Connect API to Excel On A Schedule With No Code
An API is a ‘bridge‘ through which one app obtains/sends information from/to another app. This means that you can load miscellaneous data from your source app to your Excel workbook using the REST API. Moreover, you can even schedule data loads via the API to Excel sheet without any VBA coding! Read our guide to learn how you can do this.
How to use API in Excel – options you have
Basically, you have three options to link API to Excel:
- Power Query: You can query data from APIs using Excel’s built-in tool.
- Coupler.io: This third-party importer will let you automate data exports via APIs to Excel on a custom schedule.
- VBA: This is a code-based option that is suitable for tech-savvy Excel users.
Let’s check out each option in action so that you can make the best choice for your needs. For this, we asked Richard, a cryptocurrency enthusiast, to help us.
Richard wants to analyze the growth tendency of the top crypto coins. To do this, he needs to load data from CryptoCompare using their JSON API.
For testing, Richard will use the following API URL that will load data about the price for five cryptocoins: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Terra, Binance Coin, and Tether.
Note: This API requires authorization, so Richard has already generated a free API key.
So, let’s start with the option that allows you to schedule exports via API to Excel.
How to regularly pull API data into Excel
For scheduled exports of data from API to Microsoft Excel, Richard will use Coupler.io. It’s a solution that allows you to connect to multiple sources and load data from them to Excel, Google Sheets, or BigQuery. You can export data on demand and automate import on a custom schedule, such as every day or every hour.
For Richard’s case, we’ll use the JSON integration with Excel. Let’s see how it works.
The instructions provided in this article are sufficient for creating an automated integration. But please note that we are not responsible for the outcome if you use the instructions incorrectly, specify incorrect settings, or if there are changes in the app’s API.
If you need help with the setup or want to have a more user-friendly version of this connector, we can develop this premium integration for you for free. Just select the app you need from the list and follow the instructions on requesting the automated integration.
Excel API example with Coupler.io
Sign up to Coupler.io with your Microsoft account. Click Add new importer – this is a boilerplate to set up your connection to API. Choose JSON as a source application and Microsoft Excel as the destination application. Then complete the following steps to load data from API to Excel sheet.
Source
- Insert the API URL to the JSON URL field. Click Continue.
Note: You’ve noticed that this API URL differs from the one mentioned in the beginning. It lacks attached query strings because Coupler.io provides separate fields to specify request headers and URL query parameters. So, Richard will use those to demonstrate how they work.
- Request headers – here, you can apply specific headers to your request, such as Authorization, as Richard did.
- URL query parameters – this field is for query parameters for your requests to the API. In Richard’s case, he specified the following strings:
Other fields, Request body, Columns, and Path are optional. You can learn more about them in the Coupler.io Help Center.
Note: You can find information about the parameters used in those fields in the API documentation of your application. Pay attention to the information about API authentication and details of API endpoints – these are usually located in separate sections.
Now you’re ready to Jump to the Destination Settings.
Destination
- Select a workbook on OneDrive and a worksheet where the data will be loaded. You can select an existing Excel worksheet or create a new one. Click Continue.
Note: Optionally, you can change the first cell for your imported data range, change the import mode, and add a column that contains the date and time of the last update.
Clicking on Save and Run loads the data from API to Excel right away. But Richard needs to automate this export on a recurring basis, so he needs to complete another step.
How to get data from API in Excel recurrently
You can configure the schedule for your JSON importer during the initial setup or at any other time. For this, you need to toggle on the Automatic data refresh and configure the frequency:
- Interval – from every month to every 15 minutes.
- Days of week – select the days you want to have the importer run.
- Time preferences – select the time when you want to have your data importer from the API.
- Schedule time zone – do not forget to specify the time zone for your dataflow.
That’s it! Let’s check out the results of the records pulled from API to Excel sheet?
The imported data does not look very neat. Nevertheless, you can create a separate sheet where the data will be transformed to the format you want and link Excel sheets. Therefore, every time Coupler.io refreshes your data, it will be automatically refreshed on the linked sheet.
Connect API to Excel with Power Query
Power Query is a data transformation engine within Excel. As well, it allows you to query data from different sources including REST APIs. Here is what you need to do to link API to Excel.
- In your Excel workbook, go to Data => New Query => From Other Sources => From Web.
- Insert the API URL and click OK.
- Choose the web content access. For this example, we can go with Anonymous. Click Connect.
- The Power Query editor will open where you can preview the data loaded from API. Go to the Convert tab and click Into Table.
