Establishing a Connection

Configure a Connection Profile

From the CData ribbon, click Get Data and select From Xero connection/s to launch the CData Query window. To setup a new connection, you will have to click the New Xero Connection button. Here you can set the connection settings, test the connection, and save the connection profile.

Connecting to Xero

The add-in supports using PKCE applications and OAuth applications. Both PKCE and OAuth connections to Xero are authenticated using OAuth.

When the add-in starts, it opens a browser and requests your login information. The add-in uses the credentials you provide to access your Xero data. These credentials are saved and automatically refreshed as needed.

To enable this authentication from all OAuth flows, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth, and you must create a custom OAuth application.

The following subsections describe how to authenticate to Xero from three common authentication flows:

Desktop: a connection to a server on the user's local machine, frequently used for testing and prototyping.
Web: access to data via a shared website.
Headless Server: a dedicated computer that provides services to other computers and their users, which is configured to operate without a monitor and keyboard.

For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, see Creating a Custom Authentication Application.

For a complete list of connection string properties available in Xero, see Connection.

Desktop Applications

To authenticate with the credentials for a custom OAuth application, you must get and refresh the OAuth access token. After you do that, you are ready to connect.

Get and refresh the OAuth access token:

InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
OAuthClientId = the client Id assigned when you registered your application.
OAuthClientSecret = the client secret that was assigned when you registered your application.
CallbackURL = the redirect URI that was defined when you registered your application.

When you connect, the add-in opens Xero's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

When the access token expires, the add-in refreshes it automatically.

Automatic refresh of the OAuth access token:

To have the add-in automatically refresh the OAuth access token, do the following:

Before connecting to data for the first time, set the following connection parameters:
- InitiateOAuth = REFRESH.
- OAuthClientId = the client Id in your application settings.
- OAuthClientSecret = the client secret in your application settings.
- OAuthAccessToken = the access token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
- OAuthSettingsLocation = the path where you want the add-in to save the OAuth values, which persist across connections.
On subsequent data connections, set the following:
- InitiateOAuth
- OAuthSettingsLocation

Manual refresh of the OAuth access token:

The only value needed to manually refresh the OAuth access token is the OAuth refresh token.

To manually refresh the OAuthAccessToken after the ExpiresIn period (returned by GetOAuthAccessToken) has elapsed, call the GetOAuthAccessToken stored procedure.
Set the following connection properties:
- OAuthClientId = the Client Id in your application settings.
- OAuthClientSecret = the Client Secret in your application settings.
Call GetOAuthAccessToken with OAuthRefreshToken set to the OAuth refresh token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
After the new tokens have been retrieved, set the OAuthAccessToken property to the value returned by GetOAuthAccessToken. This opens a new connection.

Store the OAuth refresh token so that you can use it to manually refresh the OAuth access token after it has expired.

Connecting to a Xero API

The add-in supports several Xero APIs. To connect to them, set the appropriate connection property:

For the Accounting API, set Schema to ACCOUNTING.
For the Australian Payroll API, set Schema to PAYROLLAUS.
For the Files API, set Schema to FILES.
For the Fixed Assets API set Schema to ASSETS.
For the Projects API, set Schema to PROJECTS.

Specifying Permitted Organization Access

For any of the above APIs, we also recommend setting the Tenant property, which enables you to authorize the add-in to access multiple organizations. Tenant is normally set to identify one or more organizations that the add-in can access. Legal entries for Tenant can be either the name of the organization or its ID. (Since multiple organizations can have the same name, we recommend using the ID to set the Tenant property.)

Connection Properties

The Connection properties describe the various options that can be used to establish a connection.

Managing Connections

After successfully authenticating to Xero you will be able to customize the data you are importing. To learn more about this, see Managing Connections.

Excel Add-In for Xero