaTax data in SnapLogic.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure SQL Server interface for Avalara AvaTax, allowing you to query data from Avalara AvaTax without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Avalara AvaTax, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Avalara AvaTax data quickly.

Configure Avalara AvaTax Connectivity for SnapLogic

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

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection

2. Select "Avalara AvaTax" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Avalara AvaTax.

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

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.

4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to Avalara AvaTax from SnapLogic using Connect Cloud

To establish a connection from SnapLogic to CData Connect Cloud, you will need to download the JDBC Driver.

1. Open the Client Tools page of CData Connect Cloud.
2. In the Dev Tools section, click JDBC.
3. Download and run the setup file.
4. When the installation is complete, locate the JDBC Connect JAR file in the JDBC driver's installation directory, for example, C:\Program Files\CData\JDBC Driver for CData Connect\lib.
5. Copy the JDBC Connect JAR file (cdata.jdbc.connect.jar).

After copying the JDBC CData Connect JAR file, you will need to paste it into the SnapLogic installation location and configure the connection to Connect Cloud.

1. Log into SnapLogic.
2. Click the Managers tab.
3. Select a folder from the Project Spaces to add the JDBC JAR file to.
4. Click the Files tab.
5. Click the button in the top right to upload the CData Connect Cloud JDBC JAR file. It appears as a file once uploaded.
6. Click the Designer tab.
7. Click JDBC to expand the options for "snaps."
8. Click and drag a Generic JDBC - Select "snap" onto the designer.
9. Click Add Account > Continue.
10. Enter the JDBC connection properties.
    • JDBC driver: add the CData Connect Cloud JAR file
    • JDBC driver Class: enter cdata.jdbc.connect.ConnectDriver
    • JDBC Url: enter a JDBC connection string for the JDBC driver. For example: jdbc:connect:AuthScheme=Basic;User={username};Password={PAT};
    • Username: enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, [email protected].
    • Password: enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
    
11. Click Validate. If the connection succeeds, the "snap" is ready to use.
12. Click Apply.

You can now create reports with the connected data.

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