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CData Connect Server

Create Avalara AvaTax-Connected Business Apps in AppSheet



Use CData Connect Server to connect to Avalara AvaTax from AppSheet and build custom business apps using live Avalara AvaTax data.

AppSheet provides a no-code development platform for application software, which allows users to create mobile, tablet, and web applications. When paired with CData Connect Server, you get instant access to Avalara AvaTax data for business applications. This article shows how to create a virtual database for Avalara AvaTax in Connect Server and build a simple app from Avalara AvaTax data in AppSheet.

CData Connect Server provides a pure SQL Server interface for Avalara AvaTax, allowing you to easily build reports from live Avalara AvaTax data in AppSheet — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you build visualizations, AppSheet generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Server pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Avalara AvaTax, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested Avalara AvaTax data.

Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for Avalara AvaTax Data

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

  1. Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
  2. Select "Avalara AvaTax" from Available Data Sources.
  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 Save Changes
  5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

With the virtual database created, you are ready to connect to Avalara AvaTax data from AppSheet.

Connect to Avalara AvaTax in AppSheet

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Server from AppSheet to create a new Avalara AvaTax data source.

  1. Log into AppSheet.
  2. Click the letter icon in the top-right corner, then select Account Settings.
  3. Click the Sources tab and click + New Data Source. Then, select Cloud Database.
  4. Set the connection information to the following:
    • Type: SQLServer
    • Server: the endpoint for your instance, including port, for example, CONNECT_SERVER_URL,3306
    • Database: the virtual database, for example, AvalaraAvatax1
    • Username: a Connect Server user with permissions for the database
    • Password: the password for the above Connect Server user
    • SSL: Require SSL
  5. Click Test. Then, click Authorize Access.

Create an App

Once you create the data source for Avalara AvaTax, you can start building apps on Avalara AvaTax data.

  1. Start by clicking + Create -> App -> Start with existing data.
  2. Name the app and select an appropriate category, based on your data. Then, click Choose your data.
  3. Select the newly created data source (e.g., AvalaraAvatax1).
  4. Select the table or view with the data you want.

At this point, you can configure the design of your app, selecting which columns from the selected table to display, use as labels, and more. Preview the app in the preview panel and then publish or share it when ready.

To get SQL data access to 200+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your applications, try the CData Connect Server.