About the Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver provides real-time access to Zoho Books data from any application that supports ODBC.

ODBC API and scalar functions

API functions

Use this table to find out what ODBC API functions the Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver supports:

Function Status

SQLAllocConnect

Supported

SQLAllocEnv

Supported

SQLAllocStmt

Supported

SQLBindCol

Supported

SQLBindParameter

Supported

SQLBrowseConnect

Not supported

SQLCancel

Supported

SQLColAttribute

Supported

SQLColAttributes

Supported

SQLColumnPrivileges

Not supported

SQLColumns

Supported

SQLConnect

Supported

SQLDataSources

Supported

SQLDescribeCol

Supported

SQLDescribeParam

Supported

SQLDisconnect

Supported

SQLDriverConnect

Supported

SQLDrivers

Supported

SQLError

Supported

SQLExecDirect

Supported

SQLExecute

Supported

SQLExtendedFetch

Supported

SQLFetch

Supported

SQLForeignKeys

Supported

SQLFreeConnect

Supported

SQLFreeEnv

Supported

SQLFreeStmt

Supported

SQLGetCursorName

Supported

SQLGetData

Supported

SQLGetFunctions

Supported

SQLGetInfo

Supported

SQLGetStmtOption

Supported

SQLGetTypeInfo

Supported

SQLMoreResults

Supported

SQLNativeSql

Supported

SQLNumParams

Supported

SQLNumResultCols

Supported

SQLParamData

Supported

SQLParamOptions

Supported

SQLPrepare

Supported

SQLPrimaryKeys

Supported

SQLProcedureColumns

Supported

SQLProcedures

Supported

SQLPutData

Supported

SQLRowCount

Supported

SQLSetConnectOption

Supported

SQLSetConnectOption

Supported

SQLSetCursorName

Supported

SQLSetParam

Supported

SQLSetPos

Supported

SQLSetScrollOptions

Supported

SQLSetStmtOption

Supported

SQLSpecialColumns

Supported

SQLStatistics

Supported

SQLTablePrivileges

Not supported

SQLTables

Supported

SQLTransact

Supported

Scalar functions

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver supports a number of scalar functions:

Use either the SQL-92 or ODBC syntax with scalar functions. For example:

SELECT
  Invoice_Id,
  Customer_Name,
  EXTRACT(YEAR FROM Due_Date) as "Year"
FROM
  Invoice

SELECT
  Invoice_Id,
  Customer_Name,
  {fn EXTRACT(YEAR FROM Due_Date)} as "Year"
FROM
  Invoice

String functions

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver supports these string functions:

  • ASCII(string_exp)

  • BIT_LENGTH(string_exp)

  • CHAR(code)

  • CHAR_LENGTH(string_exp)

  • CHARACTER_LENGTH

  • CONCAT(string_exp1, string_exp2)

  • DIFFERENCE(string_exp1, string_exp2)

  • INSERT(string_exp1, start, length, string_exp2)

  • LCASE(string_exp)

  • LEFT(string_exp, count)

  • LENGTH(string_exp)

  • LOCATE(string_exp1, string_exp2[,start])

  • LTRIM(string_exp)

  • OCTET_LENGTH(string_exp)

  • POSITION(char_exp IN char_exp)

  • REPEAT(string_exp, count)

  • REPLACE(string_exp1, string_exp2, string_exp3)

  • RIGHT(string_exp, count)

  • RTRIM(string_exp)

  • SOUNDEX(string_exp)

  • SPACE(count)

  • SUBSTRING(string_exp, start, length)

  • TRIM

  • UCASE(string_exp)

Numeric functions

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver supports these numeric functions:

  • ABS(numeric_exp)

  • ACOS(float_exp)

  • ASIN(float_exp)

  • ATAN(float_exp)

  • ATAN2(float_exp1, float_exp2)

  • CEILING(numeric_exp)

  • COS(float_exp)

  • COT(float_exp)

  • DEGREES(numeric_exp)

  • EXP(float_exp)

  • FLOOR(numeric_exp)

  • LOG(float_exp)

  • LOG10(float_exp)

  • MOD(integer_exp1, integer_exp2)

  • PI()

  • POWER(numeric_exp, integer_exp)

  • RADIANS(numeric_exp)

  • RAND([integer_exp])

  • ROUND(numeric_exp, integer_exp)

  • SIGN(numeric_exp)

  • SIN(float_exp)

  • SQRT(float_exp)

  • TAN(float_exp)

  • TRUNCATE(numeric_exp, integer_exp)

Time, date, and interval functions

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver supports these time, date, and interval functions:

  • CURRENT_DATE()

  • CURRENT_TIME[(time-precision)]

  • CURRENT_TIMESTAMP[(timestamp-precision)]

  • CURDATE()

  • CURTIME()

  • DAYNAME(date_exp)

  • DAYOFMONTH(date_exp)

  • DAYOFWEEK(date_exp)

  • DAYOFYEAR(date_exp)

  • EXTRACT(extract-field FROM extract-sourc)

  • HOUR(time_exp)

  • MINUTE(time_exp)

  • MONTH(date_exp)

  • MONTHNAME(date_exp)

  • NOW()

  • QUARTER(date_exp)

  • SECOND(time_exp)

  • TIMESTAMPADD(interval, integer_exp, timestamp_exp)

  • TIMESTAMPDIFF(interval, timestamp_exp1, timestamp_exp2)

  • WEEK(date_exp)

  • YEAR(date_exp)

System functions

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver supports these system functions:

  • DATABASE()

  • IFNULL(exp, value)

  • USER()

Conversion functions

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver supports supports both the SQL-92 CAST function and the ODBC CONVERT function for conversion between compatible data types.

