Have you heard of pulling data from API? In a previous Tableau blog post here, I am taking a course on API. Wikipedia defines API as "An application programming interface is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. "
There are several types of API according to Techolution > LINK
Public APIs that are open and available for use by anyone. These can be blocked if you are on an internal network.
Partner APIs API's available through a third-party business partnership
Internal/Private APIs which are only available through a secured network for internal business use.
Composite API: which can be a combination of above with the objective of speed and performance for users
In the example below I will show you I will be using REST API which is short for ‘Representational State Transfer.’ This means in order to pull data from the API it must have the following;
It must not allow the receiver to keep information they receive from the sender. It must be "stateless."
It must exist independently from the client and the server.
It must have an ability to be cached.
It must be uniform and be able to be communicated via HTTP, URI's, CRUD and JSON.
It must be layered with a hierarchy.
Steps for your workflow;
First I will grab a Text Input Tool onto my Alteryx canvas. I will paste the following URL in this tool and rename the column World Clock Input;
This site is public and uses REST API. It also pulls the current time via JSON format.
Next I will grab the Download Tool from the Developer tab and connect it to this Text Input Tool.
I select the World Clock Input column from the URL field. I will not make any changes to any of the other tabs etc. Depending on the API you are pulling you may need to adjust details on those tabs; for this very simple example, you do not need to make any changes.
Next I grab the JSON Parse Tool in the Developer tab and attach it to my Download Tool. I need to select DownloadData from the JSON Field drop-down.
Your workflow should look like this;
In my results you can see that it parsed out the different time variables. You can see Current Date Time and the UTC (Universal Time) Offset since I am in EST.
Try it yourself! There are other links for the World clock in this site below;