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Load Xero Data to a Database Using Embulk


Use CData JDBC drivers with the open source ETL/ELT tool Embulk to load Xero data to a database.

Embulk is an open source bulk data loader. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for Xero, Embulk easily loads data from Xero to any supported destination. In this article, we explain how to use the CData JDBC Driver for Xero in Embulk to load Xero data to a MySQL dtabase.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Xero data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Xero, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Xero and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

About Xero Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Xero has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

  • Connect to Xero Accounts and both US and Australian Payroll APIs.
  • Read, write, update, and delete Xero objects like Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts and more.
  • Use SQL stored procedures for actions like adding items to a cart, submitting orders, and downloading attachments.
  • Work with accounting, payroll, file, fixed asset, and project data.

Customers regularly integrate their Xero data with preferred tools, like Tableau, Qlik Sense, or Excel, and integrate Xero data into their database or data warehouse.


Getting Started


Configure a JDBC Connection to Xero Data

Before creating a bulk load job in Embulk, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Xero\lib).

Embulk supports JDBC connectivity, so you can easily connect to Xero and execute SQL queries. Before creating a bulk load job, create a JDBC URL for authenticating with Xero.

To connect, set the Schema connection property in addition to any authentication values. Xero offers authentication for private applications, public applications, and partner applications. You will need to set the XeroAppAuthentication property to PUBLIC, PRIVATE, or PARTNER, depending on the type of application configured. To connect from a private application, you will additionally need to set the OAuthAccessToken, OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, CertificateStoreType, CertificateStore, and CertificateStorePassword.

To connect from a public or partner application, you can use the embedded OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL, or you can register an app to obtain your own OAuth values.

See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to authenticating to Xero.

Built-in Connection String Designer

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

java -jar cdata.jdbc.xero.jar

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

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Xero:

jdbc:xero:InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH

Load Xero Data in Embulk

After installing the CData JDBC Driver and creating a JDBC connection string, install the required Embulk plugins.

Install Embulk Input & Output Plugins

  1. Install the JDBC Input Plugin in Embulk.
    https://github.com/embulk/embulk-input-jdbc/tree/master/embulk-input-jdbc
    2. embulk gem install embulk-input-jdbc
  2. In this article, we use MySQL as the destination database. You can also choose SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or Google BigQuery as the destination using the output Plugins.
    https://github.com/embulk/embulk-output-jdbc/tree/master/embulk-output-mysql embulk gem install embulk-output-mysql

With the input and output plugins installed, we are ready to load Xero data into MySQL using Embulk.

Create a Job to Load Xero Data

Start by creating a config file in Embulk, using a name like xero-mysql.yml.

  1. For the input plugin options, use the CData JDBC Driver for Xero, including the path to the driver JAR file, the driver class (e.g. cdata.jdbc.xero.XeroDriver), and the JDBC URL from above
  2. For the output plugin options, use the values and credentials for the MySQL database

Sample Config File (xero-mysql.yml)

in: type: jdbc driver_path: C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] 20xx\lib\cdata.jdbc.xero.jar driver_class: cdata.jdbc.xero.XeroDriver url: jdbc:xero:InitiateOAuth=REFRESH table: "Items" out: type: mysql host: localhost database: DatabaseName user: UserId password: UserPassword table: "Items" mode: insert

After creating the file, run the Embulk job.

embulk run xero-mysql.yml

After running the the Embulk job, find the Salesforce data in the MySQL table.

Load Filtered Xero Data

In addition to loading data directly from a table, you can use a custom SQL query to have more granular control of the data loaded. You can also perform increment loads by setting a last updated column in a SQL WHERE clause in the query field.

in: type: jdbc driver_path: C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] 20xx\lib\cdata.jdbc.xero.jar driver_class: cdata.jdbc.xero.XeroDriver url: jdbc:xero:InitiateOAuth=REFRESH query: "SELECT Name, QuantityOnHand FROM Items WHERE [RecordId] = 1" out: type: mysql host: localhost database: DatabaseName user: UserId password: UserPassword table: "Items" mode: insert

More Information & Free Trial

By using CData JDBC Driver for Xero as a connector, Embulk can integrate Xero data into your data load jobs. And with drivers for more than 200+ other enterprise sources, you can integrate any enterprise SaaS, big data, or NoSQL source as well. Download a 30-day free trial and get started today.

Ready to get started?

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Learn more:

Xero Icon Xero JDBC Driver

Complete read-write access to Xero accounting enables developers to search (Customers, Transactions, Invoices, Sales Receipts, etc.), update items, edit customers, and more, from any Java/J2EE application.

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