Intranet sync to airtable (automatically)

[SCOTT_GARDNER]

Interesting question here:

Do you know how to integrate a web-base/HTML that is stored on my companies intranet that is password/login driven to automatically send the live data to Airtable?

Thanks!
Scott

[Bill_French]

SCOTT_GARDNER:

… how to integrate a web-base/HTML that is stored on my companies intranet that is password/login driven to automatically send the live data to Airtable?

I’m going to parse this with some precision.

The reference to “HTML” and “live data” are in conflict. web/HTML is how we render live data, and live data is - well, just data. Typically these are kept separate in modern web apps, but it’s good to understand the nature of the data presentation before making any integration plans.

To make any automated movement of data (live or static), we have to understand the source of the data. If it’s available only as HTML, it must be scraped and parsed. Is that sort’a what you’re dealing with? Or, is the data flowing into the web page from a database or streaming data feed of some type?

To integrate data with anything, the integration process must have access to the data source (?) and the data target (Airtable). In this case, it appears the data source is likely inside the Intranet security envelope. This would require script of some type running inside or adjacent to the Intranet data source. Does that seem possible with your situation?

[SCOTT_GARDNER]

Hi Bill:

The web-base I use is inside a intranet security envelope that requires VPN access and then is required a login and password to access the database. The orders that are entered all go into a large raw data collection table, and that is where I want the table to be automatically synced to airtable.

Is this possible without getting my IT department involved?

I have tried the IMPORTHTML function but it doesn’t work due to the intranet data source being protected.

Appreciate your help!

Scott

[SCOTT_GARDNER]

Is it called a powershell script extension?

[Bill_French]

SCOTT_GARDNER:

Is this possible without getting my IT department involved?

Possibly, but no one can really speak for your IT team. The existence of VPN suggests that even if you aren’t required to speak with IT about this, you probably should.

SCOTT_GARDNER:

it doesn’t work due to the intranet data source being protected.

Yep, and therein lay the likely required pathway; something internal to that environment needs to collect the data and use HTTP POST to push the information into your target Airtable tables.

SCOTT_GARDNER:

Is it called a powershell script extension?

Most likely and especially so if your Intranet is a Microsoft platform such as SharePoint. There are examples of using Powershell script with Airtable’s API.