Hands-On LabIntroduction to Windows Azure Marketplace for DataLab version: 1.0.0

Last updated: 5/23/2023

Contents

OVERVIEW................................................................................................................................................. 3

EXERCISE 1: EXPLORING THE MICROSOFT AZURE MARKETPLACE PORTAL AND SERVICE EXPLORER................................................................................................................................................. 5

Task 1 – Accessing and Signing Up to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace Portal..................................5

Task 2 – Exploring Your Account Keys..................................................................................................8

Task 3 – Exploring the Datasets in the Marketplace and Subscribing to a Dataset..............................9

Task 4 – Using Service Explorer to Preview a Dataset........................................................................12

EXERCISE 2: CONSUMING MARKETPLACE DATA AND SERVICES VIA MANAGED CODE............14Task 1 – Adding a Service Reference.................................................................................................14

Task 2 – Consuming Data with Managed Code..................................................................................17

EXERCISE 3: CONSUMING MARKETPLACE DATA VIA POWERPIVOT..............................................22Task 1 – Importing Data From a Marketplace Dataset Into PowerPivot............................................22

Task 2 – Importing Data From an External Data Source Into PowerPivot..........................................29

Task 3 – Creating a Relationship in PowerPivot.................................................................................30

Task 4 – Creating a Simple Pivot Table With Your Data.....................................................................31

SUMMARY................................................................................................................................................ 36

Overview

In this lab, we will introduce you to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace for Data. The Marketplace for Data is Microsoft’s Information Service offering which allows developers and information workers to find, acquire and consume published datasets and web services. Users subscribe to datasets and web services of interest and can integrate the information into their own applications via standardized data services. Data can also be analyzed online using the Service Explorer or externally using the PowerPivot Add-In for Excel.

Objectives

In this hands-on lab, you will learn how to:

Explore the Microsoft Azure Marketplace portal and Service Explorer

Query a Microsoft Azure Marketplace dataset using a URL

Access and consume a Microsoft Azure Marketplace dataset and Service via Managed Code

Use the PowerPivot Add-In for Excel to consume and analyze data from Microsoft Azure Marketplace datasets

System Requeriments

You must have the following items to complete this lab:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

Microsoft Office Excel 2010

PowerPivot

Setup

In order to execute the exercises in this hands-on lab you need to set up your environment.

1. Open a Windows Explorer window and browse to the lab’s Source folder.

2. Double-click the Setup.cmd file in this folder to launch the setup process that will configure your environment and install the Visual Studio code snippets for this lab.

3. If the User Account Control dialog is shown, confirm the action to proceed.

Note: Make sure you have checked all the dependencies for this lab before running the setup.

Using the Code Snippets

Throughout the lab document, you will be instructed to insert code blocks. For your convenience, most of that code is provided as Visual Studio Code Snippets, which you can use from within Visual Studio 2010 to avoid having to add it manually.

If you are not familiar with the Visual Studio Code Snippets, and want to learn how to use them, you can refer to the Setup.docx document in the Assets folder of the training kit, which contains a section describing how to use them.

Exercises

This hands-on lab includes the following exercises:

1. Exploring the Microsoft Azure Marketplace portal and Service Explorer

2. Consuming Marketplace Data and Services via Managed Code

3. Consuming Marketplace Data via PowerPivot

Estimated time to complete this lab: 60 minutes.

Note: When you first start Visual Studio, you must select one of the predefined settings collections. Every predefined collection is designed to match a particular development style and determines window layouts, editor behavior, IntelliSense code snippets, and dialog box options. The procedures in this lab describe the actions necessary to accomplish a given task in Visual Studio when using the General Development Settings collection. If you choose a different settings collection for your development environment, there may be differences in these procedures that you need to take into account.

Exercise 1: Exploring the Microsoft Azure Marketplace Portal and Service Explorer

In this exercise, we will sign up to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace portal and use the Service Explorer to explore your service details and the Marketplace datasets.

Task 1 – Accessing and Signing Up to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace Portal

In this task you will access the Microsoft Azure Marketplace portal and sign up:

1. Navigate to https://datamarket.azure.com/

Figure 1Microsoft Azure Marketplace portal

2. Click Sign in button. If you already have a Windows Live ID, use it to sign in. If you do not have a Windows Live ID, create one by clicking Create Windows Live ID button.

