QBConnector Component

Properties   Methods   Events   Config Settings   Errors  

The QBCONNECTOR component is a utility that allows you to connect your QuickBooks Integrator applications to remote QuickBooks instances.

Syntax

TiqbQBConnector

Remarks

The QBConnector component is a lightweight web server which listens for HTTP requests originating from the QuickBooks Integrator components. Each request sent to the QBConnector by a QuickBooks Integrator component contains the XML data to be communicated to QuickBooks as well as configuration settings specifying how the connection is to be opened. The QBConnector then communicates with QuickBooks via COM, and returns the QuickBooks response (or an error message) in the HTTP reply.

Using the QBConnector component is easy. Simply set Listening to True, and the component will begin listening for incoming messages on the specified LocalPort. The messages will be processed by the QuickBooks application that is running on the same machine as the QBConnector, and the results will automatically be returned to the requesting client.

Basic authentication is enabled by default, meaning the connecting clients must present a user name and password in the QBConnectionString of the component they're using. The supplied user name and password are checked against the list of AuthorizedUsers. If no user in the list matches the supplied credentials, the Authorization event will fire with the Accept parameter set to false. If the user was found in the list of AuthorizedUsers then the parameter will be set to True. You may override this functionality by setting the Accept parameter inside the Authorization event manually. If no "Authorization" header supplied in the request, the Authorization event will fire with blank User and Password parameters.

Note that the QBConnectionString will be used to make the connection to QuickBooks for a user found in the AuthorizedUsers collection.

Any of the QuickBooks Integrator components can connect to the QBConnector using the QBConnectionString property of any of the components. For instance, an example using the Invoice component follows: Invoice.QBConnectionString = "URL='http://www.foo.com:2080'" User='Foo' Password='Bar'";

Using SSL along with a digital certificate greatly increases the security of the Remote Connector. SSL will encrypt all data transmitted across the network, ensuring that only the Connector can read incoming requests, and that only the requesting client can read the QuickBooks responses. This prevents unauthorized parties from accessing your QuickBooks data. You should use a full digital certificate on the server (Connector) side, and this will contain a public key and a private key. This version of your certificate should be kept private. You may export a version of the certificate containing the public key only, and distribute this to all clients that need to communicate with the Connector.

To use this functionality, set the SSLCert with a valid certificate and then change the SSLStartMode to sslImplicit. Now all clients must post to the QBConnector using HTTPS. eg: Invoice.QBConnectionString = "URL='https://www.foo.com:2080' User='Foo' Password='Bar'"; // https instead of http

The client (in these examples Invoice) has an SSLServerAuthentication event that will fire when the server presents its certificate. If the public key presented by the QBConnector is trusted by the system, the Accept parameter will be True. If it is not trusted by the system (Accept is False), you should inspect the certificate and if valid, override by setting Accept to True.

Property List

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The following is the full list of the properties of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Method List

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The following is the full list of the methods of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Event List

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The following is the full list of the events fired by the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Config Settings

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The following is a list of config settings for the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

AuthorizedUsers Property (QBConnector Component)

A list of clients allowed to connect to the server.

Syntax

property AuthorizedUsers: TiqbAuthorizedUserList read get_AuthorizedUsers write set_AuthorizedUsers;

Remarks

The AuthorizedUsers property contains a list of clients allowed to connect to the QBConnector component. If the user name and password supplied in the HTTP authorization header must match the User and Password properties, the Authorization event will fire with the Accept parameter set to True. If the user cannot be found, or the password does not match, the Authorization event will fire with the Accept parameter set to False;. If a match is found, the component uses the information in the QBConnectionString to make a connection to QuickBooks.

Please refer to the AuthorizedUser type for a complete list of fields.

ConnectedToQB Property (QBConnector Component)

Opens or closes a persistent connection to QuickBooks.

