Query TaxJar Data in DataGrip

DataGrip is a database IDE that allows SQL developers to query, create, and manage databases. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for TaxJar, DataGrip can work with live TaxJar data. This article shows how to establish a connection to TaxJar data in DataGrip and use the table editor to load TaxJar data.

Create a New Driver Definition for TaxJar

The steps below describe how to create a new Data Source in DataGrip for TaxJar.

1. In DataGrip, click File -> New > Project and name the project
2. In the Database Explorer, click the plus icon () and select Driver.
3. In the Driver tab:
   • Set Name to a user-friendly name (e.g. "CData TaxJar Driver")
   • Set Driver Files to the appropriate JAR file. To add the file, click the plus (), select "Add Files," navigate to the "lib" folder in the driver's installation directory and select the JAR file (e.g. cdata.jdbc.taxjar.jar).
   • Set Class to cdata.jdbc.taxjar.TaxJar.jar
   Additionally, in the advanced tab you can change driver properties and some other settings like VM Options, VM environment, VM home path, DBMS, etc
   • For most cases, change the DBMS type to "Unknown" in Expert options to avoid native SQL Server queries (Transact-SQL), which might result in an invalid function error
4. Click "Apply" then "OK" to save the Connection

Configure a Connection to TaxJar

1. Once the connection is saved, click the plus (), then "Data Source" then "CData TaxJar Driver" to create a new TaxJar Data Source.
2. In the new window, configure the connection to TaxJar with a JDBC URL.

   Built-in Connection String Designer

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

   java -jar cdata.jdbc.taxjar.jar

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

   To authenticate to the TaxJar API, you will need to first obtain the API Key from the TaxJar UI.

   NOTE: the API is available only for Professional and Premium TaxJar plans.

   If you already have a Professional or Premium plan you can find the API Key by logging in the TaxJar UI and navigating to Account -> TaxJar API. After obtaining the API Key, you can set it in the APIKey connection property.

   Additional Notes

   • By default, the CData connector will retrieve data of the last 3 months in cases where the entity support date range filtering. You can set StartDate to specify the minimum creation date of the data retrieved.
   • If the API Key has been created for a sandbox API account please set UseSandbox to true, but not all endpoints will work as expected. For more information, refer to the TaxJar developer documentation.
3. Set URL to the connection string, e.g., jdbc:taxjar:APIKey=3bb04218ef8t80efdf1739abf7257144;
4. Click "Apply" and "OK" to save the connection string

At this point, you will see the data source in the Data Explorer.

Execute SQL Queries Against TaxJar

To browse through the TaxJar entities (available as tables) accessible through the JDBC Driver, expand the Data Source.

To execute queries, right click on any table and select "New" -> "Query Console."

In the Console, write the SQL query you wish to execute. For example: SELECT TransactionID, UserID FROM Orders WHERE TransactionID = '123'

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