3. If it is the first time you have signed into the portal, enter the requested information in Account Details, review the privacy statement, and select the checkbox to agree with Marketplace privacy policies and then click Continue button.

Figure 2Registering for Marketplace

4. Review the Agreement, and accept it by selecting I accept the Terms of Use checkbox. Click Register button to complete the registration.

Figure 3Accepting User Agreement

5. Once registered, go to My Data section by clicking My Account tab on the ribbon and then selecting My Data option on the left pane.

Figure 4My Data Page

Task 2 – Exploring Your Account Keys

In this task, you will explore your account keys and create a new account key.

1. From the Portal Home Page, click the My Account tab.

Figure 5Clicking My Account

2. Click Account Keys on left pane. You will create a new account key. To do that, click the Add account key button.

Figure 6Creating a new account key

3. The screen for adding an account key will display. Enter a description for the account key and click Create.

Figure 7Adding a new Account Key

4. You will be redirected to the Account Keys view and you will now see your new account key in the list of available keys.

Figure 8Your new account key

Task 3 – Exploring the Datasets in the Marketplace and Subscribing to a Dataset

In this task, you will explore the Marketplace for Data. The Marketplace allows users to browse and subscribe to available datasets.

1. Click Data tab on the ribbon.

Figure 9Clicking Applications

Note: For each dataset, the Marketplace shows the data provider, a description of the dataset’s content, the type of the content, and provides a link that will allow you to subscribe to the dataset.

2. Using Search the Marketplace, use the keyword Gender to locate the UN DATA dataset called “Gender Info 2007 – United Nations Statistics Division”.

Figure 10Searching Dataset

3. Click on the dataset and review the information. Click on Sign Up button to subscribe to the dataset.

Figure 11Reviewing dataset information

4. Review and accept Dataset Terms. Click Sign Up button.

Figure 12Signing Up Dataset Subscription

5. Review the Receipt.

Figure 13Your Marketplace Subscription Receipt

Task 4 – Using Service Explorer to Preview a Dataset

In this task, you will use the Service Explorer to preview a dataset to which you have subscribed.

1. From the Marketplace Portal, click My Account tab and select My Data on the left pane. You will see a list of your subscribed datasets.

2. Locate the Free subscription for “Gender Info 2007” Dataset and click the title to open the subscription.

3. Click Explore This Dataset link.

Figure 14Exploring the dataset

4. The dataset will be opened in the Service Explorer.

Figure 15Service Explorer

Note: You can use the Service Explorer to query the dataset, invoke the dataset as an Atom feed, or analyze the dataset using the PowerPivot add-in for Excel 2010.

5. In the Build Query pane, change the Query dropdown to Values. Modify or set some of the Optional parameters and click the Run Query button. This will display a preview of the dataset based on the criteria you set.

Figure 16Previewing your Dataset

6. By default, the preview will display in Table format, however you can click Atom Pub link to preview the dataset in Atom Pub format.

Figure 17Preview Formats

Exercise 2: Consuming Marketplace Data and Services via Managed Code

In this exercise, you will add the service reference to consume Marketplace data. You will create a class to expose the consumed data.

Task 1 – Adding a Service Reference

In this task, you will add the service reference to consume Marketplace data.

1. Log on to the Windows Azure Marketplace portal.

2. From the Marketplace Portal, click My Account tab and select My Data on the left pane. You will see a list of your subscribed datasets.

3. Locate the subscription for “Gender Info 2007” Dataset and click the title to open subscription.

4. Click on Explore This Dataset link to open dataset details.

Figure 18Exploring the Dataset

5. From the dataset explorer page, click Run Query button without setting any extra parameter. You will see the list with the query results on the left pane.

Figure 19

Copying Query root URL.

6. Press the Develop tab in the right pane and copy the URL from the Current expressed query. Note that you have to copy only the URL without the filters. To do that, dismiss the text after the last slash. Your URL should look like https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Data.ashx/UnitedNations/GenderInfo2007/. You will use this URL later in this exercise.

Figure 20Copying Query root URL.

7. Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.