- This will convert the data from API to a table, and you’ll be able to transform it before loading it to the Excel workbook, for example, transposing rows to columns or vice versa.
- You see that values in the Value column are hidden. The reason is that you need to select which columns to display. For this, click on the Expand button and select the columns. Click OK.
- Now you see two columns: Value.USD and Value.EUR. When all the necessary transformations are done, click Close & Load.
You can also check out the details of your connection.
Can you link API to Excel on a schedule with PowerQuery?
You can refresh data from the API on demand or set up a frequency for the automatic refresh. For this, go to Data => Connections => Properties… and configure the Refresh control.
The Power Query setup looks somewhat intricate because the main purpose of this tool is to transform data. So, it’s better to use Power Query in combination with Coupler.io – your data will go to Excel on a schedule where you can transform it with Power Query as you wish.
How to connect API to Excel using VBA
The answer is very simple – you need to learn VBA and implement your coding knowledge. �� The benefit of a code-based solution is that you can make it custom. This is achievable if you’re proficient in coding and specifically VBA. Alternatively, you can find some templates on GitHub or somewhere else and tweak them. But it is unlikely that you will find a code sample that will cover all your needs.
Which way to connect API to Excel sheet is the best one?
The no-code way is the choice of many, including Richard. For his needs with low data volume and infrequent data refresh, he can use the Coupler.io Personal plan. In addition to the option of connecting API to Excel sheet, you can benefit from many ready-to-use integrations, as well as other destination apps – Google Sheets and BigQuery. You can try out Coupler.io for free with a 14-day trial.
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The built-in PowerQuery functionality seems to be the actionable option to link API to Excel. It allows you to grab data and transform it on the go. However, the main drawback of PowerQuery is that it’s only available for the Excel desktop app. If this is not an issue for you, you can go with it.
Who’s going to choose the VBA script to connect API to Excel? This is the way for tech-savvy Excel experts who prefer to create custom functions and integrations for their liking. If you are one of those, then it’s probably your way as well.
API calls from Excel
How to make API calls from Excel and transform JSON response to a table.
Nobody can deny that Microsoft Excel is still a powerful tool even if you know Python, SQL, Javascript… It provides a super-friendly interface, has many functionalities and is a very popular software.
On the other hand, being able to make API calls and process the response provides a new world of endless possibilities. Nowadays many companies give access to their data via certain endpoints.
Why not put these 2 tools together? In this article we’ll explain how to do it.
There are 2 main ways in Excel to do it:
- Via Visual Basic script
- Via making a “query” from the data menu
API Call from Visual Basic script
The first thing is enable the “developer” menu. This can be done in File → Options → Customize Ribbon:
Once this is done we have to open the VBA editor.
In order to process the JSON response of the API call, we need to add the JsonConverter module, which can be found in the following url: https://github.com/VBA-tools/VBA-JSON/releases, then import JsonConverter.bas into the project. In the VBA Editor, go to File → Import.
Then we also need to import 2 references into the project from the “Tools” menu.
- Microsoft XML, v6.0
- Microsoft Scripting Runtime
Next we have to create a new module to write the code that will make the api call. Here I present 2 examples:
- Get the users from https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/
- Get the people from the Star Wars API (https://swapi.dev/).
If you want to save the excel file, remember to use the “xlsm” extension, which allows macros.
API Call from “New Query”, in “Data” tab
Excel 2016 has a built-in feature that allows to make API calls. Previous versions can also make it, but installing the PowerQuery plugin. To make an API call we must go to the “Data” tab and click on “New Query” → “From Other Sources” → “From Web”.
Then we click on “Advanced”. Here we put the url, and if credentials are needed, they can be entered as a header.
Как подключить API к Excel: пошаговое руководство
Excel — это один из самых популярных инструментов для работы с данными, и многие пользователи хотят узнать, как подключить API к Excel. В данной статье мы рассмотрим пошаговую инструкцию по подключению API к Excel и сможем научиться извлекать данные из внешних сервисов прямо в Excel.
API (Application Programming Interface) — это набор методов и процедур, которые используются разработчиками для взаимодействия с программой или сервисом. Подключение API к Excel позволяет получать данные из различных сервисов, таких как социальные сети, погодные сервисы, финансовые платформы и другие, и использовать эти данные для анализа и отчетности.
Первый шаг в подключении API к Excel — это получить ключ API от сервиса, с которым вы хотите работать. Этот ключ используется для идентификации вашего приложения и обеспечивает безопасность передачи данных. Ключ обычно предоставляется после регистрации вашего приложения на сайте сервиса.
