Get started with API to Email data flow

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Let’s get you familiarized with Nexla using data from a Rest API. This doesn’t require credentials. You will build your very own data flow from source to destination. Along the way, I’ll share information on features. This demo is a great chance for you to get hands-on and see how easy it is to use Nexla.

You will be building a data flow that takes a file from a Rest API, turns an attribute into a lowercase string, and write it out as an Excel file to your email.

1. Login to Nexla Workshop

Go to https://www.nexla.com/ and click Login at the top right corner. Log in with the credentials we have provided to you.

The homepage shows an overview of data flows, data ingested, data written out, errors, notifications, and alerts. The left-hand side is the navigation bar and will be your way to move around the product. 

2. Create a New Data Flow

This is your dashboard. Click on Sources on the left panel.

Then click on Create New Source.

Search for rest api. Then click on it. Click Next.

3. Select Credentials

Click on Add a New Credential.

Fill out details. Credential Name: SpaceX. Credential Description: SpaceX history. Test URL to check authentication:  https://api.spacexdata.com/v3/history Hit Save. 

Click Test.

Scroll down. Click all elements of the root array.

Click Create.

4. Start of Your Data Flow

The discovered dataset will take a minute or two to appear. During this time, Nexla is scanning the data to build the dataset. The data is scanned at each ingestion to detect if there are schema or significant record changes. These changes are recorded and parties are notified. Without significant changes, the same dataset is still relevant.

5. Expand the Discovered Data

A dataset is a working data model and contains metadata with samples. Click on the magnifying glass for details of the dataset. Besides field names and samples, Nexla also inspects the data type.

Scroll down or click on the Schema tab. This Rest API has information about SpaceX flights such as description, event data, flight number, and web links.

To get back to your data flow, click on the gray space on the left.

6. Transform a Dataset

Often it’s necessary to make a few or a lot of changes to the original dataset from the source. We’re going to make a few revisions.

Click on the Transform button to transform the data.

The next screen is the dataset transformation page. You’ll be spending a majority of time here using Nexla and there is a lot going on. I’ll go through a workflow.

The left pane is the incoming dataset. In this case, it’s the file from the Rest API. The middle section is the transformation logic you’ll apply for a select field. The right pane displays what you’ll expect to see when you save this. 

This screen allows you to enrich, transform and manipulate on the data. It’s also not necessary to have equal number of attributes or fields in the outgoing dataset.

NOTE - you must hit Next and select one of the boxes in order to save your progress. You can always return and modify this later.

Let’s turn the title attribute into a lowercase string. Check title. Then search for Lowercase String in transform. Click Add to Draft.

This appears on the right under Draft Attributes. Let’s copy the flight number over. Check flight number. We can just replicate the data by clicking on Add to Draft.

Click Save.

You can include metadata by switching Equal to from Attribute to Metadata.

7. Select Destination

Destination indicates what you want to do with the output dataset that you just created. For example, you can write the data to a physical location such as a Snowflake database, S3 file system or Kafka stream. Your output system does not need to be the same as your source system, nor does it need to correlate to a batch or streaming source. 

Choose Email as destination of dataset. You can also type in destination type. Click Create.

Enter email recipient as your email address. Choose data file format as Excel file attachment. Enter subject as SpaceX and description for email. Click Create.

Click Activate this flow.

Click Done.

8. Data Flow Completed

Now you see your data flow.

Voila! You’ve just created your first data flow in just a few minutes. You started with a new source ingesting a user file, cleaned and enriched the data for analytical purposes, and sent to a destination.

The best part, now you can focus your efforts on creating insights and strategizing for business growth. Nexla will handle the data operations moving forward as any new data enters the source.