Table of contents
API
First off, what’s an API? API stands for Application Programming Interface.
But this sounds confusing if you’re not a programmer, right? No worries, though, we have an easier explanation.
You can call it a set of URLs built to return raw data, without a user interface, just text. This text can be interpreted by other software pieces.
For example, when you access LinkedIn, your browser receives a string of text that it then interprets and transforms into a graphical representation, the way you actually see the page.
Reports
From a software point of view, they’re usually represented by a dedicated page that provides some preprogrammed sets of data.
The major disadvantage of this approach is that, if you need a new way of looking at the data, you usually need to ask the programmers with access to the app to produce and/or hardcode it. This is time and resource-intensive. Furthermore, it’s limited to the application’s environment.
The alternative – a reporting API
Instead, you can create a reporting API that can be used by everyone to pull the information from the database based on predefined permissions levels. This will make it available across multiple platforms and structure it as required.
Prokuria allows you this modern approach, bringing its (almost) entire database to your fingertips.
To make things even easier, the information can be extracted directly within Excel, giving you access to its whole array of data manipulation tools. Once the data is drawn in Excel, no other work is needed. The report will be updated once you click refresh in the Query Tab.
The API’s documentation can be found here, along with instructions on how to connect:
In a nutshell:
Create a new excel worksheet & navigate to the Data tab;
Select From Web;
Click Advanced;
Copy one of the URLs provided within the documentation and an api Key provided by us;
Congrats! That’s all there is to it!
Pro Tips
Each link inserts a specific report within a sheet.
You can add various reports to an Excel document within multiple sheets.
By adding various reports to the same Excel document, you can easily pivot multiple sets of data to acquire even more insight (ex: Events, Responses, Suppliers).
Comments