Key to interpreting the "page view csv" for a user for someone who's not a programmer?

stewartk1

I'm looking for a way to interpret the "page view csv" file. I know that on the How do I view the page views for a user in an account? guide:

• Descriptions of Page Views CSV column headings can be found in the the Canvas Users API documentation.

Unfortunately (for me) my knowledge of API is a very basic understanding of what they do and not having an understanding of programming, the API documentation is not helpful to me.

Does anyone know of a "layman's guide" to understanding those files? I'm not looking to become all knowing, just to know that if I see "assignments" in the "controller" column it means ____.

If you know about these things and want to give it to me straight (that unless I learn how to use/write APIs I'm not going to understand it) that would be welcome too.

Thanks!

nwilson7

@stewartk1 I believe I know what each one means but by no means am I am expert.

request_id = Unique ID for each request.

user_ID = The user that requested the information (will be the same on this report since you are looking at 1 user).

URL = URL for the Canvas element they viewed.

context_id = based on where the element is (see context_type) what is the ID of that element.  For example, if the context is a course, such as student clicked into one of their courses, then the Context_id will be the course unique ID (UID).  If they looked at something unique to their account such as their calendar the context_id will be their user number.

asset_id = The ID for the asset that was accessed.  For example if it was a discussion then the ID for that discussion.

asset_type = Type of element that was being accessed.  For some reason this and asset_id are normally blank for me.  But it should indicate something like "discussion".

controller = is part of the backend coding but normally tells you what area of Canvas the element is in.  For example it is an assignment.

action = is the coding function used during that action.  For example "show" is just showing something.

interaction_seconds = approximately how long the user spent on that page/interaction.  

created_at = when the user did the action.

user_request = This is some sort of flag indicating whether the user had to do something.  To be honest I don't fully understand this one as I never see "true" in there.

render_time = how long that action took to render/display.

user_agent = Gives you details about the device they used to access to element, pretty detailed.

participated = Whether they participated or not, this is like submitting an assignment.  Simply viewing is not participating.

account_id = account id, that one really is just what it says.  I almost always see "1" in this field as that is our root account.

real_user_id = who actually made the request.  This would only be different if someone was using the masquerade tool.  For example if I act as a student, much of the information will appear that the student did it but in this field it would indicate my user ID as the one who was really doing it.

http_method = I think this is always "get" or "post", this is part of the interaction.  Get is just retrieving information from Canvas while post is they did something to alter Canvas like upload a file or submit something. 

remote_ip = The IP address of the person when they access the element.

 

I know there are others in this group that know this stuff WAY better than me but I noticed no one had responded to you yet so thought I would give it a shot.

Hope this helps!

-Nick