8. Open solution called Begin.sln located in the Source folder Ex02-ConsumingMarketplaceDataAndServicesViaManagedCode\begin\CS.

9. Right click on the ConsumingMarketplaceData project and select Add service reference.

10. Paste the URL you copied into the Address textbox. Click on the Go button. Once the service is discovered, add UNData as Namespace and click OK.

Figure 21Adding Service Reference

Task 2 – Consuming Data with Managed Code

In this task, you will create a simple class that wraps the dataset queries.

1. In ConsumingMarketplaceData project, add a new class called UNGenderData.

Figure 22Adding UNGenderData

2. Add System.Net and ConsumingMarketplaceData.UNData to the using list.

(Code Snippet – Introduction to Marketplace – Ex2 Adding Using – CS)

C#

using System.Net;using ConsumingMarketplaceData.UNData;

3. Add the public access modifier to the class UNGenderData.

4. Add the properties serviceUri and context to your class.

(Code Snippet – Introduction to Marketplace – Ex2 Adding Properties – CS)

C#

private Uri serviceUri; private UnitedNationsGenderInfo2007Container context;

5. Create the class constructor with the following code inside.

(Code Snippet – Introduction to Marketplace – Ex2 Create Constructor – CS)

C#

public UNGenderData(){ this.serviceUri = new Uri("{replace-with-dataset-url}");

this.context = new UnitedNationsGenderInfo2007Container(this.serviceUri); this.context.Credentials = new NetworkCredential( "{replace-with-your-user-id}", "{replace-with-your-key}");}

6. Now, you have to replace the placeholders in the code with the actual data. To do this, navigate back to the Marketplace portal.

7. Click on the My Account tab.

8. Click Account Keys link in the left pane.

9. Copy the account description you created on Exercise 1 and replace {replace-with-your-user-id} placeholder with it.

10. Copy the account key of that description and replace {replace-with-your-key} with it.

Figure 23Getting Account Key details

11. Click My Data link located in the left side pane.

12. Click Gender Info 2007 – United Nations Statistics Division title to view details of the dataset.

13. Click on the Explore this Dataset link.

14. Copy Service root URL link.

Figure 24Getting Account Key details

15. Replace {replace-with-dataset-url} placeholder with the Service Root url you copied.

16. Add the following code at the end of the class.

(Code Snippet – Introduction to Marketplace – Ex2 GetValues Method – CS)

C#

public IList<Values> GetValues(){ IEnumerable<Values> query; query = from value in this.context.Values where value.CountryName == "Argentina" select value; try { return query.ToList(); } catch (Exception ex) { Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message); return null; }}

Note: The method GetValues() queries the context provided by the Marketplace service. You can add other methods that query using other parameters. To do this you can review the

different optional parameters on the dataset service explorer page.

17. Copy the following code on the Program class Main method.

(Code Snippet – Introduction to Marketplace – Ex2 Main Method – CS)

C#

private static void Main(string[] args){ UNGenderData data = new UNGenderData(); foreach (var value in data.GetValues()) { Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Country {0} year {1} {2} value {3}", value.CountryName, value.Year, value.SubGroupName, value.Value)); } Console.ReadKey();}

18. Run the application by pressing the F5 key. A Console window will open and a tabular view of the data returned by our query will be displayed. Press the Enter key to close the Console window.

Figure 25Console running

Exercise 3: Consuming Marketplace Data via PowerPivot

In this exercise, you will use the Excel Add-In PowerPivot to consume and analyze data from Marketplace datasets.

Note: PowerPivot is a free data analysis tool that lets you manipulate large data sets (often millions of rows) with about the same performance as processing a few hundred rows, integrate data from a multitude of sources, including corporate databases, spreadsheets, reports, text files, and Internet data feeds

Download the latest version of PowerPivot from the following link (You will need Microsoft Excel 2010):

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=7609

Task 1 – Importing Data From a Marketplace Dataset Into PowerPivot

In this task, you will import data from a Marketplace dataset into PowerPivot.

