Connecting Bold BI to AppFolio data source

The Bold BI dashboard designer supports connecting to AppFolio web services through the REST API.

Choose AppFolio data source

To choose the AppFolio data source, follow these steps:

Click the Data Sources button in the configuration panel to add a new data connection.
Click CREATE NEW to launch a new connection from the connection panel.
Select the AppFolio connection in the connection panel.

NOTE: You can also create a data source from the home page by clicking the Data Sources menu from the left menu panel and selecting Create Data Source from the data sources page.

Choose data source

Create AppFolio data source

Once you click on the data source, the NEW DATA SOURCE configuration panel will open. Follow these steps to create an AppFolio data source:

Enter a name and description (optional) for the data source.
Enter the HostName for the connected account.
Click on the API Endpoints dropdown box and choose the required endpoint.
Click on the Custom Url to manually enter the URL. Refer to the AppFolio API documentation for more details.
Select the GET method for the REST API in the Method combo box.
In Max Rows, enter the maximum number of rows to be fetched from the AppFolio data source. This value is used to fetch the data from the AppFolio data source using the pagination.
Choose a time interval for Refresh Settings using the combo box to trigger the Rest API request periodically to keep the data in sync with your dashboard.
Select the JSON data type in the Data Format combo box.
Choose Basic HTTP Authentication in the Authentication Type combo box.
Enter a valid AppFolio Client ID and Client Secret to access the endpoints.

Data source preview

How do I get Client ID and Client Secret for connecting AppFolio data source?

Login to your AppFolio account. Click your Account Icon -> General Settings.
Within the General Settings page, navigate to the Manage API settings tab.
Your Client ID and Client Secret can be located here.
If your Client ID and Client Secret expire, you can generate new credentials.

Reveal API Token

You can also modify the connection information by using the Edit Connection option.

Additional information

Max Rows	Most REST APIs return only a limited amount of data on a single API request. To retrieve the necessary amount of data, you can set a value in this field. Pagination is handled internally and will fetch the required data.
Refresh Settings	Period of time before the next refresh call is triggered. This will automatically trigger a call for the API configured in the data source to keep the data up to date.

Setting up the URL for Pagination.

Set endpoint for pagination.

Bill Detail

https://<your database>.appfolio.com/api/v1/reports/bill_detail.json?paginate_results=true&from_date=01/19/2020&to_date=09/01/2020

Set paginate_results=true in the query and specify the required range.

For more information on the API endpoints available for this data source, refer to the official API Documentation

Sample queries

Aged Payables Summary

https://<your database>.appfolio.com/api/v1/reports/aged_payables_summary.json

Bill Detail

https://<your database>.appfolio.com/api/v1/reports/bill_detail.json

Chart of Accounts

https://<your database>.appfolio.com/api/v1/reports/chart_of_accounts.json

Preview and data import

Click Preview & Connect to connect with the configurations that have been set.
The Choose Schema(s) dialog opens. The schema represents the key fields of JSON data retrieved from the AppFolio Rest API request. This dialog displays a list of schemas in a treeview and their corresponding values in the grid for preview. Select the required schema(s) from the treeview to use in the designer and click Connect.
Now, the data design view page with the selected table schema opens. Drag the table from the tree view in the left pane and drop it into the Query designer page.
Click Save to save the data source with a relevant name.

Connect using custom attribute and dashboard parameter

We have added support for custom attributes and dashboard parameters to the data source connection. You can connect to the data source using custom attributes or dashboard parameters.

Custom Attribute

Custom