Connecting to URL

BellaDati can import data from URLs, web services and REST APIs.

Connecting to URL has similarities with file import. In addition URL imports can be scheduled to execute automatically and repeatedly.

URL popup offers advanced section for authentization and specific HTTP headers settings.

Connecting to URL

From Data Source Connectors page select Connect from URL.

Connection Parameters

Enter following parameters to connect to URL source:

URL: Web address
File content: Select the file format - CSV (text file), Excel (XLS, XLSX), XML or ZIP

Then continue setting like for file import.

Login and password are optional parameters.

Date and time Variables

If you need to change the URL or HTTP post content dynamically, you can use predefined variables. BellaDati currently supports functions to get date, time or timestamp in user defined formats:

Name	Description	Examples
`$date(dateString)`	Evaluates the `dateString` and outputs the date in `yyyy-MM-dd` format. The `dateString`	`$date(now + 5d -4w)` `$date(2011-01-01 + 5d -4w)` `$date(actualMonth -1d)`
`$date(dateString, format)`	Works like `$date(dateString)`, but output format is controlled by `format` parameter	`$date(now + 5d -4w, dd-MM-yyyy)` `$date(2011-01-01 + 5d -4w, MMyyyy)` `$date(actualMonth -1d, yyyy-dd-MM)`
`$time(timeString)`	Evaluates the `timeString` and outputs the resulting time in `HH:mm:ss` format	`$time(now)` `$time(actualhour)` `$time(actualminute)`
`$time(timeString, format)`	Works like `$time(timeString)`, but output format is controlled by `format` parameter	$time(now, HH:mm:ss) `$time(actualhour, MMss)` `$time(actualminute, HHmmss)`
`$timestamp()`	Returns the current time stamp value	`$timestamp()`

`DateString`

now - represents actual date
actualyear - represents the first day of actual year (1.1.20XX). For example actualyear selected on 21.9.2010 represents date 1.1.2010
actualquarter - represents the first day of actual quarter (1.1.20XX, 1.4.20XX, 1.7.20XX, 1.10.20XX). For example actualquarter selected on 21.9.2010 represents date 1.7.2010
actualmonth - represents the first day of actual month (1.1.20XX, 1.2.20XX, ...). For example actaulmonth selected in 21.9.2010 represents date 1.9.2010
actualweek - represents first day of actual week (Monday). For example actualweek selected on 21.9.2010 represents date 20.9.2010 (Monday of this week in calendar)
relative and absolute enterig of date can be adjusted by operators using this syntax: date +|- n[d|w|m|q|y], where n is integer, d represents day, w represents week, m represents month q represents quartal and y represents year. We can for example define time in this way: actualyear + 2m -4d. Today is 21.9.2010, so this value represents 1.1.2010 + 2 months - 4 days, which means date 25.2.2010.

`TimeString`

now - represents actual time
actualhour - represents the actual hour at 0 minutes and 0 seconds.
actualminute - represents the actual minute at 0 seconds
actualsecond - represents the actual second

Connecting to SOAP web Services

BellaDati is able to connect resources available on network via the HTTP protocol. Except this simple usage, we can connect also more complex resources available as Web services. Web services are using the SOAP protocol, which is based on the plain HTTP protocol. The SOAP message comes in standard XML format, which is in BellaDati perfectly supported. Here is an example how to do it:

Enter the endpoint URL of your web service and choose the XML file format.
Open the advanced settings, choose the POST method and set the following parameters:
1. SOAPAction - value is contained in the WSDL file, which describes your web service. It is defined in the soapAction tag, e.g.: <soap:operation soapAction="http://www.sap.com/Z_HSI_HRP04_RZH_READ_DATA"/>
2. Content-Type - set the value to text/xml
Insert the POST content in the depicted structure:

Connecting to REST web services

You can connect to REST web services over HTTP using BellaDati. Just select the proper HTTP GET header type and file type (eg. CSV).

Authentication

The following authentication methods are supported:

Basic and Digest HTTP Access Authentication (RFC2617 standard).

REST API supports OAuth standard with security token.

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