How To Connect Power BI To A Web API For Enhanced Reporting

Abstract:
Sometimes report requests require access to a web site's underlying data. Web sites often provide a means to connect to the underlying data through an application programming interface, or API. APIs open possibilities for reporting across different data sources.

This presentation will demonstrate using the API at the personal finance web site You Need A Budget (YNAB) to access the site's underlying data (https://www.youneedabudget.com). You will learn about characteristics of the YNAB API that are common to many web APIs. For example, the YNAB API is REST-based, uses the JSON data format and is secured with HTTPS. Finally, you will see how you can satisfy report requests by creating interactive Power BI reports that are connected to underlying web site data through an API.

Bio:
Ruthie Whittam MS, is Lead Data Scientist at ripeta and a consultant at BigWaveBI. At ripeta, Ruthie is currently working on developing Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools to help assess the quality of scientific reporting and the robustness of the scientific method used (https://ripeta.com, Twitter: @RipetaReview). As a side hustle, Ruthie supports team members by connecting and cleaning data for various clients of BigWaveBI, helping to grow, strategize, and inspire with data-driven confidence (https://bigwavebi.com/)!