Lyftrondata StackExchange Provider
The Lyftrondata API Profile for StackExchange allows you to query data from StackExchange. The StackExchange profile is a single file (i.e. stackexchange.apip) which is meant to be used with the Lyftrondata API Driver. The profile contains the table definitions and other StackExchange specific metadata that the Lyftrondata API Driver uses to connect to StackExchange.
To use the StackExchange Profile set the Profile property of Lyftrondata API Driver to the path of the StackExchange profile, as well as the other connection properties specified in the documentation below. Once the Lyftrondata API Driver has been configured, you can issue SQL queries to access data from any of the StackExchange Tables.
Connecting to StackExchange
StackExchange does not require any authentication. However, if you would like to increase the number of requests you are allowed, you can register an application on StackApps. You can then set the APIKey profile setting to the API Key that you receive once your app is registered.
By default, the driver will query the StackOverflow site. You can change this by setting the Site profile setting to the site you wish to connect to. You can view a list of all valid sites by issuing the query SELECT Site, Name FROM Sites. Set the Site profile setting to the value of the Site column for the one you would like to connect to.
Rate Limiting
StackExchange will limit the number of requests you can make to the server. By default, the driver will page through results until a rate limit is hit. Each application connecting has a daily request limit of 10,000 requests. For this reason we recommend utilizing supported server-side filters when querying data. For example:
SELECT * FROM Answers WHERE QuestionId = '1234'
To view the filters supported by the server, view the table documentation.