Bridge FreshBooks Connectivity with Apache NiFi

Apache NiFi supports powerful and scalable directed graphs of data routing, transformation, and system mediation logic. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks, NiFi can work with live FreshBooks data. This article describes how to connect to and query FreshBooks data from an Apache NiFi Flow.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live FreshBooks data. When you issue complex SQL queries to FreshBooks, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to FreshBooks and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze FreshBooks data using native data types.

Connecting to FreshBooks Data in Apache NiFi

1. Download the CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.

2. Copy the CData JDBC Driver JAR file (and license file if it exists), cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.jar (and cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.lic), to the Apache NiFi lib subfolder, for example, C:\nifi-1.3.0-bin\nifi-1.3.0\lib.

   On Windows, the default location for the CData JDBC Driver is C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks.

3. Start Apache NiFi. For example:

   cd C:\nifi-1.3.0-bin\nifi-1.3.0\bin
   run-nifi.bat
   

4. Navigate to the Apache NiFi UI in your web browser: typically http://localhost:8080/nifi
5. Click the (Configuration) button from the Operate sidebar.
6. In the NiFi Flow Configuration page, navigate to the Controller Services tab.
7. Click the button to create a new controller service.
8. In the Add Controller Service page, select DBCPConnection Pool, and then click Add.
9. Click the gear button to configure the new DBCPConnection Pool.

10. In the Configure Controller Service page, navigate to the Properties tab. Fill in the properties:

    Property	Value
    Database Connection URL	jdbc:freshbooks:CompanyName=CData;Token=token;
    Database Driver Class Name	cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.FreshBooksDriver

    Built-in Connection String Designer

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

    java -jar cdata.jdbc.freshbooks.jar

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

    To connect to FreshBooks, you can set the CompanyName and Token connection properties. Alternatively, you can use the OAuth authentication standard.

    OAuth can be used to enable other users to access their own company data. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret by registering an app. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

11. Click the button to enable the new DBCPConnection Pool.

Your FreshBooks data is now available for use in Apache NiFi. For example, you can use the DBCPConnection Pool as the source for a QueryDatabaseTable processor.

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for FreshBooks and start working with your live FreshBooks data in Apache NiFi. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.