brannondorsey/apibuilder

Note: API Builder is no longer maintained. This codebase should still work but will not receive updates. If you are interested in maintaining the project please let me know (5-23-2016).

PHP API Builder

Easily transform MySQL tables into web accessible JSON APIs with this mini library for PHP.

Getting Started | Customizing your API | Making Requests | Using the Data | Submitting your Data | API Parameter Reference

Getting Started

This PHP API Builder is used to build simple http JSON APIs from MySQL databases. With it you (or anyone if you choose to make the API public) can access data on the web through an easy-to-setup api.php page. Using the API Parameters provided in this mini library users can query a database through that api.php page using GET parameters included in the request's URL and return the results as valid JSON. A full list of available API parameters is located in the API Parameter Reference section of this documentation.

How it works

Setting up the API is easy! To add an API to an existing MySQL table simply place this repository's api_builder_include/ folder and api_template.php file in the directory where you want your api page to be located (If you want your api accessible at yourdomain.com/api.php you should put these files in your root directory). Next update the api_template.php file to reflect your database info and your desired API customization. Then save the updated file as api.php or whatever you want your API page to be called.

Thats it! You can now access the data from your MySQL database using the API Builder URL Parameters. Below is an basic example of how the $api object can be setup.

Download

You can direct download a .zip of API Builder by clicking here. The API Builder mini lib was built and tested using PHP 5.4.4 and results when using earlier versions of PHP are unknown.

Example

Throughout this reference an example database will be used. This example table, named users, holds information about imaginary users that belong to an organization. The api.php for this example is as follows:

<?php

	 //include the API Builder mini lib
	 require_once("api_builder_includes/class.API.inc.php");

	 //set page to output JSON
	 header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8");
	 
	  //If API parameters were included in the http request via $_GET...
	  if(isset($_GET) && !empty($_GET)){

	  	//specify the columns that will be output by the api
	  	$columns = "id, 
	  				first_name,
	  				last_name,
	  				email,
	  				phone_number,
	  				city,
	  				state,
	  				bio";

	  	//setup the API
	  	//the API constructor takes parameters in this order: host, database, table, username, password
	  	$api = new $API("localhost", "organization", "users", "username", "secret_password");
		$api->setup($columns);
		$api->set_default_order("last_name");
		$api->set_searchable("first_name, last_name, email, city, state, bio");
		$api->set_default_search_order("last_name");
		$api->set_pretty_print(true);

	  	//sanitize the contents of $_GET to insure that 
	  	//malicious strings cannot disrupt your database
	 	$get_array = Database::clean($_GET);

	 	//output the results of the http request
	 	echo $api->get_json_from_assoc($get_array);
	}
?>

Use the api_template.php to create your own api.

Customizing your API

The API Builder mini lib features many more complex API setups than the one demonstrated in the api_template.php file. Some of these features include:

• Making an API Private so that only you can access the data it provides
• Using API keys to track and limit hits-per-day usage to specific users
• And setting API defaults for number of results returned per request, default order to return results, etc…

All API class setup methods (excluding the constructor) begin with the word set. A full list of these setup methods and a brief description can be viewed below. For more information about each method view the class.API.inc.php source.

API Class Setup Methods

Names in bold denote methods that are required to use when building an API. All other methods are optional.

• API::__construct($host, $database, $table, $username, $password) Instantiates the API object and creates a MySQLi database connection.
• API::setup($columns) tells the API object which column values to use when outputting results objects. The $columns parameter is a comma-delimited list of column names that correspond to the column names in your database.
• API::set_default_order($column) sets the default column for the api to order results by if no 'order_by' parameter is specified in the request.
• API::set_default_flow($flow) sets the default flow if none is specified in the request.
• API::set_defualt_output_number($default_output) sets the number of JSON result objects each API request will output if no 'limit' parameter is included in the request.
• API::set_max_output_number(int $max_output) sets the max number of JSON result objects allowed per request.
• API::set_pretty_print($boolean) sets the default JSON output as human readable formatted
• API::set_searchable($columns) enables the API 'search' parameter and specifies which columns can be searched. Again the $columns parameter is a comma-delimited list of column names that correspond to the column names in your database. Only Text columns that have been FULLTEXT indexed may be included in the columns list.
• API::set_default_search_order($column) sets the default columns for the API to order API 'search' parameter results by if the MySQL FULLTEXT Match()…Against()… statement is executed in boolean mode (required only if API::set_searchable() has enabled columns to be searched).
• API::set_exclude_allowed($boolean) enables the [API 'exclude' parameter]. This method's parameter can only be TRUE if your database's table includes an 'id' column (or whatever unique column name is included as this method's optional parameter).
• API::set_key_required($boolean) makes your API require a unique key for each request. For more information on limiting and tracking API users visit the Protecting your API section of this documentation.
• API::set_hit_limit($number_hits_per_day) sets the number of API hits per API key per day.
• API::set_private($private_key) makes the API private (i.e. only you can use it). For more information on this method visit the Protecting your API section of this documentation.
• API::set_no_results_message($message) sets the error message when no results are found in a request.

