Scheduling Imports Periodically 

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Scheduled Periodic Import Presentation

Zoho Reports enables you to setup scheduled periodic import of data in CSV/TSV/Tabular text format from any accessible Web URL. This would be really useful in scenarios where you have new data being published or updated periodically and you would like get those updates inside Zoho Reports for reporting and analysis. Once you setup the schedule, then Zoho Reports will take care fetching and having the latest data without the need for manual intervention.

Setting up Scheduled Import 

You could setup scheduled imports for data that could be fetched from an Accessible Web URL. Also the data that is fetched has to be in any of CSV, TSV or Tabular Text formats.

When you import data from a Web URL using the Import Data (into a table), you could setup a periodic schedule for the same by invoking the menu item Import -> Refetch/Schedule Import menu option in the toolbar of the respective table. On invoking this option, the schedule settings dialog will be come up as shown below.

The screen will list the following details:

• Data URL: Provides the Web URL from which the data was last fetched from this table
• Schedule: If a schedule import has been configured this would display the schedule setting
• Next Fetch: Will show the time at which the data will be fetched next from the provided URL
• Last Fetch: This will show the time at which the data was last fechted from the provided URL

To Edit or Provide a new Schedule setting, click on the Edit button provided below. This will invoke the settings dialog with the following options:

• Table Name: Will provide the name of the table into which the data is going to be imported. This is not editable
  
• Data URL: Provide the Web URL from which the data is to be fetched
  
• How do you want to Import?: You have to define on how the data has to be imported. Choose from any of the options provided in the drop list which are described below.
  • Add records at the end: Choosing this option Zoho eports will just add/append the data fetched into the table. 
    
  • Delete existing records and add: Choosing this option Zoho Reports will delete all the existing records and add data fetched during the current schedule as new records to the table.
    
  • Add records and replace if already exists: From the data being fetched during schedule, if you want to add the new records and update already existing records in the table with the new values, then you have to choose this option. When you choose this option, you need to also select the columns (from the list box provided) based on which the existing records in the table will be matched and updated with the new values.
    
    Zoho Reports will use the values in these columns as the key to match the existing records with the new records being imported. If all the values of the columns selected are the same in the table as well as for a record in the imported data, then it is considered a match. Once a match is identified, then Zoho Reports will update that existing record in the table with the values from the new record present in the currently fetched data.
    
• Schedule Settings - Repeat: You need to specify the  periodicity of the schedule with this option. Select the appropriate option listed in the drop list: 
  
  • Every 'N' hours: Choose this if you want to schedule the import every 'N' hours like for example every 2 hour. Once you choose the option choose the appropriate hour duration from the drop list named Perform every
  • Every Day: Choose this option if you want to schedule the import at a particular time daily. Once you choose this option, select the appropriate time. Note that the time should be provided in GMT +0:00 timezone. 
  • Weekly Once: As named, choose this option if you want to schedule the import once in a week on a particular day. Once you choose this option, also provide the day of the week and the time for scheduling. Note that the time should be provided in GMT +0:00 timezone.
  • Monthly Once: Choose this option if you want to schedule the import once in a month on a particular day. Once you choose this option, also provide the day of the month and the time for scheduling. Note that the time should be provided in GMT +0:00 timezone.
   

  Once schedule settings are completed, click on the Save button to save the settings and setup the schedule.

Edit the Schedule Setting:

You could edit the schedule setting provided by invoking the same menu item  Import -> Refetch/Schedule Import in the toolbar of the respective table. In the dialog shown, click on the  Edit button to edit the schedule settings. The settings would be same as described under Setting up Schedule Import sub-topic above.

Refetching the Data Now:

There could be instances where you would like to fetch data from the scheduled URL just at that moment (just now). You could do that by invoking the menu item Import -> Refetch/Schedule Import menu option in the toolbar of the respective table. In the dialog shown click on the Refetch Data Now button. This will trigger Zoho Reports to fetch the data at that instance from the Web URL provided.

Important points to note on Schedule Import:

1. You could setup scheduled imports only for data that could be fetched from a Accessible Web URL

2. The data that is fetched has to be in any of CSV, TSV or Tabular Text formats

3. For a table you could setup schedule import only for one Web URL at a time

Related Topics: Upload tool, Importing Data into a Table

Next: Datatypes supported by Zoho Reports