Data type mapping

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver maps Zoho Books data types to ODBC data types in this way:

Zoho Books data type ODBC data type

Array

SQL_WVARCHAR
SQL_WLONGVARCHAR

Boolean

SQL_BIT
SQL_TINYINT

Date

SQL_TYPE_DATE
SQL_WVARCHAR

Number

SQL_INTEGER
SQL_DOUBLE
SQL_BIGINT

JSON data

SQL_WLONGVARCHAR

Object

SQL_WLONGVARCHAR

String

SQL_WVARCHAR
SQL_WLONGVARCHAR
SQL_TYPE_DATE
SQL_TYPE_TIMESTAMP
SQL_TINYINT
SQL_DOUBLE
SQL_TYPE_DATE

Timestamp

SQL_WVARCHAR

Finding out more about data types on Windows

If you need more information about a data types, for example, the precision and scale, use Microsoft’s ODBC Test to do this.

  1. Download the version of ODBC Test that matches your application’s architecture from:

  2. Copy both files to a folder on the machine where Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver is installed.

  3. Double-click odbcte32.exe.

  4. Select Con > Full Connect.

  5. Choose your Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver data source from the list.

  6. Choose Catalog > SQLGetTypeInfo.

  7. Either choose SQL_ALL_TYPES=0 (1.0) or a specific data type from the DataType list.

  8. Choose Results > Get Data All.

SQL support

The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver supports these SQL statements, clauses, and operators:

  • SELECT

  • SELECT DISTINCT

  • WHERE

  • ORDER BY

  • AND

  • OR

  • NOT

  • INSERT INTO

  • NULL

  • UPDATE

  • DELETE

  • TOP

  • MIN

  • MAX

  • COUNT

  • SUM

  • AVG

  • LIKE

  • WILDCARDS

  • IN

  • BETWEEN

  • ALIASES

  • JOINS

  • UNION

  • GROUP BY

  • HAVING

  • EXISTS

  • CASE

Example queries

  • To fetch all records from a table, use the asterisk symbol (*) in your queries. For example:

    SELECT * FROM Invoice
  • To only fetch records whose values are different, use DISTINCT. For example:

    -- Which different customers do we invoice?
    SELECT DISTINCT Customer_Name AS Different_Customer_Name FROM Invoice
    -- How many different customers do we invoice?
    SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Customer_Name) AS Different_Customer_Total FROM Invoice
  • To filter records, use WHERE. For example:

    SELECT
      Invoice_Id,
      Customer_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Invoice
    WHERE
      Billing_Address_Country = 'Germany'
    
    SELECT
      Invoice_Id,
      Customer_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Invoice
    WHERE
      Billing_Address_Country = 'Germany'
      OR Billing_Address_Country = 'France'
    
    SELECT
      Invoice_Id,
      Customer_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Invoice
    WHERE
      Billing_Address_Country = 'Germany'
      AND Total < 1000

    You can also supply a WHERE clause value as a parameter. For example, to do this in Python:

    cursor.execute("SELECT
      Invoice_Id,
      Customer_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Invoice
    WHERE
      Billing_Address_Country = ?", ['Germany'])
  • To fetch records that don’t match the WHERE clause pattern use NOT. For example:

    SELECT
      Invoice_Id,
      Customer_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Invoice
    WHERE
      NOT Billing_Address_Country = 'Germany'
  • To sort the result set in either ascending or descending order, use ORDER BY. For example:

    SELECT
      Invoice_Id,
      Customer_Name,
      Invoice_Number
    FROM
      Invoice
    ORDER BY
      Invoice_Number ASC
    
    SELECT
      Customer_Name,
      Billing_Address_City,
      Billing_Address_Country
    FROM
      Invoice
    ORDER BY
      (
        CASE
          WHEN Billing_Address_City IS NULL THEN Billing_Address_Country
          ELSE Billing_Address_City
        END
      );
  • To group a result set into summary rows, use GROUP BY. For example:

    SELECT
        COUNT(Invoice_Id) As "Number",
        Billing_Address_Country
    FROM
        Invoice
    GROUP BY
        Billing_Address_Country
    
    SELECT
      COUNT(Invoice_Id) As "Number",
      Billing_Address_Country
    FROM
      Invoice
    GROUP BY
      Billing_Address_Country
    HAVING
      COUNT(Invoice_Id) > 10;
  • To do calculations based on result set vales, use the SQL aggregate functions MIN(), MAX(), COUNT(), SUM(), and AVG(). For example:

    SELECT Max(Total) FROM Invoice
    SELECT Sum(Total) FROM Invoice

    In addition, you can use these scalar funtions.

