How to Modify Your API Request Settings

Request Settings

When creating an API request in the Apipheny add-on, you can customize how it functions by toggling certain options:

There are currently several options you can choose from:

Start From
Append Mode
Include Date
Trim Sheet
Inherit Values

You can toggle these options on or off depending on how you want your data to be presented.

Here’s a video tutorial for a quick and easy explanation:

1.) Start From

If your API response contains columns you don’t need, you can enter the column you want the data to start from. Just copy and paste the field or column header here, using dot-notation. Then next time you import the data it will start from that header and any headers before it will be removed.

This is especially useful for pagination, if you don’t want to see the pagination data.

2.) Append Mode

Whenever Apipheny performs an API request, it overwrites current data in your sheet with the new data, in whichever sheet you choose to import the data into. Toggling Append Mode on causes your data requests to add new rows of data to the end of the current sheet instead of overwriting the current data.

If you like keeping record of historical data, consider enabling this option.

3.) Include Date & Time

Whenever Apipheny performs an API request, it imports only the data included in the specified endpoint. Often, a datestamp will not be included in the received data. Toggling Include Date & Time on causes Apipheny to insert an extra column that includes the date so you can determine when each request was performed.

If you deal with time-sensitive data, such as stock or cryptocurrency prices, consider enabling this option.

Tip 1: If you want to see the exact date and time a cell was added or modified in your sheet, right click on the cell and then click Show edit history to view date and time metadata.

Tip 2: If you don’t see the time, enable Date time formatting in your sheet by clicking Format > Number > Date time.

4.) Trim Sheet

When working in Google Sheets, your sheet may contain blank columns and rows. This is especially true if you create a brand new sheet. Toggling the Trim Sheet option on for your API request cleans up your sheet by removing all the blank columns and rows before inserting your API data.

This setting is on by default.

Tip: turn it off if you are experiencing #REF errors.

5.) Inherit Values

Use this feature to inherit data from parent JSON elements to their child elements, so rows representing child elements contain the same values as the rows representing their parent elements.

In other words, enable this option to fill up all the empty cells in your spreadsheet. The empty cells will be replaced with the value from the previous row.

Empty cells can cause issues with reporting and pivot tables, so enabling this option can help resolve any issues like that.