Get report data into Power BI or another tool
You can fetch the rows of an ABMS report into Power BI or another tool through the report data API. Set this up together with your IT department: create a dedicated ABMS user that logs in with a password, use it to get a token, and let the tool call the report’s web address with that token. The tool gets the same columns as the report, and a token is valid for 72 hours.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- To create the user, you need the Admin level on the Super area row of your rights; this is what shows the Super menu. Your user administrator sets this; see The Users page and the rights table.
- The report must exist in ABMS, with the columns, document types and main filter you want in the tool; see Create a report.
- You need your company’s customer ID and the report’s ID in ABMS. If you do not know them, contact Antenor support.
- Someone in your IT department who sets up the connection in the tool.
- Ask Antenor support which rights to give the integration user so that it can read the report.
- Create a dedicated user for the integration, with Login method : set to Password; see Add a user. Use an e-mail address whose mail you can read, because the user’s e-mails, including a password reset link, go to that address. A user who logs in with Office 365 cannot get a token.
- Get a password for the user: on the login page, use “Forgot your password?” with the user’s e-mail address and set a password from the link you receive; see Reset a forgotten password. Then log in once as the user; if ABMS asks for a new password at this first login, choose one. Give the e-mail address and password to your IT department in a safe way.
- Your IT department requests a token by sending the user’s e-mail address and password to the token address of the API. Send them in the request body rather than in the web address.
- Your IT department sets up the tool to call the report’s address with the token in the request header, and with the number of rows per page. All details are in The report data API.
- Because a token expires after 72 hours, your IT department sets up the tool to request a new token when needed.
What you should see
Section titled “What you should see”The tool receives one row per document in the report. Each row has one value per report column, named after the column title, plus a link to the document, and the response also says how many documents the report has in total.
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- The report decides the data. The columns come from the report’s saved column selection. The report’s document types and main filter apply, and so do any personal filters the API user has set on the report in ABMS. Archived documents are left out unless the tool asks for them; see The report data API: parameters, rows and values in detail. If someone changes the report’s columns, the data in the tool changes too, so agree with your colleagues before changing a report that feeds a tool.
- Rows per page. The tool must state how many rows it wants per page. Without it, no rows are returned.
- Expired token. When the token has expired or is missing, the API answers “Not Authorized” and the tool must request a new token.
- Dedicated user. Antenor recommends a separate user for the integration rather than a person’s own user.