Syntax

property ConnectedToQB: Boolean read get_ConnectedToQB;

Default Value

false

Remarks

You may use this property to determine whether the component is currently connected to QuickBooks.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

EnableSSL Property (QBConnector Component)

Indicates whether server starts in SSL-mode.

Syntax

property EnableSSL: Boolean read get_EnableSSL write set_EnableSSL;

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property must be set before setting Listening to True. When EnableSSL is True, plaintext connections to the component will be rejected.

This property is not available at design time.

Listening Property (QBConnector Component)

This property indicates whether the component is listening for incoming connections on LocalPort.

Syntax

property Listening: Boolean read get_Listening;

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property indicates whether the component is listening for connections on the port specified by the LocalPort property. Use the StartListening and StopListening methods to control whether the component is listening.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

LocalHost Property (QBConnector Component)

The name of the local host or user-assigned IP interface through which connections are initiated or accepted.

Syntax

property LocalHost: String read get_LocalHost write set_LocalHost;

Default Value

''

Remarks

This property contains the name of the local host as obtained by the gethostname() system call, or if the user has assigned an IP address, the value of that address.

In multihomed hosts (machines with more than one IP interface) setting LocalHost to the IP address of an interface will make the component initiate connections (or accept in the case of server components) only through that interface. It is recommended to provide an IP address rather than a hostname when setting this property to ensure the desired interface is used.

If the component is connected, the LocalHost property shows the IP address of the interface through which the connection is made in internet dotted format (aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd). In most cases, this is the address of the local host, except for multihomed hosts (machines with more than one IP interface).

Note: LocalHost is not persistent. You must always set it in code, and never in the property window.

LocalPort Property (QBConnector Component)

The TCP port in the local host where the component listens.

Syntax

property LocalPort: Integer read get_LocalPort write set_LocalPort;

Default Value

2080

Remarks

The LocalPort property must be set before QBConnector starts listening. If its value is 0, then the TCP/IP subsystem picks a port number at random. The port number can be found by checking the value of the LocalPort property after Listening is set to True.

The service port is not shared among servers (i.e. there can be only one QBConnector 'listening' on a particular port at one time).

The default value for LocalPort is 2080.

SSLAuthenticateClients Property (QBConnector Component)

If set to True, the server asks the client(s) for a certificate.

Syntax

property SSLAuthenticateClients: Boolean read get_SSLAuthenticateClients write set_SSLAuthenticateClients;

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property is used in conjunction with the SSLClientAuthentication event. Please refer to the documentation of the SSLClientAuthentication event for details.

SSLCert Property (QBConnector Component)

The certificate to be used during Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) negotiation.

Syntax

property SSLCert: TiqbCertificate read get_SSLCert write set_SSLCert;

Remarks

This property includes the digital certificate that the component will use during SSL negotiation. Set this property to a valid certificate before starting SSL negotiation. To set a certificate, you may set the Encoded field to the encoded certificate. To select a certificate, use the store and subject fields.

Please refer to the Certificate type for a complete list of fields.

SSLProvider Property (QBConnector Component)

The Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) implementation to use.

Syntax

property SSLProvider: TiqbTSSLProviders read get_SSLProvider write set_SSLProvider;

TiqbTSSLProviders = (
  sslpAutomatic,
  sslpPlatform,
  sslpInternal
);

Default Value

sslpAutomatic

Remarks

This property specifies the SSL/TLS implementation to use. In most cases the default value of 0 (Automatic) is recommended and should not be changed. When set to 0 (Automatic), the component will select whether to use the platform implementation or the internal implementation depending on the operating system as well as the TLS version being used.

Possible values are as follows:

Additional Notes

In most cases using the default value (Automatic) is recommended. The component will select a provider depending on the current platform.

When Automatic is selected, on Windows, the component will use the platform implementation. On Linux/macOS, the component will use the internal implementation. When TLS 1.3 is enabled via SSLEnabledProtocols, the internal implementation is used on all platforms.

