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Paylocity Connectivity Solutions

How to Generate SQL Command Schemas for the CData BizTalk Adapter for Paylocity



The CData BizTalk Adapter makes it easy to process Paylocity data in BizTalk by returning the data as XML. You can use this data in a BizTalk orchestration by creating an XML schema file for the table you want to access in BizTalk.

This article will show how to generate a schema to process Paylocity data retrieved using the CData BizTalk Adapter. You will generate a schema for a SELECT command.

This guide shows how to use the CData BizTalk Adapter for Paylocity to execute SQL commands to Paylocity.

Add the Adapter for Paylocity to Your Project

Follow the steps below to add the adapter to a BizTalk Server project.

  1. If you have not already done so, create a new BizTalk Server project in Visual Studio.
  2. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and click Add -> Add Generated Items.
  3. Select Add Adapter Metadata in the resulting dialog box.
  4. In the resulting Add Adapter wizard, select the adapter from the list.
  5. In the Port menu, leave the selection blank. You can also select a receive location or send port that has the adapter configured as its transport type.

Generate a Schema for an SQL Command

After you select the adapter in the Add Adapter wizard, the Schema wizard is displayed. Follow the steps below to configure connection properties and retrieve the metadata for the results of the command.

  1. In the Connection String page, enter authentication credentials and other connection properties, if you did not select an adapter that you have already configured in your BizTalk application. Below is a typical connection string: OAuthClientID=YourClientId;OAuthClientSecret=YourClientSecret;RSAPublicKey=YourRSAPubKey;Key=YourKey;IV=YourIV;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

    Set the following to establish a connection to Paylocity:

    • RSAPublicKey: Set this to the RSA Key associated with your Paylocity, if the RSA Encryption is enabled in the Paylocity account.

      This property is required for executing Insert and Update statements, and it is not required if the feature is disabled.

    • UseSandbox: Set to true if you are using sandbox account.
    • CustomFieldsCategory: Set this to the Customfields category. This is required when IncludeCustomFields is set to true. The default value for this property is PayrollAndHR.
    • Key: The AES symmetric key(base 64 encoded) encrypted with the Paylocity Public Key. It is the key used to encrypt the content.

      Paylocity will decrypt the AES key using RSA decryption.
      It is an optional property if the IV value not provided, The driver will generate a key internally.

    • IV: The AES IV (base 64 encoded) used when encrypting the content. It is an optional property if the Key value not provided, The driver will generate an IV internally.

    Connect Using OAuth Authentication

    You must use OAuth to authenticate with Paylocity. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Paylocity using the browser. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.

    The Pay Entry API

    The Pay Entry API is completely separate from the rest of the Paylocity API. It uses a separate Client ID and Secret, and must be explicitly requested from Paylocity for access to be granted for an account. The Pay Entry API allows you to automatically submit payroll information for individual employees, and little else. Due to the extremely limited nature of what is offered by the Pay Entry API, we have elected not to give it a separate schema, but it may be enabled via the UsePayEntryAPI connection property.

    Please be aware that when setting UsePayEntryAPI to true, you may only use the CreatePayEntryImportBatch & MergePayEntryImportBatchgtable stored procedures, the InputTimeEntry table, and the OAuth stored procedures. Attempts to use other features of the product will result in an error. You must also store your OAuthAccessToken separately, which often means setting a different OAuthSettingsLocation when using this connection property.

  2. In the General Options section on the next page, Schema Information, select Send Port or Receive Location, depending on the adapter configuration.
  3. If you want to generate the schema for the entire result set, select the Single Message option in the Message Mode menu. If you want to generate one schema for each row in the result set, select the Message Per Row option and confirm that the root element of the message is 'row'.
  4. In the Command Type menu, select SQL Command.
  5. In the SQL Command Text box on the Statement Information page, enter an SQL command. (If you have configured a receive location or send port, the SQL command you configured is entered in the box.) This example uses the query below:

    SELECT FirstName, LastName FROM Employee WHERE EmployeeId = '1234'

  6. Confirm the settings in the summary displayed by the wizard and click Finish to generate the schema.xsd file.

Processing Schemas

To use schemas in a simple BizTalk application, see the tutorial.