Webtrends Data Exchange Methods

Webtrends provides the following data exchange methods:

• Webtrends ODBC Driver
• Webtrends Lookup Tables (Visitor Data Mart only)
• Webtrends Lookup Tables (Webtrends Analytics only)
• Data Extraction API
• Scheduled Report Exports
• Named Queries (Visitor Data Mart only)
• Webtrends Analytics Data Captures
• Visitor Data Mart Data Extracts

ODBC Data Querying

The Webtrends ODBC driver is a data conduit that provides access to two kinds of data from Excel or any ADO application:

• If you use Webtrends Analytics, you can access report-ready data using free-form queries.
• If you use Webtrends Visitor Data Mart, you can access your database using named queries, which are SQL queries mapped to simple names. For more information about named queries, see “Accessing Visitor Data Mart Data Through Named Queries,” below. Installing the ODBC driver is a prerequisite for accessing Visitor Data Mart through named queries.

Using the ODBC driver requires some SQL programming knowledge.

ODBC Driver Installation

You can install the ODBC driver from the Install Components page in Webtrends Administration.

ODBC Driver Documentation

For detailed information about ODBC architecture, acceptable data types, and ODBC configuration settings, see “Using the Webtrends ODBC Driver” in the Webtrends Programmer’s Reference in the Customer Center. For information about querying your Webtrends Analytics report data, see “Understanding the Report Database” and “Querying Report Databases Using a Third-Party Tool,” also in the Customer Center.

Using Lookup Tables for Visitor Data Mart Data Augmentation

Visitor Data Mart provides a high level of custom event configuration, including the use of lookup tables to augment your Webtrends data with external data linked to specific event attributes. You can populate your Visitor Data Mart with additional non-Webtrends data using Lookup Tables. For example, a product SKU is a unique value that has multiple attributes associated with it such as name, color, size, and supplier. You can use a lookup table to associate these additional values with the product SKU, greatly increasing the range of data available in Visitor Data Mart.

Lookup Table Configuration for Visitor Data Mart

To configure Visitor Data Mart lookup tables, click Administration > Web Analysis > Visitor Data Mart > Lookup Tables.

For more information about using and configuring lookup tables, see the Marketing Warehouse Administration Guide.

Using Lookup Tables for Analytics Reports Translation

When you create dimensions or measures for custom reports in Webtrends Analytics, you have the option to upload and leverage some of your own organization’s data to augment or translate the data shown in your Webtrends reports.

Some common uses of translation data are:

• Translating SKUs or other product codes into names that make sense to report viewers
• Correlating Webtrends data with your internal corporate data
• Creating campaign and product drilldowns

Lookup Table Configuration for Analytics Reports Translation

To configure translation tables in Webtrends Administration, you provide a CSV file including your translation data or other information, and designate which “key” column links the data together. Then assign the translation table to a dimension or measure to ensure the data is translated in each report containing that dimension or measure.

Click Administration > Web Analysis > Report Configuration > Custom Reports > Lookup Tables to upload a lookup table.

For more information about using and configuring lookup tables, see the “Using Lookup Tables for Analytics Reports” and “Using Custom Reports.”

For more information about the specialized lookup table that tracks campaigns, see the “Tracking Campaign Success.”

Using the Data Extraction API

The Data Extraction API provides support for developers to create custom data exchange applications that can interact with Webtrends Analytics On Demand or Marketing Warehouse.

Exporting Full Reports from Analytics Reports

Analytics Reports provides a highly flexible interface for exporting reports in popular, user-friendly, portable formats such as PDF, and CSV. Exports can also include on-the-fly user customizations such as queries and language options. You can export a report while viewing it, or schedule repeated exports and output them using email, FTP, or a saved file location.

You can manage Analytics Reports exports directly from the Analytics Reports interface.

How to Export Reports

To export a report immediately or schedule a recurring export directly from a report, open a report in Analytics Reports and click the Export Reports menu to see your options.

Using Webtrends Analytics, you can also schedule a report export without viewing the report by clicking Administration > Scheduler > Scheduled Jobs, clicking New, and selecting Scheduled Report.

Required Installations for Exporting Reports

The first time you export a report, Webtrends Analytics automatically launches the ClickOnce installer for the Report Exporter before exporting the report. (If you export to Excel/MDB, it also launches the SmartReports installation automatically.) If you need to install the Report Exporter on computers in your organization, you can download it as part of the Client Components package by clicking Administration > Install Components, clicking Accessories and then clicking Client Components.

For more information about Analytics Reports, see “Understanding Analytics Reports.”

For more information about scheduled exports from Webtrends Administration, see “Working with Scheduled Jobs.”

Accessing Visitor Data Mart Data Through Named Queries

Named queries are simple names mapped to SQL queries. Named Queries allow Visitor Data Mart users to query their data directly or from a third-party application, using the Webtrends ODBC driver or Visitor 360 web services. For more information about the Webtrends ODBC driver, see “ODBC Data Querying,” above.

You can use named queries to retrieve data using Excel or another querying tool, or automate your queries using a third-party application. You can also export results for any single query by creating a scheduled job in the Webtrends Scheduler. For more information about exporting query results using scheduled jobs, see “Configuring a Visitor Data Mart Scheduled Export.”

Named Query Creation

To create named queries, click Web Analysis > Marketing Warehouse > Named Queries in the left pane of Administration.