Timeout Property (QBConnector Component)

An initial timeout value to be used by incoming connections.

Syntax

property Timeout: Integer read get_Timeout write set_Timeout;

Default Value

30

Remarks

Timeout is used by the component to set the operational timeout value of all inbound connections once they are established.

The default value is 30 seconds.

AddUser Method (QBConnector Component)

Adds a new user to the AuthorizedUsers collection.

Syntax

procedure AddUser(User: String; Password: String; QBConnectionString: String; AuthMode: Integer);

Remarks

Please refer to the AuthorizedUsers collection for more information.

User specifies the user which will be allowed to connect.

Password specifies the password of the user. This is not applicable when AuthMode is set to 1 (amWindows).

QBConnectionString sets the connection properties for the user. See QBConnectionString for details.

AuthMode defines how the user will be authenticated. There are two ways that the user may be authorized, against the user list defined in the component, or as a Windows user. From the client side the process of connecting is exactly the same no matter which option you choose. Possible values are:

When using the amNormal AuthMode (default) the user's password will be checked against the Password property.

When using the amWindows AuthMode the component will validate the user's credentials with Windows. When calling AddUser the Password parameter should be set to empty string.

Config Method (QBConnector Component)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

function Config(ConfigurationString: String): String;

Remarks

Config is a generic method available in every component. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the component.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the component, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

DoEvents Method (QBConnector Component)

This method processes events from the internal message queue.

Syntax

procedure DoEvents();

Remarks

When DoEvents is called, the component processes any available events. If no events are available, it waits for a preset period of time, and then returns.

Reset Method (QBConnector Component)

Clears all properties to their default values.

Syntax

procedure Reset();

Remarks

This method clears all properties to their default values.

Shutdown Method (QBConnector Component)

Shutdown the server.

Syntax

procedure Shutdown();

Remarks

When this method is called, the component will stop Listening, break all active connections, and disconnect from QuickBooks.

Authorization Event (QBConnector Component)

Fired when the client presents its credentials to the server.

Syntax

type TAuthorizationEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  UserIndex: Integer;
  const User: String;
  const Password: String;
  var Accept: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnAuthorization: TAuthorizationEvent read FOnAuthorization write FOnAuthorization;

Remarks

This is where the server can decide whether to continue or not, based on the supplied User and Password.

To accept or reject a connection set Accept to True of False.

The Accept parameter defaults to True if User is found in the AuthorizedUsers collection and Password matches, and False otherwise. The UserIndex parameter indicates the index at which the authorized user was found in the collection.

A UserIndex of -1 means that no matching credentials were found in the AuthorizedUsers collection.

Connected Event (QBConnector Component)

This event is fired immediately after a connection completes (or fails).

Syntax

type TConnectedEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  StatusCode: Integer;
  const Description: String
) of Object;

property OnConnected: TConnectedEvent read FOnConnected write FOnConnected;

Remarks

If the connection is made normally, StatusCode is 0, and Description is 'OK'.

If the connection fails, StatusCode has the error code returned by the system. Description contains a description of this code. The value of StatusCode is equal to the value of the system error.

Please refer to the Error Codes section for more information.

ConnectionRequest Event (QBConnector Component)

This event is fired when a request for connection comes from a remote host.

Syntax

type TConnectionRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const Address: String;
  Port: Integer;
  var Accept: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnConnectionRequest: TConnectionRequestEvent read FOnConnectionRequest write FOnConnectionRequest;

Remarks

This event indicates an incoming connection. The connection is accepted by default. Address and Port will contain information about the remote host requesting the inbound connection. If you want to refuse it, you can set the Accept parameter to False.

Disconnected Event (QBConnector Component)

This event is fired when a connection is closed.

Syntax

type TDisconnectedEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  StatusCode: Integer;
  const Description: String
) of Object;

property OnDisconnected: TDisconnectedEvent read FOnDisconnected write FOnDisconnected;

Remarks

If the connection is broken normally, StatusCode is 0, and Description is 'OK'.

