Access Live RSS Feeds in Excel (Desktop) through Connect Spreadsheets
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Your Connect AI account includes Connect Spreadsheets, so you can use the instructions below. You can expect minor differences when referencing the Connect Spreadsheet platform, but the principles still apply!
Microsoft Excel is a widely used spreadsheet software application, primarily used for tasks related to data management, analysis, and visualization. When combined with Connect Spreadsheets by CData, you gain immediate access to RSS feeds directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article shows how to connect to RSS in Connect Spreadsheets and access live RSS feeds in Excel spreadsheets.
Connect Spreadsheets is the easiest way to get all your live data into Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets - no more downloading, wrangling, and uploading files again. Just connect to your data, select the dataset you'd like to see, and import it into your spreadsheet.
This setup requires a Connect Spreadsheets account and the Connect Spreadsheets Add-In for Excel. To get started, sign up a free trial of Connect Spreadsheets and install the free Connect Spreadsheets Excel Add-In.
Configure RSS Connectivity for Excel
Connectivity to RSS from Excel is made possible through Connect Spreadsheets. To work with RSS feeds from Excel, we start by creating and configuring a RSS connection.
- Log into Connect Spreadsheets, click Connections and click Add Connection
- Select "RSS" from the Add Connection panel
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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.
- Click Create & Test
- 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 Excel.
Access Live RSS Feeds in Excel
The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Excel to access live RSS feeds.
- Open Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
- Click Insert and click Get Add-ins. (if you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4).
- Search for Connect Spreadsheets and install the Add-in.
- Click Data and open the CData Connect Spreadsheets Add-In.
- In the Add-In panel, click "Log in" to authenticate with your Connect Spreadsheets account
- In the Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel, click Import
- Choose a Connection (e.g. RSS1), Table (e.g. Latest News), and Columns to import
- Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
- Click Execute to import the data and opt to overwrite the existing sheet or create a new one.
Live Access to RSS Feeds from Spreadsheet Apps
New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live RSS feeds from your Excel workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.
Try Connect Spreadsheets and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from Microsoft Excel.