I'm trying to retrieve results from the Google Analytics API that are between two specific dateHours. I tried to use the following filter:
'filters' => 'ga:dateHour>2013120101;ga:dateHour<2013120501'
But this doesn't work. What do I need to do? (I've used other filters before, and they work just fine).
First off, you're trying to use greater than and less than on a dimension which doesn't work. Dimension filters only allow ==, !=, =@, !@,=~, and !=.
So, if you want to get ga:dateHour, you'll have to use a regex filter:
ga:dateHour=~^2013120([1-4][0-2][0-9]|500)$;ga:dateHour!~^201312010[0-1]$
EDIT: I wouldn't hesitate a second to learn RegEx, especially if you're a programmer. Here is a great SO post on learning regular expressions.
So, to break it down:
=~ looking to match the following regex
!= not looking to match the following regex
(check out GA's filter operators)
^ at the start of a string
2013120 since the entire dateHour range contained this string of numbers, look for that
([1-4][0-2][0-9]|500) match every number after 2013120, so the first [1-4] will match 20131201, 20131202, 20131203, and 20131204, then within those strings we want the next number to be [0-2] and likewise with [0-9]. So look at each [ ] as a placeholder for a range of digits.
| means or
500 says, we only want 500 and nothing more, so it's very specific.
The whole statement is wrapped in () so we can say he, match [1-4][0-2][0-9] OR 500, after 2013120.
Then, we end it with $ to signify the end of the string.
This probably isn't the most concise way to describe how this filter is working, but what I would do is use a website like regexpal or some other regex testing tool, and get the range you'd like to filter and start writing regex.
Best of luck!