Extend Google Sheets with Adobe Analytics Data

Interact with Adobe Analytics data from Google Sheets through macros, custom functions, and add-ons. The CData API Server enables connectivity to Adobe Analytics data from cloud-based and mobile applications like Google Sheets. The API Server is a lightweight Web application that produces OData services for Adobe Analytics.

Google Apps Script can consume these OData services in the JSON format. This article shows how to create a simple add-on that populates a Google Spreadsheet with AdsReport data.

Set Up the API Server

If you have not already done so, download the CData API Server. Once you have installed the API Server, follow the steps below to begin producing secure Adobe Analytics OData services:

Connect to Adobe Analytics

To work with Adobe Analytics data from Google Sheets, we start by creating and configuring a Adobe Analytics connection. Follow the steps below to configure the API Server to connect to Adobe Analytics data:

1. First, navigate to the Connections page.
2. Click Add Connection and then search for and select the Adobe Analytics connection. 👁 Selecting a data source (SQLite is shown)
   
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Adobe Analytics.

   Adobe Analytics uses the OAuth authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, create an app to obtain the OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and CallbackURL connection properties. See the "Getting Started" section of the help documentation for a guide.

   Retrieving GlobalCompanyId

   GlobalCompanyId is a required connection property. If you do not know your Global Company ID, you can find it in the request URL for the users/me endpoint on the Swagger UI. After logging into the Swagger UI Url, expand the users endpoint and then click the GET users/me button. Click the Try it out and Execute buttons. Note your Global Company ID shown in the Request URL immediately preceding the users/me endpoint.

   Retrieving Report Suite Id

   Report Suite ID (RSID) is also a required connection property. In the Adobe Analytics UI, navigate to Admin -> Report Suites and you will get a list of your report suites along with their identifiers next to the name.

   After setting the GlobalCompanyId, RSID and OAuth connection properties, you are ready to connect to Adobe Analytics.

   👁 Connecting to a datasource (SQLite is shown)
   
4. After configuring the connection, click Save & Test to confirm a successful connection.

Configure API Server Users

Next, create a user to access your Adobe Analytics data through the API Server. You can add and configure users on the Users page. Follow the steps below to configure and create a user:

1. On the Users page, click Add User to open the Add User dialog.
2. Next, set the Role, Username, and Privileges properties and then click Add User. 👁 Configure a new user
   
3. An Authtoken is then generated for the user. You can find the Authtoken and other information for each user on the Users page: 👁 API Server user settings
   

Creating API Endpoints for Adobe Analytics

Having created a user, you are ready to create API endpoints for the Adobe Analytics tables:

1. First, navigate to the API page and then click Add Table . 👁 Add tables
   
2. Select the connection you wish to access and click Next. 👁 Select the connection (SQLite is shown)
   
3. With the connection selected, create endpoints by selecting each table and then clicking Confirm. 👁 Adding tables from the connection (SQLite is shown)
   

Gather the OData Url

Having configured a connection to Adobe Analytics data, created a user, and added resources to the API Server, you now have an easily accessible REST API based on the OData protocol for those resources. From the API page in API Server, you can view and copy the API Endpoints for the API:

Retrieve Adobe Analytics Data

Open the Script Editor from your spreadsheet by clicking Tools -> Script Editor. In the Script Editor, add the following function to populate a spreadsheet with the results of an OData query:

function retrieve(){
 var url = "https://MyUrl/api.rsc/AdsReport?select=Id,Page,PageViews,City";
 var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url,{
 headers: {"Authorization": "Basic " + Utilities.base64Encode("MyUser:MyAuthtoken")}
 }); 
 var json = response.getContentText();
 var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
 var a1 = sheet.getRange('a1');
 var index=1;
 var adsreport = JSON.parse(json).value;

 var cols = [["Id","Page","PageViews","City"]]; 
 sheet.getRange(1,1,1,4).setValues(cols);

 row=2;
 for(var i in adsreport){
 for (var j in adsreport[i]) {
 switch (j) {
 case "Id":
 a1.offset(row,0).setValue(account[i][j]);
 break;
 case "Page":
 a1.offset(row,1).setValue(account[i][j]);
 break;
 case "PageViews":
 a1.offset(row,2).setValue(account[i][j]);
 break;
 case "City":
 a1.offset(row,3).setValue(account[i][j]);
 break;
 } 
 }
 row++;
 }
}

Follow the steps below to add an installable trigger to populate the spreadsheet when opened:

1. Click Resources -> Current Project's Triggers -> Add a New Trigger.
2. Select retrieve in the Run menu.
3. Select From Spreadsheet.
4. Select On open.

After closing the dialog, you are prompted to allow access to the application.

You can test the script by clicking Publish -> Test as Add-On. Select the version, installation type, and spreadsheet to create a test configuration. You can then select and run the test configuration.