If the API setup is configured incorrectly the api.php's resulting JSON response object will contain a config_error array of messages describing the errors instead of a data property.

Other Methods

Aside from the API setup methods there are a few other methods in that can be useful to know

• API::get_json_from_assoc($assoc_array) returns the API results as JSON from an associative array of API Builder Parameters. This is how you actually print the API results to the browser.

And from the static Database class:

• Database::init_connection($host, $database, $table, $username, $password) creates a database connection. This static method is called from inside API::__construct() so if you have already initialized an API object you should not need to use this static method unless the database has been closed.
• Database::close_connection() closes the MySQLi database connection.
• Database::execute_sql($mysql_query_string) executes the MySQL statement provided as its parameter and returns a boolean representing it's success.
• Database::get_all_results($mysql_query_string) returns a 2D array of table results from the MySQL query string passed as it's parameter.
• Database::clean($string_or_array) encodes the parameter using htmlspecialchars and mysqli_real_escape_string and returns the cleaned string. Useful for sanitizing input before injecting it into the database.
• Database::execute_from_assoc($assoc_array, $table_name) inserts rows into (or updates existing rows if optional parameters are used) the database from an $assoc_array where all keys in the array are their value's column names in $table_name. The table name can be accessed via the Database::$table static public property.

Note: All Database class methods are static.

For more info on or the mini library itself you can read the source code. More examples are coming soon, especially for how to update your database thought GET or POST using Database::execute_from_assoc($string_or_array)!

Protecting your API

There are two ways of limiting access to your API using the setup methods. The first, and most private, is by setting up your API so that only you (and people who you give your private key to) can access it. The second is to track and limit API usage using API keys that are distributed to your users.

Making your API Private

To make your API private include the following when setting up your api.php page where $private_key is a unique 40 character SHA1:

$private_key = "4e13b0c28e17087366ac4d67801ae0835bf9e9a1";
$api->set_private($private_key);

Then when you make an http request to your API just prepend your private key to the request using the API Private Key Parameter:

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?last_name=Renolds&private_key=4e13b0c28e17087366ac4d67801ae0835bf9e9a1`

Viola… your own private API.

Limiting and Tracking Usage with API Keys

Often API owners supply users with unique API keys to track and limit requests so as not to bog down servers. This is a common practice with the Google, Twitter, and Facebook APIs. The API Builder allows API owners to easily do the same!

Database Setup

Because this process requires each user to have their own unique API key to access the API, a new table needs to be made to store information about the users that will be making the requests. This table should be named "users" and should include at least the following columns: "id", "API_key", "API_hits", and "API_hit_date". These table and column names must be exact unless specified otherwise using API::set_key_required()'s optional parameters (see API setup below). This SQL table structure can be imported into your existing database from the users_table.sql file.

Alternatively, it is often the case that APIs actually describe data regarding users in the first place. For instance, the Twitter and Facebook APIs deliver data about users! If your API is delivering data from a users table already, and you would like to grant only those users access to your API, you may simply add the "id", "API_key", "API_hits", and "API_hit_date" columns to your existing users table instead of creating a new one.

API Setup

Once the new table has been created in your database (or your original table that was saving users was amended to include the required columns) you are ready to setup you API to track and limit user's hits. If you used the default table name "users" and the column names "id", "API_key", "API_hits", and "API_hit_date" then the API setup is easy:

$api->set_key_required(true);

If you chose to change the names of the table or any of the columns then these changes must be specified using API::set_key_required()'s optional parameters:

API::set_key_required($boolean, $users_table_name=false, $key_column_name=false, $hit_count_column_name=false, $hit_date_column_name=false);

If for instance you chose not to add a new "users" table to your database because the table used for the API, "fakeorganization_users", is already storing users who you want to give access to the API (like in the case of Twitter or Facebook) then the setup would look like this.