Before You Use Queries

Before you can use queries with ODBC, you need to install the Webtrends ODBC driver. For more information, see “ODBC Data Querying," above.

Scheduling Data Captures

Using the Data Scheduler, you can create data captures from your Web Analytics analysis data. Data captures pull data from your Webtrends analysis before the data is trimmed to report table limits and made ready to be displayed as reports. This captured data in CSV format is the most complete form of Webtrends Analytics data you can obtain for use in your own reporting solutions.

The Data Scheduler provides a convenient interface for setting up data captures, monitoring the status of data captures, and picking up the data when a capture is complete. For more information, see “Enhanced Data Access Using the Data Scheduler,” below.

Enhanced Data Access Using the Data Scheduler

As the market need for complex business intelligence evolves, your organization may find that predefined reporting solutions no longer provide all the flexibility and scale required to merge data from different sources. The Webtrends Data Scheduler is designed to provide enhanced data portability, scalability, and flexibility by extracting business data from the Webtrends environment into a form you can use in your own data warehouse and integrate with other business intelligence solutions.

Understanding Webtrends Analytics Reports Data Captures

Webtrends Analytics Reports data captures provide the most complete data possible from Webtrends Analytics. To ensure efficient reporting and surface the data of greatest interest, Webtrends reports are limited so that they include a large portion, but not all, of the analysis data. Because very large web sites can generate millions of unique URLs, for example, the processing time required to transform all these URLs can be prohibitive. Data captures make analyzed data available before it is prepared for reports, enabling you to work with a potentially much larger and more complete data set.

Analytics Report data captures save this more complete data in CSV format after each analysis runs, and make the data available on a Webtrends SFTP server. You can then download this more complete data and import it into your own storage and reporting solutions.

Reports and Profiles Available for Capture

The Data Scheduler can capture data from all standard profiles. However, it cannot capture data from:

• Express Analysis profiles
• Parent-child profiles

The Data Scheduler allows you to capture data from the following reports:

Data Capture Reports

Creating a Webtrends Analytics Reports Data Capture

Analytics Reports data captures can be scheduled using the Data Scheduler. To use this feature, you need the Data Scheduler Analytics Data Captures user right. To download your captured data files, you need the Available Files SFTP Access user right. You also need read access to any profiles you capture data from.

To create an Analytics Reports data capture:

1. In the left pane of Administration, click Import/Export.

2. Expand Data Scheduler in the left pane and click Upcoming.

3. Click New > Analytics Data Capture.

4. Select the profile from which you want to capture data.

5. Select the report from which you want to capture data.

6. Select the time period for which you want to extract data. The available time periods are determined by the report period selections for the profile. You can find these settings by editing the profile and clicking Reports > Report Periods and Storage.

   Your Time Period setting also determines how often data is captured. For example, if you select Month, data is captured monthly. Captures occur after the profile data is analyzed.

7. If you want to notify other Webtrends users by email about the success or failure of your data capture, use the notification fields to create notification rules. Click + to add more rules. Click - to delete a rule.

   Note

   You can notify a maximum of 10 users per data capture. If you need to notify more users, you can send a notification to a distribution list.

8. Click Schedule.

Editing or Deleting an Analytics Reports Data Capture

To edit an Analytics Reports data capture:

1. In the Upcoming Requests dialog, mouse over a data capture and click Edit.
2. Modify any settings you want to change.
3. Click Update.

To delete an Analytics Reports data capture:

1. In the Upcoming Requests dialog, mouse over a data capture and click Edit.
2. Click Remove.

Example of Analytics Reports Data Capture

Anil supports a very large medical information web site with potentially millions of unique URLs. For compliance reasons, the legal team is especially concerned about traffic to the small area of the site devoted to HIPAA privacy information. While its strategic importance is high, this is one of the lowest-traffic areas of the web site. Because these pages currently rank below a 50,000-item limit for report rows, they do not appear in page ranking reports.

Using the following steps, Anil creates a weekly data capture to collect more complete analysis data that will include his pages of interest so he can track any changes in their page ranking. The CSV data will be used by an in-house reporting application. He decides to send success notifications to himself when a capture succeeds, and error notifications to himself and the Webtrends administrator if a capture encounters problems.

To set up Anil’s data capture:

1. Make sure Anil’s user role or user rights include the Data Scheduler Analytics Data Captures user right, the Data Scheduler Available Files (SFTP) user right, and Read access to the Public Site Traffic profile.
2. Click Import/Export > Data Scheduler > Upcoming.
3. Click New > Analytics Data Capture.
4. Select the Public Site Traffic profile.
5. Select the Top Pages report.
6. Select Week as the time period.
7. Under Notify, select Anil as the user, select Success and Errors, and select To.
8. Click + to add another notification rule.
9. Select the Webtrends administrator account, select Errors, and select To.
10. Click Available Files to see SFTP login information and the file generated by the data capture.

Finally, Anil asks IT to set up a scheduled SFTP transfer to download the Webtrends data weekly as soon as it becomes available.

Limitations of Webtrends Analytics Reports Data Captures

Data capture scheduling has the following limitations:

• Because a data capture depends on an analysis, you cannot schedule the time and frequency when a data capture occurs. These settings depend on the settings in the profile.
• You cannot create a data capture for historical data. Because data captures rely on capturing an intermediate phase of data from a temporary database, the information in a data capture can only be recovered by reanalyzing the profile data.