After Installing the Connector you can connect and create a Data Source for data in FreshBooks.

Setting Up a Data Source

Complete the following steps to connect to the data:

1. Under Connect | To a Server, click More....
2. Select the data source called FreshBooks by CData.
3. Enter the information required for the connection.
4. Click Sign In.
5. If necessary, select a Database and Schema to discover what tables and views are available.

Using the Connection Builder

The connector makes the most common connection properties available directly in Tableau. However, it can be difficult to use if you need to use more advanced settings or need to troubleshoot connection issues. The connector includes a separate connection builder that allows you to create and test connections outside of Tableau.

There are two ways to access the connection builder:

• On Windows, use a shortcut called Connection Builder in the Start menu, under the CData Tableau Connector for FreshBooks folder.
• You can also start the connection builder by going to the driver install directory and running the .jar file in the lib directory.

In the connection builder, you can set values for connection properties and click Test Connection to validate that they work. You can also use the Copy to Clipboard button to save the connection string. This connection string can be given to the Connection String option included in the connector connection window in Tableau.

Connecting to FreshBooks

FreshBooks uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you must create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties.

Desktop Applications

You must create a custom OAuth application to authenticate your connection. See Creating a Custom OAuth App for information about creating custom applications.

Get and Refresh the OAuth Access Token

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: Set this to the client Id in your application settings.
• OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret in your application settings.
• CallbackURL: Set this to the redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:3333

When you connect, the connector opens FreshBooks's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The connector then completes the OAuth process:

1. The connector obtains an access token from FreshBooks and uses it to request data.
2. The OAuth values are saved in the location specified in OAuthSettingsLocation, to be persisted across connections.

The connector refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.

Next Step

See Using the Connector to create data visualizations.