$api->set_key_required(true, "fakeorganizations_users");

If you also changed the "API_hits" column name to something like "number_of_hits_today" then your API key setup would be:

$api->set_key_required(true, "fakeorganizations_users", false, "number_of_hits_today");

Note: Don't forget to specify the unchanged table or column names as false to maintain parameter order!

For simplicity it is recommended to download and import the "users" table structure without modifying the column names.

All that is required now is for you to fill the "users" table's "API_key"s with 40 character SHA1 and distribute them to your real-life users so that they can use your API.

Usage and Errors

Once your API has been set to require a key (API::set_key_required()) only users who make http requests that contain a valid API Key Parameter will be given API results.

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?last_name=Renolds&key=1278cf264faca856baf2268e52e2761a75972ec7

In the above example the "users" table must include a user row where the value of the "API_key" (or your API's equivalent column) is "1278cf264faca856baf2268e52e2761a75972ec7". In the event that this is not the case, an invalid key is provided, or no key is provided, the following error property is returned in the response JSON object instead of a data array:

{
    "error": "API key is invalid or was not provided"
}

In the event that a user has maxed out their API hits for the day (set using API::set_hit_limit()) the API would return the following:

{
    "error": "API hit limit reached"
}

Making Requests

Using your API is easy once you learn how it works.

Formatting a request

The API Builder queries MySQL Databases and so the http requests used to return data is very similar to forming a MySQL SELECT query statement. If you have used MySQL before, think of using the API URL parameters as little pieces of a query. For instance, the limit, order_by, and flow (my nickname for MySQL ORDER BY's DESC or ASC) parameters translate directly into a MySQL statement on your server.

Example Request

 http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?search=Thompson&order_by=id&limit=50
 

The above request would return the 50 newest users who have Thompson included somewhere in their first_name, last_name, email, city, state or bio columns.

Notable Parameters

• search uses a MySQL FULLTEXT search to find the most relevant results in the database to the parameter's value.
• order_by returns results ordered by the column name given as the parameter's value.
• limit specifies the number of returned results. If not included as a parameter the default value is 25 and the max value is 250.
• page uses a MySQL OFFSET for paginating results from the database. Used most effectively when paired with limit.

A full list of all API Builder's parameters are specified in the Parameter Reference section of this documentation.

Returned JSON

All data returned by your API is wrapped in a JSON object with a data array property. If there is an error, or no results are found, an error variable with a corresponding error message will be returned instead of a data property. If your API is setup incorrectly in you api.php page a config_error array is returned.

Inside the data property is an array of objects that are returned as a result of the URL API Builder Parameters outlined shortly.

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": "1035",
            "first_name": "Thomas",
            "last_name": "Robinson",
            "email": "[email protected]",
            "phone_number": "8042123478",
            "city": "Richmond",
            "state": "VA",
            "bio": "I am a teacher in the Richmond City Public School System"
        },
        {
            "id": "850",
            "first_name": "George",
            "last_name": "Gregory",
            "email": "[email protected]",
            "phone_number": "8043703986",
            "city": "Richmond",
            "state": "VA",
            "bio": "I am creative coder from Richmond"
        }
    ]
}

Note: The data property is always an array of objects even if there is only one result.

Using the Data

Because the API outputs data using JSON the results of an API http request can be loaded into a project written in almost any language. I have chosen to provide brief code examples using PHP, however, these code snippets outline the basics of loading and using your API data and easily apply to another language.

<?php
$city = "Richmond";
$bio = "artist";

$http_request = "http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?city=$city&bio=$bio&limit=10";
	
$json_string = file_get_contents($http_request);
$jsonObj = json_decode($json_string);
	
//loop through each user object inside of the "data" array
foreach($jsonObj->data as $user){
   //do something with each result inside of here...
   //for example, print some of their info to the browser
   echo "This user's first name is " . $user->first_name . "<br/>";
   echo "This user's last name is " . $user->last_name . "<br/>";
   echo "This user's email is " . $user->email;
   echo "<br/>";
}
?>

Error Handling

Often requests to the API return no results because no results were found that met the request's criteria. For this reason it is important to know how to handle the API error. The JSON that is returned in this instance is {"error": "no results found"} or whatever you specify using the API::set_no_results_message().

