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 (27.56 KiB) Viewed 15863 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 (7.53 KiB) Viewed 15863 times
If you click that database node, you'll see a dialog that shows the available filters:
- ecb_filter_exr.png (10.76 KiB) Viewed 15863 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 (14.4 KiB) Viewed 15863 times
Once selected, if you click OK, you'll see a list like this:
- ecb_filter_exr_3.png (47.61 KiB) Viewed 15863 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