Примечание: Некоторые сервисы требуют авторизации с помощью OAuth или других протоколов. В таком случае вам потребуется создать приложение и получить токены доступа для аутентификации.
Шаг 1: Регистрация веб-приложения
- Посетите сайт https://console.cloud.google.com и войдите в свою учетную запись Google.
- Создайте новый проект с помощью кнопки «Создать проект».
- Войдите в созданный проект и перейдите на вкладку «API и сервисы» в боковом меню.
- Нажмите на кнопку «Включить API и сервисы» и найдите необходимые вам API (например, Google Sheets API или любой другой API, с которым вы хотите работать).
- Включите выбранное API и нажмите кнопку «Создать учетные данные».
- Выберите тип учетных данных «Ключ API» и нажмите «Создать».
- Скопируйте сгенерированный ключ API. Этот ключ будет использоваться для доступа к API из Excel.
После завершения этого шага у вас будет зарегистрировано веб-приложение и сгенерирован ключ API, который используется для авторизации Excel при подключении к API.
Шаг 2: Получение ключа API
Для подключения API к Excel необходимо получить ключ, который будет использоваться для аутентификации при запросах к сервису.
- Перейдите на веб-сайт, предоставляющий нужный вам API.
- Зарегистрируйтесь на этом веб-сайте и создайте новый аккаунт, если у вас его еще нет.
- Войдите в свой аккаунт.
- Перейдите в настройки профиля или настройки API.
- Найдите раздел, относящийся к получению ключа API.
- Следуйте инструкциям по генерации ключа API.
- Скопируйте полученный ключ с сохранением его в надежном месте.
После получения ключа API вы будете готовы к шагу 3: настройке подключения к Excel.
Шаг 3: Установка дополнения Power Query
Чтобы установить дополнение Power Query, выполните следующие шаги:
- Откройте программу Excel и выберите вкладку «Файл».
- В меню выберите «Параметры».
- В открывшемся окне выберите «Надстройки».
- Нажмите на кнопку «Веб-дополнения».
- В поисковой строке введите «Power Query» и нажмите «Ввод».
- Выберите дополнение «Power Query для Excel» и нажмите «Добавить».
- Подтвердите установку и дождитесь завершения процесса.
- После установки дополнения Power Query перезапустите программу Excel.
Теперь у вас есть все необходимые инструменты для подключения API к Excel. Перейдем к следующему шагу.
Шаг 4: Создание нового подключения к данным
1. Откройте файл Excel, к которому хотите добавить подключение к API.
2. В меню выберите вкладку «Данные», затем в разделе «Получение внешних данных» нажмите на кнопку «Источники данных».
3. В появившемся окне выберите тип источника данных – «Из Интернета» или «Из веб-службы», в зависимости от специфики вашего API.
4. Введите URL-адрес вашего API в поле «Адрес службы» или «URL-адрес».
5. Нажмите на кнопку «Далее» и укажите необходимые параметры подключения к API: метод передачи данных (GET или POST), формат данных (XML или JSON) и т.д.
6. Если для доступа к API требуется аутентификация, введите соответствующие учетные данные (логин, пароль) в соответствующих полях.
7. Нажмите на кнопку «Готово» для завершения создания подключения к API.
8. Данные из API будут загружены в Excel и автоматически обновляться при обновлении подключения или вручную по вашему желанию.
9. Для изменения параметров подключения или удаления подключения к API можно воспользоваться разделом «Связанные параметры» в меню «Источники данных».
| Шаг | Описание |
|---|---|
| 1 | Откройте файл Excel, к которому хотите добавить подключение к API. |
| 2 | В меню выберите вкладку «Данные», затем в разделе «Получение внешних данных» нажмите на кнопку «Источники данных». |
| 3 | В появившемся окне выберите тип источника данных – «Из Интернета» или «Из веб-службы», в зависимости от специфики вашего API. |
| 4 | Введите URL-адрес вашего API в поле «Адрес службы» или «URL-адрес». |
| 5 | Нажмите на кнопку «Далее» и укажите необходимые параметры подключения к API: метод передачи данных (GET или POST), формат данных (XML или JSON) и т.д. |
| 6 | Если для доступа к API требуется аутентификация, введите соответствующие учетные данные (логин, пароль) в соответствующих полях. |
| 7 | Нажмите на кнопку «Готово» для завершения создания подключения к API. |
| 8 | Данные из API будут загружены в Excel и автоматически обновляться при обновлении подключения или вручную по вашему желанию. |
| 9 | Для изменения параметров подключения или удаления подключения к API можно воспользоваться разделом «Связанные параметры» в меню «Источники данных». |
Шаг 5: Вставка URL-адреса API
1. Откройте Excel и выберите лист, на котором вы хотите импортировать данные из API.