Handling errors is simple. All that you need to do is check if the error property exists in the resulting JSON object. If it does execute the code for when an error is present. Otherwise, continue with the program because the request returned at least one result object.

<?php
$city = "Richmond";
$bio = "artist";

$http_request = "http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?city=$city&bio=$bio&limit=10";
	
$json_string = file_get_contents($http_request);
$jsonObj = json_decode($json_string);

//check for an error
if(isset($jsonObj->error)){
	//code for handling the error goes in here...
	//for example, print the error message to the browser
	echo $jsonObj->error;
	}else{
		//execute the code for when user objects are returned…
		//loop through each user object inside of the "data" array
		foreach($jsonObj->data as $user){
		   //do something with each result inside of here...
		   //for example, print some of their info to the browser
		   echo "This user's first name is " . $user->first_name . "<br/>";
		   echo "This user's last name is " . $user->last_name . "<br/>";
		   echo "This user's email is " . $user->email;
		   echo "<br/>";
		}
	}
?>

Submitting Data to Your Database

Aside from using the API Builder to create a web accessible API, there are several methods that allow you to actually add/edit data in your database using GET or POST methods.

The Database::execute_from_assoc($assoc_array, $tablename) static method handles both of these needs. The default behavior of this method takes two parameters and is used to insert data into the database by dynamically generating a MySQL INSERT statement. Each time Database::execute_from_assoc() is called it affects only 1 row. The first parameter is an associative array with a column name as each key and the value you want to insert into that column as the value. The second parameter is the name of the table to use when making the query. If you are executing the query on the table that you passed into Database::init_connection() or API::__construct() then you can access that table using the static Database::$table property. Otherwise you can specify the table name as a string.

Below is an example of how to insert a new user into the example database that we have been using throughout this documentation. If you are familiar with making $.ajax or XmlHttpRequests with Javascript then inserting into and updating existing rows in your database is easy! (examples coming soon).

Inserting

If the html form on the registration page looks like this:

<form method="post" action="yoursubmissionpage.php">
    <label for="first-name">First Name</label>
    <input type="text" id="first-name" name="first_name"/>

    <label for="last-name">Last Name</label>
    <input type="text" id="last-name" name="last_name"/>

    <label for="email">E-mail</label>
    <input type="text" id="email" name="email"/>

    <label for="phone-number">Phone Number</label>
    <input type="tel" id="phone-number" name="phone_number"/>

    <label for="city">City</label>
    <input type="text" id="city" name="city"/>

    <label for="state">State</label>
    <input type="text" id="state" name="state"/>

    <label for="bio">bio</label>
    <textarea id="bio" name="bio">
    </textarea>

    <input type="submit" value="submit">
 </form>

Then the php code on the submission page, often the same page that the html form is on as in examples/registration_example.php, would look like this:

<?php
    // include the API Builder Database class
    require_once('api_builder_includes/class.Database.inc.php');
    var_dump($_POST);
    //if POST is present...
    if(isset($_POST) &&
       !empty($_POST)){

        // Do any neccissary validation here. You can use something like https://github.com/ASoares/PHP-Form-Validation
        // if you are not going to validate input, which you absolutely should if users are submitting it, then at least
        // make sure the correct values are present
        if(isset($_POST['first_name']) && !empty($_POST['first_name']) &&
           isset($_POST['last_name']) && !empty($_POST['last_name']) &&
           isset($_POST['email']) && !empty($_POST['email']) &&
           isset($_POST['phone_number']) && !empty($_POST['phone_number']) &&
           isset($_POST['city']) && !empty($_POST['city']) &&
           isset($_POST['state']) && !empty($_POST['state']) &&
           isset($_POST['bio']) && !empty($_POST['bio'])){

            // Open the database connection. This is what happens inside of the API class constructor
            // but if this page is simply for submitting data to the database you can just call this method
            Database::init_connection("localhost", "organization", "users", "username", "secret_password");

            // Sanitize the array so that it can be safely inserted into the database.
            // This method uses MySQLi real escape string and htmlspecialchars encoding.
            $post_array = Database::clean($_POST);

            //submit the data to your table.
            if(Database::execute_from_assoc($post_array, Database::$table)){
                echo "The data was submitted to the database";
            }else echo "There was an error submitting the data to the database";
        }else echo "One or more of the required values is missing from the POST";
    }else echo "Nothing was added to the database because the http request has no POST values";
?>

Updating

The Database::execute_from_assoc()'s optional third parameter allows the database to update existing rows as long as an id column exists in the table and the id of the row to update is passed in as key => value pair in the method's first parameter. When updating, the method's 3rd parameter should be a string representing the name of the column to update.