1. Navigate to https://datamarket.azure.com/.

2. Click the Data tab in the ribbon. Using Search the Marketplace, locate the UN data dataset “UNESCO UIS Data”.

3. Click on title to view detailed information.

4. Click Sign Up to subscribe.

Figure 26UNESCO UIS Data Dataset

5. Agree and confirm subscription. To do this, check the checkbox and click Sign Up button.

Figure 27

UNESCO UIS Data Dataset

6. Click on the Explore This Dataset link.

7. Select Values on Query dropdown box. Complete with optional parameters. To narrow the query you can write 2000 on the TimePeriod textbox. Select Run Query.

Figure 28UNESCO UIS Data Dataset service explorer

8. Switch to the Export tab. Make sure that Export to program is set to Excel PowerPivot. Click Download.

Figure 29Exporting the atom feed

9. Click on the Open button.

Figure 30Opening the atom feed

10. If prompted, select <Create a New Workbook> and click Ok button, when prompted by PowerPivot.

Figure 31Selecting the workbook

11. Microsoft Excel will launch and the PowerPivot Table Import Wizard dialog will display. On the Table Import Wizard, complete with a Friendly connection name and copy your account key into the Account Key textbox. To do this, see exercise 2 task 2. Optionally, check Save my account key. Click Next button.

Figure 32Excel Table Import Wizard

12. Click Finish button to start importing information.

Figure 33Importing dataset data

13. The wizard will import data from the dataset, when finished click on the Close button. The imported data will be displayed in PowerPivot. Keep the PowerPivot window open to do the next tasks.

Note: The import operation may take several minutes to complete.

Figure 34Dataset imported into PowerPivot

Task 2 – Importing Data From an External Data Source Into PowerPivot

In this task, you will import data from an existing Excel spreadsheet into PowerPivot.

1. From the PowerPivot window, click the From Other Sources toolbar item.

Figure 35From Other Sources option on PowerPivot toolbar

2. On the Table Import Wizard, scroll down and select Excel File and click Next. Click the Browse button. Browse to Ex03-ConsumingMarketplaceDataViaPowerPivot\ in the Source folder of this lab, select the RegionOrArea.xlsx file, and select the Use first row as column headers option. Click Next to select the tables, which will be imported. Make sure that the RegionOrArea$ source table is checked. Click Finish to import the file into PowerPivot. Finally click Close.

Figure 36The Excel spreadsheet imported into PowerPivot

Task 3 – Creating a Relationship in PowerPivot

In this task, you will create a relationship between the two sets of data we have imported into PowerPivot.

1. From the PowerPivot toolbar, click the Design tab.

Figure 37Design tab on the PowerPivot toolbar

2. From the PowerPivot Design toolbar, click the Create Relationship button.

Figure 38

Create Relationship button on the PowerPivot Design toolbar

3. Set the following criteria on the Create Relationship dialog box:

◦ Table: RegionOrArea

◦ Column: RegionOrAreaCode

◦ Related Lookup Table: UNESCO UIS Data….

◦ Related Lookup Column: ReferenceAreaCode

Figure 39Create Relationship dialog window

4. Click the Create button. This will create a relationship between the two PowerPivot tables.

Task 4 – Creating a Simple Pivot Table With Your Data

In this task, you will use PowerPivot to create a simple Pivot Table using the data imported in the previous tasks.

1. Click the Home tab on the PowerPivot toolbar.

Figure 40Home tab on PowerPivot toolbar

2. Click the PivotTable button on the PowerPivot toolbar, choose the PivotTable option.

Figure 41PivotTable button on the PowerPivot toolbar

3. On the Create PivotTable dialog box, choose the Existing Worksheet radio button and click the OK button, an empty Pivot Table will be displayed.

Figure 42The empty Pivot Table

4. Set up the initial Pivot Table rows and columns as follows:

a. Drag the RegionOrArea field to the Row Labels list.

b. Drag the Sex field to the Row Labels list.

c. Drag the TimePeriod field to the Column Labels list.

Figure 43Initial Pivot Table

5. Click the checkbox next to the ObservationValue field, this will populate the Pivot Table.

Figure 44Populated Pivot Table

6. Right-click the Continent field and choose the Add to Slicers Vertical option. This will add a vertical slicing option to the Pivot Table.

Figure 45Pivot Table with Vertical Slicer added

7. You can now slice your data based on the Continent that the data applies.

Summary

In this lab, we explored Microsoft Azure Marketplace for Data and how to subscribe, access and analyze the published datasets.