2. Выберите ячейку, в которой будет располагаться первое значение из API.
3. Вставьте URL-адрес API, начиная с символа равно (=), в формулу вверху окна Excel.
Например, если URL-адрес API выглядит так: https://api.example.com/data, тогда формулу нужно будет записать так: =https://api.example.com/data.
4. Нажмите клавишу Enter, чтобы выполнить формулу и загрузить данные из API.
Excel отправит запрос по указанному URL-адресу API и примет данные, если они доступны. Вы можете заметить, что Excel автоматически обновляет данные каждый раз, когда открываете файл или вручную обновляете страницу.
Если Excel не может подключиться к указанному URL-адресу API, убедитесь, что ссылка правильно написана и API доступно.
Consuming an API with Excel
A hands-on tutorial that demonstrates the first steps for consuming a simple API with Excel.
On this page
This tutorial is for you if you’re an Excel user who would like to learn how to extend your spreadsheets with data from APIs. You might be one of the people who spend most of their workdays in Excel and do calculations and visualizations but still work manually to import or even just copy and paste data from external sources.
If data is available from an API, however, there are various ways in which can consume it directly from Excel, saving you time and preventing errors.
That is, unfortunately, just as long you are using a Windows PC. The integrations presented in this article do not work in Excel for Mac or the web-based version of the Office apps.
The API
BASF provides the Periodic Table of Elements API, which enables you to query the periodic table and retrieve all kinds of information about chemical elements.
Understanding the API
We assume you came here from the Introduction to APIs. If not, please check out that document to learn the basics of APIs before continuing.
The Periodic Table of Elements API follows the CRUD/RESTful paradigm but implements only a subset. Specifically, the periodic table is read-only and allows HTTP GET requests exclusively. It is also limited to one resource called «element».
The base URL for the API is https://dev.api.basf.com/chemical/. Every endpoint starts with this URL.
For the elements, there are two endpoints. The first is a collection endpoint that allows you to either retrieve the full periodic table or request a subset of elements through filter parameters. It is called a collection endpoint because it always returns a collection data structure containing multiple items. The second is an individual resource endpoint that allows you to retrieve a single element.
Both endpoints return JSON-formatted responses.
Prerequisites for Use
All BASF APIs require authentication. The Periodic Table of Elements API uses an app-only context with an API key. If you haven’t done so, please read the introduction, terminology, and app-only context sections of the Authentication and Authorization guide. You can skip the part on the app and user context and OAuth as it is not required for this API.
To use authentication, you need to create an account and an application. The process gives you a Client ID, which you can then use as your API key. If you do not have an API key, follow the steps outlined in the Get Started guide. Make sure you select the API product BASF Periodic Table while creating your app.
Evaluating your Options
In Excel for Windows, there are three options for getting external data from an API, which we’ll investigate throughout this article.
The first option is the built-in WEBSERVICE() function. Retrieving data from a URL is a single step. However, extracting the information is rather cumbersome as Excel doesn’t understand JSON responses and you have to use string processing functions. Also, as the function only supports the URL as a parameter, this works only with APIs that allow you to provide authentication information as part of the URL. The BASF Periodic Table of Elements API fits the criteria, as it uses a query string for authentication. For other APIs that require custom headers, though, you’re out of luck.
The second option is using VBA, Visual Basic for Applications, to write a Macro in Basic code to consume an API and fill the sheet programmatically. It is the most powerful and flexible option and should work with all kinds of APIs, but it requires you to have some basic programming knowledge.
The third option is the Power Query builder that allows you to gather and combine data from different sources, including APIs. If you have already used the Power Query builder, for example, to access a database directly, this is the sensible way to do it. It’s also a good choice if you do not want to work with code and the WEBSERVICE() option is too limited.
We’ll use an individual resource endpoint with the WEBSERVICE() function as well as the VBA macro, and we’ll demonstrate the collection endpoint with the Power Query builder.
