Extract

Introduction

Extraction is the process by which USE (Unified Scriptable Extractor) retrieves data from external locations. The following types of data source are supported:

Type	Description
APIs	Typically, usage data is retrieved from the API or APIs provided by the cloud (or clouds) for which reports need to be generated. This is usually a REST API accessed via HTTP/S.
Files	A file on the local file-system or on a shared volume. This is usually a CSV, JSON or XML file.
Exivity	In some cases it is useful to retrieve information from Exivity itself, such that accounts and usage data that were created historically can be incorporated into the daily processing.
Database	Arbitrary SQL queries can be executed against an SQL server either via a direct connection string or via an ODBC DSN.
Web	Arbitrary HTTP queries can be invoked in order to retrieve information from any web page accessible from the Exivity server.

USE script

A USE script is required for USE to operate. Further information can be found via the links below:

An introductory overview of the scripting language:

Script basics

A reference guide for the USE scripting language:

Language

How to parse XML and JSON data

Parslets

Template scripts that can be used as starting points for common data sources:

Templates