  • To convert between compatible data types, use CAST or CONVERT. For example:

    SELECT CAST(Total AS Char(100))FROM Invoice
    SELECT {fn CONVERT(Total, SQL_CHAR)} FROM Invoice
  • To fetch records that contain column values between a given range, use BETWEEN For example:

    SELECT Invoice_Id, Customer_Name FROM Invoice WHERE Total BETWEEN 10 AND 20
  • To combine the result set of two or more SELECT statements, use UNION. For example:

    SELECT
      'Recurring Expense' AS Type,
      Recurrence_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Recurring_Bill
    UNION
    SELECT
      'Recurring Bill',
      Customer_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Recurring_Expense
  • To combine rows from two or more tables, use JOIN. For example:

    SELECT
      Account_Id,
      Account_Name
    FROM
      Chart_Of_Account
      INNER JOIN Bank_Account ON Bank_Account.Account_Id = Chart_Of_Account.Account_Id
  • To fetch records that contain column values matching a search pattern, use LIKE. For example:

    SELECT Invoice_Id FROM Invoice WHERE Customer_Name LIKE 'E%'
    SELECT Invoice_Id FROM Invoice WHERE Customer_Name LIKE '_asysoft'
  • To search for columns without a value (NULL) or with a value (non NULL), use either IS NULL or IS NOT NULL. For example:

    SELECT Invoice_Id, Customer_Name, Total FROM Invoice WHERE Payment_Terms IS NULL
  • To specify multiple values in a WHERE clause, you can use IN as an alternative to OR. For example:

    SELECT
      Invoice_Id,
      Customer_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Invoice
    WHERE
      Billing_Address_Country = 'Germany'
      OR Billing_Address_Country = 'France'
      OR Billing_Address_Country = 'United Kingdom'

    can be replaced with:

    SELECT
      Invoice_Id,
      Customer_Name,
      Total
    FROM
      Invoice
    WHERE
      Billing_Address_Country IN ('Germany', 'France', 'United Kingdom');
  • To set the maximum number of records to return, use TOP. For example:

    SELECT Top 10 Invoice_Id, Customer_Name FROM Invoice
  • To test for the existence of records in a subquery, use EXISTS. For example:

    SELECT
      Customer_Name
    FROM
      Invoice
    WHERE
      EXISTS (
        SELECT
          Contact_Name
        FROM
          Contact
        WHERE
          Invoice.Customer_Id = Contact.Contact_Id
          AND Customer_Sub_Type = 'individual'
      )

Example inserts, updates, and deletes

  • To insert a Zoho Books record, use INSERT INTO. For example:

    INSERT INTO
      Bank_Account (
        Account_Name,
        Account_Type,
        Account_Number,
        Routing_Number,
        Currency_Code
      )
    VALUES
      (
        'COOP Account',
        'bank',
        '80000009823',
        '123456789',
        'GBP'
      )
  • Here’s a SQL Server linked server example:

    INSERT INTO
        [Zoho Books].ZOHOB.DBO.Bank_Account (
            Account_Name,
            Account_Type,
            Account_Number,
            Routing_Number,
            Currency_Code
        )
    VALUES
        (
            'COOP Account',
            'bank',
            '80000009823',
            '123456789',
            'GBP'
        )
  • Here’s an Oracle linked table example:

    INSERT INTO
        "Bank_Account"@ZohoBooksLink (
            "Account_Name",
            "Account_Type",
            "Account_Number",
            "Routing_Number",
            "Currency_Code"
        )
    VALUES
        (
            'COOP Account',
            'bank',
            '80000009823',
            '123456789',
            'GBP'
        );
  • The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver also supports parameterized inserts. Here’s an example of doing this in PHP:

    $stmt = odbc_prepare($cnx, "INSERT INTO Bank_Account (Account_Name, Account_Type, Account_Number, Routing_Number, Currency_Code) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)");
    $success = odbc_execute($stmt, array('COOP Account', 'bank', '80000009823', '123456789', 'GBP'));
  • To update a Zoho Books record, use UPDATE. For example:

    UPDATE Bank_Account
    SET
      Account_Name = 'COOP Account'
    WHERE
      Account_Id = '661294000000089005'

    The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver also supports parameterized updates. Here’s an example of doing this in Perl:

    my $sth = $dbh->prepare('UPDATE Bank_Account SET Account_Name = \'COOP Account\' WHERE Account_Id = ?')
        or die "Can't prepare statement: $DBI::errstr";
    
    $sth->execute('661294000000089005');
  • To delete a Zoho Books record, use DELETE. For example:

    -- Delete (mark inactive) a bank account
    DELETE FROM Bank_Account WHERE Account_Id = '661294000000108004'

    The Easysoft ODBC-Zoho Books Driver also supports parameterized deletes. Here’s an example of doing this in Python:

    sql = "DELETE FROM Bank_Account WHERE Account_Id = ?"
    cursor.execute(sql, '661294000000097009')