The WEBSERVICE() Function
Before we introduce the WEBSERVICE() function, let’s look at functions in Excel in general. They allow you to fill a table cell with computed data. To enter a function into a cell, you start with the equals sign (=), followed by the function name, a left parenthesis [(], your arguments (if needed), and a right parenthesis [)] to end. If there is more than one argument, you separate them with semicolons (;). A common function that you may have used is SUM(), which adds the data from a number of other cells and returns the result. It takes a range of cells as its argument.
The WEBSERVICE() function also takes one argument, a URL. Then, Excel issues an HTTP GET request to fetch whatever is available at that URL, and puts it into the cell as its result. If we want to do an API requests, since the function only allows a single argument, we have to encode the full API request into the URL. As mentioned before, this rules out APIs that require other HTTP methods (such as POST) or custom headers, e.g., for authorization. With the Periodic Table API, however, we put the API key in the URL and only need the GET method.
A first Request
Open a new Excel workbook, and enter the following line into a cell, replacing the string APIKEY with the previously generated key:
Once you hit Enter or click on another cell, you should see a JSON structure describing the Helium element appear in your cell.
Understanding and dynamically building the URL
As mentioned before, every API endpoint starts with the base URL. For the Periodic Table API, that is https://dev.api.basf.com/chemical/. Then, the path to a resource or collection endpoint follows. In our example, we retrieved a single element, hence, we used a resource endpoint. Typically, the path to a resource starts with the pluralized resource name, followed by a slash (/) and finally an identifier. If you look at the URL above, you can identify elements/He as this path. The question mark (?) separates the parameter section, and you can see the x-api-key parameter that authenticates the request.
We can separate the base URL and the API key from the URL and build the URL dynamically through string concatenation. That is useful if you have multiple requests in the same Excel sheet and, let’s say, you want to share this sheet with another person who then provides a different API key. The other person then only has to enter their API key in one designated cell instead of modifying your API requests.
As next step, we’ll create a sheet that allows users to modify the base URL and API key in one place. We’ll also apply string processing functions to parse a single field from the JSON response. You can follow along these steps. If something is unclear or doesn’t work for you, you can compare your sheet with the screenshots as well as the full Excel workbook that we’ll provide as download further below.
- Type «Base URL» in A1 and the base URL https://dev.api.basf.com/chemical/ in B1.
- Type «API Key» in A2 and paste your API key from the developer portal in B2.
- Type «Element» as a header in A4 and some elements below it. As an example, we’ll put «H» in A5 and «N» in A6.
- Type «API URL» as a header in B4. To build the URL, concatenate the following elements: a reference to the field containing the base URL, «elements/», a reference to the field containing the element name, «?x-api-key=», and a reference to the field containing the API key. You need to use absolute references to base URL and API key and a relative reference to the element name. Your function call should look like this: =CONCAT($B$1;»elements/»;A5;»?x-api-key API Response» as a header in C4. Make the webservice call using the URL you built in the previous step by typing =WEBSERVICE(B5) in C5. You should see a JSON API response appear in the cell.
- Type «Atomic Mass» as a header in D4. As there is no JSON parser in Excel, we copy a substring from the API response between the atomic_mass field and the subsequent field, covalent_radius. The whole function looks like this: =MID(C5;SEARCH(«atomic_mass»;C5)+13;SEARCH(«covalent_radius»;C5)-SEARCH(«atomic_mass»;C5)-16) You should now see only the atomic mass as a number in the cell.
- Select the cells B5 to D5, grab the right bottom corner, and drag them down to the B6 to D6. You should see the API URL, API response and atomic mass for the second element appear.
- To get the atomic mass for more elements, add a new element symbol in column A and copy or drag down the three other columns.
Please note that Excel function names are localized along with the Excel user interface. If your Excel installation is in German, replace the names based on this list:
- CONCAT – TEXTKETTE
- MID – TEIL
- SEARCH – SUCHEN
You can get a working Excel workbook in the PeriodicTableWebservice.xlsx file (TODO: add download).
A VBA Macro
Visual Basic for Applications, or VBA for short, is a powerful programming language that you can use to automate Microsoft Office applications, including Excel. VBA is closely related to, but not fully compatible with, other versions of the Basic language (such as Visual Basic .NET).
If you not worked with VBA before but have programming skills in a different language, you have to learn a new syntax, but should be able to understand the structure of the macro we build in this section.
The Objective
Our goal is to retrieve various attributes of specific chemical elements (but not the entire periodic table). The sheet layout uses one row per element. The user should enter the element names into the first column of the sheet (A). Then, upon running the macro, it should go through the list of rows and fill the other columns with details. For example, the atomic mass in the second column (B) and the covalent radius in the third column (C).
