Integrate with Blackbaud FE NXT Data in SnapLogic

SnapLogic's iPaaS platform helps organizations automate application, data and cloud integrations. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, SnapLogic gets access to live Blackbaud FE NXT data. This article demonstrates how to connect to Blackbaud FE NXT using Connect Cloud and integrate with Blackbaud FE NXT data in SnapLogic.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure SQL Server interface for Blackbaud FE NXT, allowing you to query data from Blackbaud FE NXT without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Blackbaud FE NXT, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Blackbaud FE NXT data quickly.

Configure Blackbaud FE NXT Connectivity for SnapLogic

Connectivity to Blackbaud FE NXT from SnapLogic is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Blackbaud FE NXT data from SnapLogic, we start by creating and configuring a Blackbaud FE NXT connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Blackbaud FE NXT" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Blackbaud FE NXT.

   Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties.

   See the Getting Started guide in the CData driver documentation for more information.

   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Blackbaud FE NXT Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect Cloud through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect Cloud. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect Cloud app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Blackbaud FE NXT data from SnapLogic.

Connect to Blackbaud FE NXT from SnapLogic using Connect Cloud

To establish a connection from SnapLogic to CData Connect Cloud, you will need to download the CData Connect Cloud JDBC Driver.

1. Open the Integrations page of CData Connect Cloud.
2. Search for and select JDBC.
3. Download and run the setup file.
4. When the installation is complete, the JAR file can be found in the installation directory (inside the lib folder).

After copying the JDBC CData Connect Cloud JAR file, you will need to paste it into the SnapLogic installation location and configure the connection to Connect Cloud.

1. Log into SnapLogic.
2. Click the Managers tab.
3. Select a folder from the Project Spaces to add the JDBC JAR file to.
4. Click the Files tab.
5. Click the button in the top right to upload the CData Connect Cloud JDBC JAR file. It appears as a file once uploaded.
6. Click the Designer tab.
7. Click JDBC to expand the options for "snaps."
8. Click and drag a Generic JDBC - Select "snap" onto the designer.
9. Click Add Account > Continue.
10. Enter the JDBC connection properties.
    • JDBC driver: add the CData Connect Cloud JAR file
    • JDBC driver Class: enter cdata.jdbc.connect.ConnectDriver
    • JDBC Url: enter a JDBC connection string for the JDBC driver. For example: jdbc:connect:AuthScheme=Basic;User={username};Password={PAT};
    • Username: enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, [email protected].
    • Password: enter the PAT you generated previously.
    
11. Click Validate. If the connection succeeds, the "snap" is ready to use.
12. Click Apply.

You can now create reports with the connected data.

Get CData Connect Cloud

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