Visualize Live RSS Feeds in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to RSS feeds for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to RSS, connect to RSS feeds from Power BI and then create reports on RSS feeds in Power BI.

Configure RSS Connectivity for Power BI

Connectivity to RSS from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with RSS feeds from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a RSS connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "RSS" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to RSS.

   You can connect to RSS and Atom feeds, as well as feeds with custom extensions. To connect to a feed, set the URL property. You can also access secure feeds. A variety of authentication mechanisms are supported. See the help documentation for details.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add RSS Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to RSS feeds from Power BI.

Query RSS Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull RSS feeds into the report:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account
3. After signing in, click "Connect"
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog
5. Click Load to establish the connection to your RSS feeds from Power BI

Create RSS Feeds Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

Live Access to RSS Feeds from Data Applications

With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to RSS feeds from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating RSS feeds.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including RSS) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.