Getting Started
Open Excel with a new, empty sheet. Then, press the combination Alt and F11 on your keyboard to launch the Visual Basic editor.
On the left side of the editor, you can see the project structure. There’s an entry for your sheet. Double-click on this entry to open the code view where you can enter Basic code that is specific to that sheet.
We start by creating two global string variables, one for the base URL and the API key. It helps us separate them from the code itself so we can swap them if necessary.
It’s not possible to assign a value to these variables yet. We’ll do that later.
Writing a Function
As mentioned under the objective above, we need to retrieve specific elements that the user enters into the sheet, not the full periodic table. For this purpose, we use the API endpoint for specific elements and have to make multiple requests. Hence it is useful to develop an abstraction and put the logic for the API request into a function.
In VBA, you can define functions with the Function keyword. They have parameters with types and a return type. Here is the definition of our getElement() function:
Next, we create a script control. That is actually a workaround because there is no native JSON parser available and we don’t want to install a third-party module. The script control can execute JScript, which is a version of JavaScript, and thus understand JSON.
Then, we can make an HTTP request to the API endpoint. VBA makes HTTP requests through the XMLHTTP object. While building the request, we use string concatenation to build the API URL and include the base URL and API key from the variables we defined earlier.
After that, all is left is closing the With-block and the function. The VBA editor might have already generated this code for you automatically.
Creating the Macro
Macros are public VBA subroutines. Let’s call ours getPeriodicElementData():
Inside the subroutine, we first assign some values to our global variables. Add these lines and replace APIKEY with your API key from the developer portal:
Then, as we want to go through our sheet row by row to get element data, we set up a counter variable:
Our algorithm goes through all rows until it stops at an empty row. We can achieve this with a Do-Until-loop:
Inside the loop, we call our getElement() function we created in the previous section. By using a With-block, we can access the attributes of the elements directly and write them in the cells. Our sample code reads two attributes, atomic mass and covalent radius, which go in the row of the current element and the second or third column respectively.
If you want, you can extend this code with more properties from the element object and put them in additional columns. Tip: Use the WEBSERVICE() function to get the full JSON structure so you can see the available properties.
Afterwards, make sure to increase the row variable, otherwise you have an infinite loop:
Finally, we close the loop and the subroutine. The VBA editor might have already generated this code for you automatically.
Running the Macro
Before we can run the macro, we should add a couple of element symbols in the first column (A) so that the macro has something to do. As an example, use the elements H, S and O. Use one row for each, so that H is in the first, S in the second and O in the third row.
During development, you can run your macro directly from the VBA editor, using either the play button in the toolbar, the Run menu, or the F5 key on your keyboard.
The macro should run and automatically fill the other columns for your three rows.
To re-run your macro later when you’ve closed the VBA editor, follow these steps:
- Open the View ribbon.
- Click on Macros.
- Select the macro and click Run to execute.
Power Query Builder
The Power Query builder provides access to a variety of data sources. It even enables the combination of data from multiple sources. In this tutorial, though, we’ll just show you the basics to make an API call and display the results in your Excel sheet. We use the collection endpoint to retrieve the complete periodic table.
To get started, go to the Data ribbon, click the Get Data button, choose From Other Sources, and From Web.
In the popup window, enter the URL for the API. You can configure advanced settings such as HTTP headers for your request, but the BASF Periodic Table API doesn’t need any. You have to provide the full URL to the collection endpoint and add the query parameter for authentication directly into the URL. In the following sample, replace APIKEY with the Client ID of your application
Once you confirm with OK, the Power Query Builder opens and shows the API response. At first, you just see the container element items. Right-click on it and select Drill Down.
Note the list of applied steps on the right side of the window. It shows you everything you did in the query builder and you can undo any step by clicking the X next to it.
Now you see a list of records and you can click on each to see the different attributes of each element. The next step is converting this list into a table and you do this by clicking the To Table button.
A popup with additional options may appear which you can simply confirm with OK. After that, you see the list as a table but it still has just one column that we need to expand into multiple columns so you can see each attribute of the element in its own column. To do so, click the expand icon (<>) in the column header.
In the popup, select the fields that you like or keep all fields intact. You can uncheck «Use original column name as prefix» as the prefix doesn’t provide any value when you’re just working with one data source.
Once you see the data you want in the query builder, your final step is transferring the table into the Excel sheet. You do this with the Close&Load button.
You’re done! Your excel sheet contains the periodic table of elements now.