Build Harvest-Connected Web Apps with Axios and CData Connect AI

Axios is a JavaScript library that allows developers to make HTTP requests to servers from a web browser or Node.js. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to live Harvest data for your web apps. This article shows how to connect to Harvest and build web apps in Axios with access to live Harvest data.

Connect to Harvest from Axios

To work with Harvest in Axios, we need to connect to Harvest from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Virtual Schema for the Harvest data.

Connect to Harvest from Connect AI

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

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Harvest" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Harvest.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Harvest Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Harvest.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Harvest (see below).

   Harvest API Profile Settings

   To authenticate to Harvest, you can use either Token authentication or the OAuth standard. Use Basic authentication to connect to your own data. Use OAuth to allow other users to connect to their data.

   Using Token Authentication

   To use Token Authentication, set the APIKey to your Harvest Personal Access Token in the ProfileSettings connection property. In addition to APIKey, set your AccountId in ProfileSettings to connect.

   Using OAuth Authentication

   First, register an OAuth2 application with Harvest. The application can be created from the "Developers" section of Harvest ID.

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • ProfileSettings: Set your AccountId in ProfileSettings.
   • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
   • OAuthClientId: Set this to the client ID that you specified in your app settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret that you specified in your app settings.
   • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that you specified in your app settings.
   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage how the driver obtains and refreshes the OAuthAccessToken.
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Harvest Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the 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.

Configure Harvest Endpoints for Axios

After connecting to Harvest, create a virtual schema for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Virtual Schema page and click Add to create a new Virtual Schema (or select an existing virtual schema).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Virtual Schema.
3. Select the Harvest connection (e.g. API1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your virtual schema, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{virtual_schema_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Virtual Schema configured, you are ready to connect to Harvest data from Axios.

Connect to Harvest Data in Axios Workflows

To establish a connection from Axios to CData Connect AI using the OData protocol, follow these steps.

1. Create a project directory for your web app. For example: ~/connect_cloud/
2. Open a terminal, navigate the the project directory and initialize a node project using the command:

   npm init -y

3. Install the Axios dependency in the project using the following command:

   npm install axios

4. In your project directory, create a file called server.js that contains the following code. Provide your CData Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected]) and PAT (the PAT you created in the prerequisites). You must also provide a query for your data, such as SELECT * FROM API1.SCHEMA.Invoices.

   server.js code

   const axios = require('axios')
   
   const user = '[email protected]'
   const pat = '***********************************';
   
   //Your API endpoint
   const url = 'https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{virtual_schema_name}';
   
   //Your data to be sent in the POST request
   const data = {
   "query":"SELECT * FROM {virtual_schema_name}.SCHEMA.Invoices"
   };
   
   axios.post(url, data, {
   auth: {
   username: user,
   password: pat
   }
   })
   .then(response => {
   const rows = response.data.results[0].rows;
   const schema = response.data.results[0].schema;
   
   //Create an array of column names
   const columnNames = schema.map(col => col.columnName);
   
   //Loop through each row and log the column name with its value
   rows.forEach(row => {
   const rowObject = {};
   row.forEach((value, index) => {
   const columnName = columnNames[index];
   rowObject[columnName] = value;
   });
   console.log(rowObject);
   })
   })
   .catch(error => {
   console.error('Error:', error);
   });

5. In the terminal, execute the following command to run the server:

   node server.js

   The query results will appear:

   { ID: 1, VALUE: -2 }
   { ID: 2, VALUE: 1 }
   { ID: 11, VALUE: null }
   { ID: 3, VALUE: 2 }
   { ID: 4, VALUE: 5 }
   ...

Simplified Access to Harvest Data from Cloud Applications

At this point, you have a direct connection to live Harvest data from Axios. For more information on gaining simplified access to data from hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources in cloud applications like Axios, refer to our Connect AI page.