Connect to External databases

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loulouviews
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2015 2:19 am

Connect to External databases

Postby loulouviews » Thu Oct 26, 2017 3:18 am

Hello,

I have recently upgraded to EViews 10 to access SDMX databases.
Nonetheless, I have experienced the following error when browsing ECB or Eurostat databases:

Code: Select all

Error: unable to retrieve datasets.


I have tried others web-hosted databases:
- Fred v1 is working fine
- but Fred queries returns

Code: Select all

"server returned unexpected content"


Do you have any idea where the error came from?

Best,

Louis
Attachments
errorSDMXEViews.PNG
errorSDMXEViews.PNG (21.42 KiB) Viewed 8974 times

EViews Katerina
Posts: 51
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:54 am

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby EViews Katerina » Thu Oct 26, 2017 8:21 am

The problems you are experiencing with SDMX databases and Fred might be internet access.
Are you behind a proxy server?

terrya
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:37 pm

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby terrya » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:32 pm

I've had the same problem as well (but not with FRED). There is no possibility that it's the internet connection in my case, as I can access the data bases easily using R. For example, I can get data from the ECB easily using the following R instruction:
pdfetch_ECB(c("EXR.D.AUD.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.CAD.EUR.SP00.A",
"EXR.D.CHF.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.GBP.EUR.SP00.A",
"EXR.D.JPY.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.NOK.EUR.SP00.A",
"EXR.D.NZD.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.SGD.EUR.SP00.A",
"EXR.D.SEK.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.USD.EUR.SP00.A"))

I tried to replicate this using EViews 10+ and failed. On the few occasions I could get data, one series at a time, I had to do it in very cumbersome way (too difficult to explain how in this comment). Amongst other things, I was told that the identifiers were unknown.

What I do to get around this problem is to pull in data using R, save as an Excel sheet and load the sheet into Eviews.

terrya
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:37 pm

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby terrya » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:54 pm

Update:

Just to check things, I tried to get the ECB data again a few moments ago using R and got the error message:
"Series EXR.D.AUD.EUR.SP00.A not found"

This is odd as I downloaded data from the ECB a few days ago without any trouble. It would appear that some change has occurred in accessing data from the ECB at least. I haven't used R to get data from EUROSTAT so can't comment on this.

terrya
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:37 pm

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby terrya » Thu Oct 26, 2017 1:00 pm

Further update

I just tried connecting to EUROSTAT via R using the example in the package pdfetch and got the message that the series couldn't be found.

EViews Steve
EViews Developer
Posts: 788
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:00 pm
Location: Irvine, CA

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby EViews Steve » Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:41 pm

terrya wrote:I've had the same problem as well (but not with FRED). There is no possibility that it's the internet connection in my case, as I can access the data bases easily using R. For example, I can get data from the ECB easily using the following R instruction:
pdfetch_ECB(c("EXR.D.AUD.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.CAD.EUR.SP00.A",
"EXR.D.CHF.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.GBP.EUR.SP00.A",
"EXR.D.JPY.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.NOK.EUR.SP00.A",
"EXR.D.NZD.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.SGD.EUR.SP00.A",
"EXR.D.SEK.EUR.SP00.A","EXR.D.USD.EUR.SP00.A"))

I tried to replicate this using EViews 10+ and failed. On the few occasions I could get data, one series at a time, I had to do it in very cumbersome way (too difficult to explain how in this comment). Amongst other things, I was told that the identifiers were unknown.

What I do to get around this problem is to pull in data using R, save as an Excel sheet and load the sheet into Eviews.


First, let me say that Katerina's question about whether or not the OP has a proxy server or not is still a relevant question. Your R code might be able to navigate the proxy server correctly, whereas I know the initial versions of these new EDX controls do not handle proxies correctly.

Second, I'd like to address your statement about retrieving data from the ECB. The ECB EDX interface from within EViews is different. When we created it, we had in a mind a user that wanted to discover what was available from the ECB as they navigated thru it. Hence, when you first click the Browse button you see a readable list of available datasets:

ecb_browse.png
ecb_browse.png (27.56 KiB) Viewed 8930 times

If you notice in your first ECB object name above ("EXR.D.AUD.EUR.SP00.A"), the first part of that name specifies the ECB database. In our case, if you type in EXR into the search textbox and hit Search, you'll see the corresponding database name (Exchange Rates):

ecb_browse_exr.png
ecb_browse_exr.png (7.53 KiB) Viewed 8930 times

If you click that database node, you'll see a dialog that shows the available filters:

ecb_filter_exr.png
ecb_filter_exr.png (10.76 KiB) Viewed 8930 times

Each row of filters corresponds to an element in your object name - in fact, the element lines up exactly as we are displaying these elements as the ECB defines them.

So to match EXR.D.AUD.EUR.SP00.A, you would pick Freq=Daily, Currency=AUD, Currency_Denomination=EUR, EXR_Type=Spot (SP00), and EXR_Suffix=Average (A). To see a list of all of the ones you mentioned above, you would make Currency=* or Currency=AUD,CAD,CFH,etc. (this filter lets you pick multiple items from the list).

ecb_filter_exr_2.png
ecb_filter_exr_2.png (14.4 KiB) Viewed 8930 times

Once selected, if you click OK, you'll see a list like this:

ecb_filter_exr_3.png
ecb_filter_exr_3.png (47.61 KiB) Viewed 8930 times

You can now select these objects to make them appear back into the EViews Database window for ECB. Once there, you can drag them to a workfile or export them to a new workfile to see the data.

The names of these objects are a bit long, but we wanted to support the possibility of ECB re-ordering their filters or adding new ones in the future.

Steve

terrya
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:37 pm

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby terrya » Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:49 pm

Thanks for your suggestions. I had figured out part of the procedure but not the lot.

As far as the proxy server issue goes, if you mean my end then it's irrelevant as I don't use one.

loulouviews
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2015 2:19 am

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby loulouviews » Fri Oct 27, 2017 7:08 am

Hi Katerina and Steve,

Thanks for your answers.
Yes, I am behind a proxy server. I also suspect that the proxy is the reason why I can't access the data.
However, what puzzles me is that I still can read Fred v1 data and I am able to fetch data over the internet with import and wfopen command.

How can I proceed to see if my proxy is the issue ?

Note that I work in a big institution with a highly restricted internet access, to say the least. Before I get lost in the twists and turns of my IT department, I would like to make sure the issue is on my side :wink:


Louis

terrya
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:37 pm

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby terrya » Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:48 pm

In case anyone is interested, I just tried retrieving data from the ECB using R and found the connection is working again.

EViews Katerina
Posts: 51
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:54 am

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby EViews Katerina » Fri Oct 27, 2017 1:50 pm

If you are behind a proxy please download this zip file:
http://www.eviews.com/misc/EDX_40_3.zip

and then unzip this file into your current EViews 10 folder. This should overwrite the various EDX files with newer versions that look at the proxy settings. Please e-run EViews10 once your updated.
The new versions of EDX files will be placed in the next EViews10 patch.

Additionally you can try to open FRED Database (which looks at the proxy settings) and see if that will work behind the proxy server

loulouviews
Posts: 60
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2015 2:19 am

Re: Connect to External databases

Postby loulouviews » Mon Oct 30, 2017 2:27 am

It works ! 8)
Thanks Katerina ! :D


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