Hélio,

OK so the following works…kind of. I do not believe you can affect the dataset from within a function. So set up as a time series needs to be handled outside of the functions. It might be better to return a bundle rather than a series?

Logan

function series get_series_BSL(string dataname)

    set echo off

    set messages off

    string bslurl = "http://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v1/timeseries/data/"~dataname

    string s = readfile(bslurl)

    sprintf q "\""

    sprintf sq "\'"

    sprintf nl "\n"

    s = strsub(s,q,"")

    s = strsub(s,"{year:",nl)

    s = strsub(s," ","")

    s = strsub(s,"[","")

    s = strsub(s,"{","")

    s = strsub(s,"]","")

    s = strsub(s,"}","")

    s = strsub(s,"'","")

    s = strsub(s,":",",")

    s = strsub(s,",period,","")

    s = strsub(s,","," ")

    s = strsub(s,"seriesID","obs blank blank blank ")

    bundle dt

    scalar i = 1

    string line

    scalar lcount = 0

    string obs1 = null

    string obs2 = null

    loop while getline(s, line)

        temp = strsplit(line,1)~","~strsplit(line,5)

        if i > 2

            sprintf ii "%d", i-2

            dt.@ii = temp

            temp = dt[@ii]

            lcount ++

        endif

        i++

    endloop

    outfile test.csv --write

    printf "%s\n", dt[1]

    loop for (j = lcount; j>1; j--) --quiet     

        printf "%s\n", dt[$j]

    endloop

    outfile test.csv --close

    s = readfile("test.csv")

    s = strsub(s,","," ")

    i = 1

    scalar jj = 1

    string sPD = ""   

    matrix value = zeros(lcount-1,1)

    loop while getline(s, line)

        if i > 1

            obs1 = (i=2) ? strsplit(line,1) : obs1 

            obs2 = strsplit(line,1)

            sPD = (strstr(obs1,"M")!="") ? "M13" : "Q5"

            if strstr(obs2,sPD)=""

                value[i-1] = atof(strsplit(line,2))

            endif

        endif

        i = strstr(obs2,sPD)="" ? i+1 : i

        jj++

    endloop

    value = trimr(value,0,jj-i)

    print value

    pd = (strstr(obs1,"M")!="") ? 12 : (strstr(obs1,"Q")!="") ? 4 : 1

    obs1 = (pd=12) ? strsub(obs1, "M", ":") : strsub(obs1, "Q", ":")

    obs2 = (pd=12) ? strsub(obs2, "M", ":") : strsub(obs2, "Q", ":")

    print obs1

    print obs2

    setobs pd @obs1 --time-series #no effect outside the function

    smpl @obs1 @obs2 #no effect outside the function

    series @dataname = value

    delete dt

    return @dataname

end function

set echo off

set messages off

clear

nulldata 36

test = get_series_BSL("LAUCN040010000000005")

From: gretl-devel-bounces@lists.wfu.edu [mailto:gretl-devel-bounces@lists.wfu.edu] On Behalf Of Hélio Guilherme
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 4:31 PM
To: Gretl development
Subject: Re: [Gretl-devel] New function for retrieving data from BLS

Hi Logan,

Tried to make a function, but got stuck on append.
function void get_series_BSL(string dataname)
set echo off
set messages off

string bslurl = "http://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v1/timeseries/data/"~dataname
string s = readfile(bslurl)
sprintf q "\""
sprintf sq "\'"
sprintf nl "\n"
s = strsub(s,q,"")
s = strsub(s,"{year:",nl)
s = strsub(s," ","")
s = strsub(s,"[","")
s = strsub(s,"{","")
s = strsub(s,"]","")
s = strsub(s,"}","")
s = strsub(s,"'","")
s = strsub(s,":",",")
s = strsub(s,",period,","")
s = strsub(s,","," ")
s = strsub(s,"seriesID","obs blank blank blank ")

bundle dt
scalar i = 1
string line
scalar lcount = 0
loop while getline(s, line)
    temp = strsplit(line,1)~","~strsplit(line,5)
    if i > 2
        sprintf ii "%d", i-2
dt.@ii = temp
        temp = dt[@ii]
        lcount ++
    endif
    i++
endloop

outfile test.csv --write
printf "%s\n", dt[1]
loop for (j = lcount; j>1; j--)
    printf "%s\n", dt[$j]
endloop
outfile test.csv --close
delete dt
append test.csv  #It fails here because is inside function
end function

set echo off
set messages off
clear
get_series_BSL("LAUCN040010000000005")

On Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 8:24 PM, Logan Kelly <logan.kelly@uwrf.edu> wrote:

Ok. As promised, the code is not pretty, but here is a start at parsing a bls api call for a single series, which is what the current readfile() function can handle. It works but I can foresee the code being rather fragile.

Logan

clear
set echo off
string s = readfile("http://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v1/timeseries/data/LAUCN040010000000005")
sprintf q "\""
sprintf sq "\'"
sprintf nl "\n"
s = strsub(s,q,"")
s = strsub(s,"{year:",nl)
s = strsub(s," ","")
s = strsub(s,"[","")
s = strsub(s,"{","")
s = strsub(s,"]","")
s = strsub(s,"}","")
s = strsub(s,"'","")
s = strsub(s,":",",")
s = strsub(s,",period,","")
s = strsub(s,","," ")
s = strsub(s,"seriesID","obs blank blank blank ")

bundle dt
scalar i = 1
string line
scalar lcount = 0
loop while getline(s, line)
    temp = strsplit(line,1)~","~strsplit(line,5)
    if i > 2
        sprintf ii "%d", i-2
dt.@ii = temp
        temp = dt[@ii]
        lcount ++
    endif
    i++
endloop

outfile test.csv --write
printf "%s\n", dt[1]
loop for (j = lcount; j>1; j--)
    printf "%s\n", dt[$j]
endloop
outfile test.csv --close

append test.csv

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