Connect to Workable Data in Ruby

The CData API Driver for ODBC makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Workable data in Ruby. This article shows how to create a simple Ruby app that connects to Workable data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Create an ODBC Connection to Workable Data

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Using API Key Authentication

Workable uses API key authentication to control access to the API. To obtain an API Key:

1. Log in to your Workable account.
2. Navigate to Settings > Integrations > API Access Tokens.
3. Click "Generate API Token".
4. Copy the generated token.

After obtaining your API Key, set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.

Set the following in the ProfileSettings connection property:

• APIKey: Set this to your Workable API Key.
• Subdomain: Set this to your Workable account subdomain. For example, if your Workable URL is acmeinc.workable.com, then the Subdomain is 'acmeinc'.

Example Connection String

Profile=C:\profiles\Workable.apip;ProfileSettings='AuthScheme=APIKey;APIKey=my_api_key;Subdomain=acmeinc';

Installing Ruby and Necessary Gems

If you do not have Ruby installed, refer to the Ruby installation page. With Ruby installed, you will need to install the ruby-dbi, dbd-odbc, and ruby-odbc gems:

gem install dbi
gem install dbd-odbc
gem install ruby-odbc

Create a Ruby App with Connectivity to Workable Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: APISelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

#connect to the DSN
require 'dbi'
cnxn = DBI.connect('DBI:ODBC:CData API Source','','')

#execute a SELECT query and store the result set
resultSet = cnxn.execute("SELECT ,  FROM Accounts WHERE  = ''")

#display the names of the columns
resultSet.column_names.each do |name|
  print name, "\t"
end
puts

#display the results
while row = resultSet.fetch do
  (0..resultSet.column_names.size - 1).each do |n|
    print row[n], "\t"
  end
  puts
end
resultSet.finish

#close the connection
cnxn.disconnect if cnxn

With the file completed, you are ready to display your Workable data with Ruby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

ruby APISelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to Workable allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Workable data into your own Ruby applications. Download a free trial today!