Analyze OpenWeatherMap Data in Infragistics Reveal

Reveal is a data visualization solution provided by Infragistics and can be paired with the CData API Server to build dynamic dashboards from live OpenWeatherMap data. The CData API Server generates an OData API for OpenWeatherMap, which is natively consumable in Reveal. In this article, we walk through connecting to OpenWeatherMap in API Server and connecting to the API Server from Infragistics Reveal to create a simple dashboard.

Connect to OpenWeatherMap from API Server

CData API Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Open API Server and click Settings -> Connection -> Add Connection
2. Select "OpenWeatherMap"
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to OpenWeatherMap.

   Using API Key Authentication

   To obtain an API key, sign up for a free account at https://openweathermap.org/api and navigate to the API keys section of your dashboard. Copy your API key for use in the connection configuration.

   After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
   • APIKey: Set this to your OpenWeatherMap API key.
   

Add OpenWeatherMap Resource Definitions in API Server

After connecting to OpenWeatherMap, create Resources, which represent API endpoints for OpenWeatherMap data.

1. Click Settings -> Resources -> Add Resource
2. Select the OpenWeatherMap connection
3. Select the table you wish to retrieve and click Next
4. (Optional) Edit the resource to select specific fields and more
5. Save the settings

Add an API Server User

Create a User to connect to OpenWeatherMap from Reveal through API Server.

1. Click Settings -> Users
2. Click Add
3. Configure a User with access to the OpenWeatherMap Connection and Resource(s)

(Optional) Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

When accessing and connecting to multiple different domains from an application such as Ajax, there is a possibility of violating the limitations of cross-site scripting. In that case, configure the CORS settings in Settings -> Server.

• Enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS): ON
• Allow all domains without '*': ON
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, PUT, POST, OPTIONS
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization

Save the changes to the settings.

Create a Dashboard in Reveal

With the API Server configured, we can visualize OpenWeatherMap data in Reveal.

1. Log into Reveal and click Dashboards -> New
2. Click Data Source -> OData Feed
3. Specify the API Server API endpoint URL, for example: https://serverurl/api.rsc
4. Select Generic Credentials and specify the API Server username and authentication token
5. Select the entity you wish to visualize
6. Select fields and choose a chart type

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have created a simple dashboard from live OpenWeatherMap data. For more information on creating OData feeds from OpenWeatherMap (and more than 150 other sources), visit the API Server page. Download a free, 30-day trial and start working live OpenWeatherMap data in tools that consume OData APIs.