A PostgreSQL Interface for Sage 50 UK Data

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 Sage 50 UK data as a PostgreSQL database, use the CData JDBC Driver for Sage 50 UK and a JDBC foreign data wrapper (FDW). In this article, we compile the FDW, install it, and query Sage 50 UK data from PostgreSQL Server.

Connect to Sage 50 UK Data as a JDBC Data Source

To connect to Sage 50 UK 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.sage50uk.Sage50UKDriver

• JDBC URL: The URL must start with "jdbc:sage50uk:" and can include any of the connection properties in name-value pairs separated with semicolons.

  Note: Only Sage 50 UK 2012 and above are supported.

  The User and Password properties, under the Connection section, must be set to valid Sage 50 UK user credentials. These values will be the same used to log in to the Sage 50 UK software.

  Additionally, the URL property, under the Connection section, will need to be set to the address of the company dataset desired. To obtain the address, do the following:

  1. If you have not already done so, open the Sage 50 UK software.
  2. Click Tools -> Internet Options.
  3. Select the SData Settings tab.
  4. Click the Details button next to Sage 50 Accounts. A window is displayed containing a list of company names along with the address to their corresponding datasets.
  5. Set the URL property to the value in the address field next to the company desired.

  Built-in Connection String Designer

  For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Sage 50 UK JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

  java -jar cdata.jdbc.sage50uk.jar

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

  A typical JDBC URL is below:

  jdbc:sage50uk:URL=http://your-server:5493/sdata/accounts50/GCRM/your-address;User=Manager;

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 Sage 50 UK Data as a PostgreSQL Database

After you have installed the extension, follow the steps below to start executing queries to Sage 50 UK data:

1. Log into your database.
2. Load the extension for the database: CREATE EXTENSION jdbc2_fdw;
3. Create a server object for Sage 50 UK: CREATE SERVER Sage50UK FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER jdbc2_fdw OPTIONS ( drivername 'cdata.jdbc.sage50uk.Sage50UKDriver', url 'jdbc:sage50uk:URL=http://your-server:5493/sdata/accounts50/GCRM/your-address;User=Manager;', querytimeout '15', jarfile '/home/MyUser/CData/CData\ JDBC\ Driver\ for\ Salesforce MyDriverEdition/lib/cdata.jdbc.sage50uk.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 Sage50UK OPTIONS ( username 'admin', password 'test');
5. Create a foreign table in your local database: postgres=# CREATE FOREIGN TABLE tradingaccounts ( tradingaccounts_id text, tradingaccounts_Name text, tradingaccounts_FinanceBalance numeric) SERVER Sage50UK OPTIONS ( table_name 'tradingaccounts');