Google Refine Python Client Library

The Google Refine Python Client Library provides an interface to communicating with a Google Refine server.

Currently, the following API is supported:

• project creation/import, deletion, export
• facet computation
  • text
  • text filter
  • numeric
  • blank
  • starred & flagged
  • ... extensible class
• 'engine': managing multiple facets and their computation results
• sorting & reordering
• clustering
• transforms
• transposes
• single and mass edits
• annotation (star/flag)
• column
  • move
  • add
  • split
  • rename
  • reorder
  • remove
• reconciliation
  • reconciliation judgment facet
  • guessing column type
  • querying reconciliation services preferences
  • perform reconciliation

Configuration

By default the Google Refine server URL is http://127.0.0.1:3333 The environment variables GOOGLE_REFINE_HOST and GOOGLE_REFINE_PORT enable overriding the host & port.

In order to run all tests, a live Refine server is needed. No existing projects are affected.

Installation

(Someone with more familiarity with python's byzantine collection of installation frameworks is very welcome to improve/"best practice" all this.)

1. Install dependencies, which currently is urllib2_file:

   sudo pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Ensure you have a Refine server running somewhere and, if necessary, set the envvars as above.

3. Run tests, build, and install:

   python setup.py test # to do a subset, e.g., --test-suite tests.test_facet

   python setup.py build

   python setup.py install

There is a Makefile that will do this too, and more.

TODO

The API so far has been filled out from building a test suite to carry out the actions in David Huynh's Refine tutorial which while certainly showing off a wide range of Refine features doesn't cover the entire suite. Notable exceptions currently include:

• reconciliation support is useful but not complete
• undo/redo
• Freebase
• join columns
• columns from URL

Contribute

Patches welcome! Source is at https://github.com/PaulMakepeace/refine-client-py

Useful Tools

One aspect of development is watching HTTP transactions. To that end, I found Fiddler on Windows and HTTPScoop invaluable. The latter won't URL-decode nor nicely format JSON but the Online JavaScript Beautifier will.

Credits

Paul Makepeace, author, <paulm@paulm.com>

David Huynh, initial cut

Artfinder, inspiration

Some data used in the test suite has been used from publicly available sources,

• louisiana-elected-officials.csv: from http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/136/Default.aspx
• us_economic_assistance.csv: "The Green Book"
• eli-lilly.csv: ProPublica's "Docs for Dollars" leading to a Lilly Faculty PDF processed by David Huynh's ScraperWiki script