This document describes the procedures for using Tableau to view and analyze eLynx data acquired via the eLynx API. 

Prerequisites

The information that must be provided to the Report Data API via the Web Data Connector is:

• API Key - the standard eLynx Public API key for the user
• Report Name - the name of the report configuration to execute
• Start Date - the start date sent to the report configuration
• End Date - the end date sent to the report configuration

Note that the specified date range cannot exceed 30 days, and there is a limit to the number of concurrent data requests that can be processed.

For more information about using Tableau and the Web Data Connector (WDC), please see the following article: https://tableau.github.io/webdataconnector/.

Connecting to eLynx API with Tableau Desktop

STEP 1:  Open the Web Data Connector

There are two different methods to open the Web Data Connector depending on whether or not the Start Page is visible.  Each of these options is discussed below.

STEP 1A:  Start Page is visible

If the Start Page is visible, there is a Connect panel that can be used to open the Web Data Connector.  

1. Open the Connect panel.
2. In the Connect panel, click the Web Data Connector menu option.  

STEP 1B:  Start Page is NOT visible

If the Start Page is not visible, there is a panel with a Data tab with a Connect to Data link on it that brings up a similar Connect panel:

1. Click the Data tab on the Start Page.
2. Click the Connect to Data link (or click the database with plus icon in the toolbar) to display the Connect panel.
3. In the Connect panel, click the Web Data Connector menu option.

STEP 2: Enter the eLynx Web Data Connector URL

Clicking Web Data Connector in either panel brings up the Web Data Connector dialog box.  This is used to enter the eLynx URL to access data using Tableau.

1. Enter the eLynx Web Data Connector URL (i.e., https://wdc.elynxtech.com/datareport.html ) into the address bar field.
2. Press the Enter key on the keyboard.  This will display the eLynx ReportData API dialog.
   1. Note that the Enter key must be used--there is no Go button or equivalent that may be clicked to submit the URL.

STEP 3: Enter the Report Parameters

After entering the eLynx Web Data Connector URL and pressing Enter, the dialog should change to look like this:

This page is used to enter the parameters which will retrieve the requested data in the report as follows:

1. Enter the following information into the respective fields on the eLynx Report Data API dialog:
   1. 1. API Key - the standard eLynx Public API key for the user
      2. Report Name - the name of the report configuration to execute
      3. Start Date - the start date sent to the report configuration
      4. End Date - the end date sent to the report configuration
2. Click the Get Data button to retrieve the report configuration and data.

STEP 4:  View/Update the Report Data Results

The progress dialog for retrieving the data may be displayed for a period of time depending on the amount of data requested.  When finished, Tableau will show a screen with information regarding the data columns that will be returned and two buttons for retrieving the data: Update Now and Automatically Update.

1. Click the Update Now button to display the report data results.  This will replace the buttons with a grid of data that lines up under the column headers. 

1. At this time, the Automatically Update button is not yet functional.  Do not use.