Microsoft Codename “Data Explorer” allows you to discover data from multiple sources, enrich it by combining it with other data and insights, and publish the results to share them. In this post we will explore how to publish your data and take advantage of the different ways in which it can be accessed and consumed, be it across the office, or across the world.

In the previous post, we walked through the steps to generate a data mashup with the total sales per product from our Northwind scenario. We will pick up here where we left off: we combined an OData feed, Excel file, and text resources to shape the data, and now we’re ready to serve it up and start collaborating.

Publishing the mashup data

From the workspace, we select our mashup and click ‘Publish’. Where prompted, we type in a name to publish as, and click the ‘Publish’ button.

This generates a link to the publish page, which contains the different ways in which someone can consume the data.

The publish page

When we click on the publish page URL, a new browser window opens up with multiple download links. Each one represents a particular way to consume the published data mashup.

• Text (CSV): Each of the published resources (in this case, only the Product Sales Report resource was published) is available as a separate comma-separated (CSV) value file download. CSV files are widely accessible by most applications that use data, including database systems.

• Excel: A single Excel workbook contains one resource per worksheet. The data can then be charted, modified, formatted or otherwise enhanced for further distribution.

• Mashup: This file format allows another Data Explorer user to reference the published values and create further data mashups that build on these results.

• Data Feed: The OData service URL and feed key allows programmatic access to the published results, which means that developers can create other mashups, services, and even Desktop, phone or web apps that consume the published data and present it as part of their applications.

Publishing live data

By default, when publishing a mashup the data that users retrieve is live: the downloaded file (or access to the feed) triggers an evaluation of the mashup and provides an up-to-date set of results. This means that consumers of published data always have access to the latest and greatest version.

Suppose the Northwind OData service, which we used to create this mashup, is updated midweek to reflect newer values on the order details.  Since the data are published live, each time the results are accessed they will reflect the most recent version of the mashup results. No more outdated data!

The data you want, in the format they need

With Data Explorer, it is easy to make mashup data available to your colleagues via a one-stop destination for accessing your published results in a variety of formats, with data that is up-to-date. Whether file download or live feed access, the data you want published is just a click away.

Don't forget to sign up to try it for free!