How to Import Data via URL

You may wish to import data via URL when you want the data to update automatically or on a schedule with whatever data is at the said URL. This article describes how to set this up.

Requirements

If you want Displayr to download fresh data when it loads your document then you need to provide a URL (web address) that immediately downloads the data file.

• Your URL should not need a password and be made accessible to anyone with the link.
• Your URL should immediately download the file when you paste it into a fresh copy of your web browser, leaving the web page completely blank.
• If importing data with multiple sheets, i.e. Excel or CSV, only the first sheet will be imported unless you specify the exact sheet in your URL.

Method - Find your URL

While not all cloud storage solutions will offer direct download links, the below guidance should be noted:

• For Dropbox, the direct download link will be in the format of https://www.dropbox.com/s/random-string/filename.xlsx?dl=1. See here for further details. (Note that Dropbox URLs will show a web page, but Displayr uses a Dropbox-specific trick to make it work anyway).
• The Box.com free personal account doesn't provide a direct download link, but paid accounts do.
• For OneDrive (personal), locate the file in OneDrive in your browser, click the Embed button, and then change embed to download in the URL which shows at the top of your browser.
• For Office 365 SharePoint (OneDrive) the direct download link is provided when the user creates a link.
• For Google Drive (personal), the direct link is created by https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=FILE_ID where fileID is obtained from the Link to Share dialog.
• For Google Sheets, you will need to click the Share button and set it to Anyone with the link. The URL will be in the format of https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/worksheet_name. In order to force a direct download, append "/export?format=csv" to the URL. You can also specify a sheet by adding "&gid=id" from the sheet's URL.
• For Google Forms, the data will either be saved in Google Drive by default, or else ensure you have first linked the responses to Google Sheets via Responses > Create a new spreadsheet or Select existing spreadsheet.

Method - Import your data

1. Select Data Sets > Plus (+) > URL.

2. Enter the URL and specify how often you would like the link to automatically refresh.

3. Click OK.

If you wish to manually update the URL ahead of the automatic refresh, simply click the Data Sets tree folder and click Update > URL > OK from the object inspector.

Note, if your URL becomes invalid or permissions change, the document will be unable to open due to this data set not being downloadable. If this occurs, please contact Support for assistance.

Next

Once you've imported your data, it's always a good idea to Check Your Data.

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