If the connection is broken for any other reason, StatusCode has the error code returned by the system. Description contains a description of this code. The value of StatusCode is equal to the value of the system error.

Please refer to the Error Codes section for more information.

Error Event (QBConnector Component)

This event fires information about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

type TErrorEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  ErrorCode: Integer;
  const Description: String
) of Object;

property OnError: TErrorEvent read FOnError write FOnError;

Remarks

The Error event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing. Normally, the component raises an exception.

ErrorCode contains an error code and Description contains a textual description of the error. For a list of valid error codes and their descriptions, please refer to the Error Codes section.

ConnectionId indicates the connection for which the error is applicable.

Header Event (QBConnector Component)

HTTP headers sent by the client.

Syntax

type THeaderEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  const Header: String;
  const Value: String
) of Object;

property OnHeader: THeaderEvent read FOnHeader write FOnHeader;

Remarks

When a client connects, this event will fire for each HTTP header received.

Request Event (QBConnector Component)

Fired when a client sends a request to the component.

Syntax

type TRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  UserIndex: Integer;
  const Request: String
) of Object;

property OnRequest: TRequestEvent read FOnRequest write FOnRequest;

Remarks

This event will fire with the raw XML data received from the client, which is to be processed by QuickBooks.

The ConnectionId indicates which client connection this Request event is firing for. The UserIndex is the index of the user in the User array property. Request is the QBXML Request sent from the client.

A UserIndex of -1 means that no matching credentials were found in the AuthorizedUsers collection.

Response Event (QBConnector Component)

Fired when the component sends a response to the client.

Syntax

type TResponseEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  UserIndex: Integer;
  const Response: String
) of Object;

property OnResponse: TResponseEvent read FOnResponse write FOnResponse;

Remarks

This event will fire with the raw XML retrieved from QuickBooks and sent to the client.

The ConnectionId indicates which client connection this Request event is firing for. The UserIndex is the index of the user in the User array property. Response is the QBXML Response from QuickBooks, which is being transmitted back to the client.

A UserIndex of -1 means that no matching credentials were found in the AuthorizedUsers collection.

SSLClientAuthentication Event (QBConnector Component)

This event is fired when the client presents its credentials to the server.

Syntax

type TSSLClientAuthenticationEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  const CertEncoded: String;
  const CertEncodedB: TBytes;
  const CertSubject: String;
  const CertIssuer: String;
  const Status: String;
  var Accept: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnSSLClientAuthentication: TSSLClientAuthenticationEvent read FOnSSLClientAuthentication write FOnSSLClientAuthentication;

Remarks

This event enables the server to decide whether or not to continue. The Accept parameter is a recommendation on whether to continue or to close the connection. This is just a suggestion: application software must use its own logic to determine whether or not to continue.

When Accept is False, Status shows why the verification failed (otherwise, Status contains the string "OK").

SSLConnectionRequest Event (QBConnector Component)

This event fires when a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection is requested.

Syntax

type TSSLConnectionRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  const SupportedCipherSuites: String;
  const SupportedSignatureAlgs: String;
  var CertStoreType: Integer;
  var CertStore: String;
  var CertPassword: String;
  var CertSubject: String
) of Object;

property OnSSLConnectionRequest: TSSLConnectionRequestEvent read FOnSSLConnectionRequest write FOnSSLConnectionRequest;

Remarks

This event fires when an SSL connection is requested and SSLProvider is set to Internal. This event provides an opportunity to select an alternative certificate to the connecting client. This event does not fire when SSLProvider is set to Platform.

This event allows the component to be configured to use both RSA and ECDSA certificates depending on the connecting client's capabilities.

ConnectionId is the connection Id of the client requesting the connection.

SupportedCipherSuites is a comma-separated list of cipher suites that the client supports.

