Integrating Rails and QuickBooks Online via the version 3 API: Part 2

Tutorial and screencast use Rails 4, Ruby 1.9.3, and Pow. Be sure to watch the screencast above as I unveil more details and tidbits than can be found in the article itself.

Code from screencast is available on Github

Continuing with Part 1, add an email_address attribute to the Vendor.

$ rails g migration add_email_address_to_vendors email_address
$ bundle exec rake db:migrate

Update the views to reflect adding email_address.

app/views/vendors/_form.html.erb

... omitted
<div class="field">
    <%= f.label :email_address %><br>
    <%= f.email_field :email_address %>
</div>
... omitted

app/views/vendors/index.html.erb

   ... omitted
    <tr>
      <th>Name</th>
      <th>Email address</th>
      <th></th>
      <th></th>
    </tr>
  </thead>

  <tbody>
    <% @vendors.each do |vendor| %>
      <tr>
      ... omitted
        <td><%= vendor.email_address %></td>
        <td><%= link_to 'Show', vendor %></td>
        <td><%= link_to 'Edit', edit_vendor_path(vendor) %></td>
        <td><%= link_to 'Destroy', vendor, method: :delete, data: { confirm: 'Are you sure?' } %></td>
      </tr>
    <% end %>
  ... omitted

app/views/vendors/show.html.erb

... omitted
<p>
  <strong>Email address:</strong>
  <%= @vendor.email_address %>
</p>
... omitted

Reload browser to test that the views have been updated.
Create a new vendor on Rails and QuickBooks Online.

Create a before_action filter within app/controllers/vendors_controller.rb to activate the vendor service.


class VendorsController < ApplicationController
  before_action :set_vendor, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]
  before_action :set_qb_service, only: [:create, :edit, :update, :destroy]
#... omitted
    private
#... omitted
    def set_qb_service
      oauth_client = OAuth::AccessToken.new($qb_oauth_consumer, session[:token], session[:secret])
      @vendor_service = Quickbooks::Service::Vendor.new
      @vendor_service.access_token = oauth_client
      @vendor_service.company_id = session[:realm_id]
    end
end

Whitelist the email_address attribute within the vendors_controller.

    def vendor_params
      params.require(:vendor).permit(:name, :email_address)
    end

Alter the create action within the vendors_controller.

  # .. omitted

  def create
    @vendor = Vendor.new(vendor_params)
    vendor = Quickbooks::Model::Vendor.new
    vendor.given_name = vendor_params[:name]
    vendor.email_address = vendor_params[:email_address]
    @vendor_service.create(vendor)
    respond_to do |format|
    # .. omitted
  end

For a “real app” you should have the quickbooks-ruby code always handy to guide you in mapping your vendors (or customers, employees, etc.). In this example, use the quickbooks-ruby vendor model code as a reference.

To see all available Vendor attribute mappings, reference the gem code itself.

Also be aware that many models have mixed-in methods, so check for `include` keywords. For example, the vendor model draws methods from the NameEntity module.

Reload browser and then click New vendor link.

Fill in form and click 'Create Vendor'.
Go over to your QuickBooks Online account and check if the vendor was composed.

Goto 'Company' tab, then to 'Activity Log' submenu. Next, click on the vendor's name within the activity tab to get more details.

Next, updating a vendor in Rails and QuickBooks Online

In Part 3 I demonstrate updating an entity at QBO. I also exhibit basic debugging using the logging feature of quickbooks-ruby.

Pushed on 02/05/2014 by Christian
QuickBooks Integration Consulting