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Rapidly create and deploy powerful Java applications that integrate with AvaTax.

A PostgreSQL Interface for Avalara AvaTax Data



Use the Remoting features of the Avalara AvaTax JDBC Driver to create a PostgreSQL entry-point for data access.

There are a vast number of PostgreSQL clients available on the Internet. From standard Drivers to BI and Analytics tools, PostgreSQL is a popular interface for data access. Using our JDBC Drivers, you can now create PostgreSQL entry-points that you can connect to from any standard client.

To access Avalara AvaTax data as a PostgreSQL database, use the CData JDBC Driver for Avalara AvaTax and a JDBC foreign data wrapper (FDW). In this article, we compile the FDW, install it, and query Avalara AvaTax data from PostgreSQL Server.

Connect to Avalara AvaTax Data as a JDBC Data Source

To connect to Avalara AvaTax as a JDBC data source, you will need the following:

  • Driver JAR path: The JAR is located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
  • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.AvalaraAvataxDriver

  • JDBC URL: The URL must start with "jdbc:avalaraavatax:" and can include any of the connection properties in name-value pairs separated with semicolons.

    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.

    Built-in Connection String Designer

    For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Avalara AvaTax JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

    java -jar cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.jar

    Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

    A typical JDBC URL is below:

    jdbc:avalaraavatax:User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;

Build the JDBC Foreign Data Wrapper

The Foreign Data Wrapper can be installed as an extension to PostgreSQL, without recompiling PostgreSQL. The jdbc2_fdw extension is used as an example (downloadable here).

  1. Add a symlink from the shared object for your version of the JRE to /usr/lib/libjvm.so. For example: ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/server/libjvm.so /usr/lib/libjvm.so
  2. Start the build: make install USE_PGXS=1

Query Avalara AvaTax Data as a PostgreSQL Database

After you have installed the extension, follow the steps below to start executing queries to Avalara AvaTax data:

  1. Log into your database.
  2. Load the extension for the database: CREATE EXTENSION jdbc2_fdw;
  3. Create a server object for Avalara AvaTax: CREATE SERVER AvalaraAvatax FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER jdbc2_fdw OPTIONS ( drivername 'cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.AvalaraAvataxDriver', url 'jdbc:avalaraavatax:User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;', querytimeout '15', jarfile '/home/MyUser/CData/CData\ JDBC\ Driver\ for\ Salesforce MyDriverEdition/lib/cdata.jdbc.avalaraavatax.jar');
  4. Create a user mapping for the username and password of a user known to the MySQL daemon. CREATE USER MAPPING for postgres SERVER AvalaraAvatax OPTIONS ( username 'admin', password 'test');
  5. Create a foreign table in your local database: postgres=# CREATE FOREIGN TABLE transactions ( transactions_id text, transactions_Id text, transactions_TotalTax numeric) SERVER AvalaraAvatax OPTIONS ( table_name 'transactions');
You can now execute read/write commands to Avalara AvaTax: postgres=# SELECT * FROM transactions;