SupportedSignatureAlgs is a comma-separated list of certificate signature algorithms that the client supports.

CertStoreType is the store type of the alternate certificate to use for this connection. The component supports both public and private keys in a variety of formats. When the cstAuto value is used, the component will automatically determine the type. This property can take one of the following values:

CertStore is the store name or location of the alternate certificate to use for this connection.

Designations of certificate stores are platform dependent.

The following designations are the most common User and Machine certificate stores in Windows:

When the certificate store type is cstPFXFile, this property must be set to the name of the file. When the type is cstPFXBlob, the property must be set to the binary contents of a PFX file (i.e., PKCS#12 certificate store).

CertPassword is the password of the certificate store containing the alternate certificate to use for this connection.

CertSubject is the subject of the alternate certificate to use for this connection.

The special value * matches any subject and will select the first certificate in the store. The certificate subject is a comma-separated list of distinguished name fields and values. For instance, "CN=www.server.com, OU=test, C=US, E=support@nsoftware.com". Common fields and their meanings are as follows:

If a field value contains a comma, it must be quoted.

SSLStatus Event (QBConnector Component)

This event is fired to show the progress of the secure connection.

Syntax

type TSSLStatusEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  const Message: String
) of Object;

property OnSSLStatus: TSSLStatusEvent read FOnSSLStatus write FOnSSLStatus;

Remarks

The event is fired for informational and logging purposes only. It is used to track the progress of the connection.

Status Event (QBConnector Component)

Shows the status of the server as clients connect and transactions are made.

Syntax

type TStatusEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionId: Integer;
  const Message: String
) of Object;

property OnStatus: TStatusEvent read FOnStatus write FOnStatus;

Remarks

The event is fired for informational and logging purposes only.

AuthorizedUser Type

Client login, password, and QuickBooks connection information.

Remarks

The AuthorizedUser type contains the User and Password of a client that is allowed to connect to the QBConnector component. When a client connects, the user name and password supplied in the HTTP authorization header are compared to the credentials of each authorized user. If a match is found, the component uses the information in the QBConnectionString to make a connection to QuickBooks.

• AuthMode
• Password
• QBConnectionString
• User

Fields

Constructors

constructor Create();

constructor Create(valUser: String; valPassword: String);

constructor Create(valUser: String; valPassword: String; valQBConnectionString: String);

constructor Create(valUser: String; valPassword: String; valQBConnectionString: String; valAuthMode: TiqbAuthModes);

Certificate Type

This is the digital certificate being used.

Remarks

This type describes the current digital certificate. The certificate may be a public or private key. The fields are used to identify or select certificates.

• EffectiveDate
• ExpirationDate
• ExtendedKeyUsage
• Fingerprint
• FingerprintSHA1
• FingerprintSHA256
• Issuer
• PrivateKey
• PrivateKeyAvailable
• PrivateKeyContainer
• PublicKey
• PublicKeyAlgorithm
• PublicKeyLength
• SerialNumber
• SignatureAlgorithm
• Store
• StorePassword
• StoreType
• SubjectAltNames
• ThumbprintMD5
• ThumbprintSHA1
• ThumbprintSHA256
• Usage
• UsageFlags
• Version
• Subject
• Encoded

Fields

Constructors

>

constructor Create();

>

constructor Create(valEncoded: TBytes);

>

constructor Create(valStoreType: TiqbCertStoreTypes; valStore: String; valStorePassword: String; valSubject: String);

>

constructor Create(valStoreType: TiqbCertStoreTypes; valStore: TBytes; valStorePassword: String; valSubject: String);

Config Settings (QBConnector Component)

The component accepts one or more of the following configuration settings. Configuration settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the component, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

QBConnector Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (QBConnector Component)

Errors

The following errors may be generated by the component. Note that frequently the error message will contain more specific information than what is listed here.

QBConnector Errors

SSL Errors

TCP/IP Errors