Create test data for Microsofts Recommendation API

Last month I wrote a blog post with a short introduction to Microsofts Recommendation API (Introduction to Microsofts Recommendation API). I wrote about the basics, how to start and how to work with this nice API which is part of the Microsoft Cognitive Services.
When I started to work with the recommendation API, I soon realized that the most important thing is – Data! Okay – no surprise – but how to get the data? Or how to create some test data if you just want to try it?
In my previous blog post, I mentioned that I used a tool to create my (test) recommendation data. The tool was a quick and dirty, self-hacked WCF application, but it worked and I had some data to start.

Then I decided to publish this tool, but a WCF application is not so sexy and state-of-the-art, so I decided to polish my rusty javascript knowledge. The result is by sure not a best practice web application nor has it a nice design, but it does the job! And here it is:
RecommendationDataCreator: http://recommendationdatacreator.azurewebsites.net/

The website should tell you everything you need. Start with the creation of some users and articles. Then you need to select a user and click on articles. Each click on an article will add a new usage entry which you can see in the Usage are. The export buttons allow you to export the data as CSV file which can then be uploaded at the recommendation portal (https://recommendations-portal.azurewebsites.net). This is how it looks in excel:

Additional information

Introduction to Microsofts Recommendation API: https://arminreiter.com/2017/07/introduction-to-microsofts-recommendation-api/
RecommendationDataCreator: http://recommendationdatacreator.azurewebsites.net/
Quick start guide for the Cognitive Services Recommendations API: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cognitive-services/cognitive-services-recommendations-quick-start
Recommendations API reference: https://westus.dev.cognitive.microsoft.com/docs/services/Recommendations.V4.0

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Armin Reiter
Blockchain/Web3, IT-Security & Azure
Vienna, Austria

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