<?php
    // include the API Builder Database class
    require_once('api_builder_includes/class.Database.inc.php');

    // Array containing the row to change. The only required values are the id and the column being changed.
    // All other key => value pairs are ignored but are present here because often rows are updated in batch
    // after being returned in 2D array fashion from Database::get_all_results();
    $user = array("id" => 2,
                  "first_name" => "Salvester",
                  "last_name" => "Rinehart",
                  "email" => "[email protected]",
                  "phone_number" => "8042557684",
                  "city" => "Richmond",
                  "state" => "VA",
                  "bio" => "Total badass.");

    //sanitize user input
    $user_cleaned = Database::clean($user);

    //the 3rd parameter specifies this is an update statement by selecting which column from in the row to update
    if(Database::execute_from_assoc($user_cleaned, Database::$table, "phone_number")){
        echo $user['first_name'] . "'s phone number was changed to " . $user['phone_number'];
    }
?>

Other

The Database::clean($dirty) method takes a string or array and sanitizes it using mysql_real_escape_string and htmlspecialchars. I am no security expert and it is very possible that more string sanitation is needed before inserting data into your database.

The Database::execute_sql($query) method allows you to execute raw SQL statements as strings that are passed in as it's parameter. If for instance you wanted to change the structure of the table from the database you are connected to you could use this method. Or if you wanted to batch update a row of users you could use this method as well:

$query = "UPDATE " . Database::$table . " SET state='Virgnia' WHERE state='VA'";
if(Database::execute_sql($query)) echo "Update statement succeeded!";

Be careful using Database::execute_sql($query) as you can make changes to the Database that could disrupt your API setup.

API Parameter Reference

This section documents in detail all of the API Builder URL parameters currently available to use when making an http request to your API.

It uses a made up table with a setup that is specified earlier in this documentation.

API Key Parameter

If the API has been setup to require a unique key it will need to be included with each request. If the API was set up in this fashion you will not be able to access the API's data unless you have been provided with a valid key. API Builder APIs have this function disabled by default but can be ]enabled by the API owner with the API::set_key_required() method.

Parameter key: key

Parameter value: A unique 40 character SHA1 key

Example:

 http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?last_name=Renolds&key=8a98253d8b01d4cf8c3fe183ef0862fa69a67b2e
 

Note: Failing to include a valid API key when it is required or making more than the allowed requests in a day will throw an error object in place of a data object.

Private Key Parameter

Similar to the API Key Parameter the Private Key Parameter limits access to the API. Unlike the API Key however there is only one Private Key allowed per API. This parameter is used if the API is intended to be private (i.e. for only one user, not just limited access as with the API Key Parameter). This function is disabled by default but can be enabled by the API owner with API::set_private().

Parameter key: private_key

Parameter value: A unique 40 character SHA1 key

Example:

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?last_name=Renolds&private_key=ac3c1017b45b299dbf99ce8470c56b063e24f935

Column Parameters

Column parameters allow you to query data for a specific column value where the parameter key is specified to be the column name in your database. Column parameters can be stacked for more specific queries.

Parameter keys: Column name (i.e. first_name) to perform query on.

Parameter values: Desired lookup string, int, or float that corresponds to the column name in the database as specified by the parameter's key.

Example:

  http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?last_name=Thompson&limit=10
  

This example request would return up to 10 users who's last name are Thompson ordered alphabetically by last name.

Notes: The column parameter's are overridden if a search parameter is included in the request.

Search Parameter

The search parameter uses a MySQL FULLTEXT Match()… Against()… search to find the most relevant results to the searched string.

Parameter key: search

Parameter value: Desired query string

Example:

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?search=design

Notes: search results are automatically ordered by relevancy, or if relevancy is found to be arbitrary, by the value set by the API owner using the API::set_default_search_order() method. The order_by parameter cannot be used when the search parameter is specified. More on why below…

Default Match()…Against()… MySQL statements search databases using a 50% similarity threshold. This means that if a searched string appears in more than half of the rows in the database the search will ignore it. Because it is possible that webpages will have similar tags, I have built the API to automatically re-search IN BOOLEAN MODE if no results are found in the first try. If results are found in the second search they are ordered by a default column set by the API owner.

Order By Parameter

This parameter is used with the column parameters to sort the returned users by the specified value. If order_by is not specified its value defaults to the value set by the API's API::set_default_order() in the api.php page. order_by will be ignored when the search parameter is specified.

Parameter key: order_by

Parameter value: Column name (i.e. id) to order by

Example:

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?state=VA&order_by=id&limit=15

This request returns the 15 most recent users from Virginia.

Flow Parameter

This parameter specifies the MySQL ASC and DESC options that follow the ORDER BY statement. If flow is not specified it defaults to DESC.

Parameter key: flow

Parameter value: ASC or DESC

Example:

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?state=VA&order_by=id&limit=15&flow=asc

This request returns the 15 least recent users from Virginia. Notes: flow's values are case insensitive.

Limit Parameter

The limit parameter works similarly to MySQL LIMIT. It specifies the max number of users to be returned. The default value, if unspecified is 25. The default max value of results that can be returned in one request is 250.

Parameter key: limit

Parameter value: int between 1-250 or between 1 and the max value specified by the API owner using API::set_max_output_number().

Example:

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?state=IL&limit=5

Returns the 5 most recent users from Illinois.

Page Parameter

The page parameter is used for results pagination. It keeps track of what set (or page) of results are returned. This is similar to the MySQL OFFSET statement. If not specified the page value will default to 1.

Parameter key: page

Parameter value: int greater than 0

EXAMPLE:

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?search=programmer&limit=7&page=3&order_by=id&flow=asc	

This request will return the 3rd "page" of search results.

For instance, in the unlikely example that all users have the string "programming" in their bios, setting page=1 would return webpages with id's 1-7, setting page=2 would yield 8-14, etc…

Note: The MySQL OFFSET is calculated server side by multiplying the value of limit by the value of page minus one.

Exact Parameter

The exact parameter is used in conjunction with the column parameters and specifies whether or not their values are queried with relative or exact accuracy. If not included in the URL request the exact parameter defaults to false.

Parameter key: exact

Parameter values: TRUE and FALSE

Example:

http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?id=10&exact=TRUE

This request will limit the returned results to the user whose id is exactly 10. If the exact parameter was not specified, or was set to FALSE, the same request could also return users whose id's have 10 in them (i.e. 1310, 10488, 100 etc…). Including exact=true parameter in an API http request is equivalent to using a MySQL LIKE statement.

Notes: exact's values are case insensitive.

Exclude Parameter

The exclude parameter is used in conjunction with the column parameters to exclude one or more specific result row from a query. It is disabled by default but may be enabled by the API owner.

Parameter key: exclude

Parameter values: a comma-delimited list of excluded row's id's.

Example:

http://fakeorganization.com/[email protected]&exclude=5,137,1489&limit=50

This example will return 50 users other than numbers 5, 137, and 1489 who use gmail ordered by last name.

Note: If the exclude parameter is included in an http request to an API that has disabled this function an error properly will be present to notify the user.

Count Only Parameter

The count only parameter differs from all of the other API Builder parameters as it does not return an array of result objects. Instead, it returns a single object as the first element in the data array. This object has only one property, count, where the corresponding string value describes the number of results returned by the rest of the url parameters. If the count_only parameter is not specified the default value is FALSE. When count_only is set to TRUE the request will only evaluate and return the number of results found by the rest of the url parameters and the request will not return any row data.

Parameter key: count_only

Parameter values: TRUE or FALSE

EXAMPLE:

 //request
 http://fakeorganization.com/api.php?first_name=Thomas&exact=true&count_only=true
 
 //returns
 {
  "data":[
    {
    "count":"45"
    }]
 }
 

This request returns the number of users that have the first name "Thomas". The count value is returned as a string.

Note: The value of count_only is case insensitive.

Pretty Print Parameter

The pretty_print Parameter returns a response with indentations and line breaks. If pretty_print is set to TRUE the results returned by the server will be human readable (pretty printed). With most API setups Pretty Print will be enabled by default but the API owner may have this feature disabled. Either way Pretty Print can be turned on or off with this parameter.

Parameter key: pretty_print

Parameter value: TRUE or FALSE

Example:

http://fakeorganization.com/[email protected]&pretty_print=false

Note: The value of pretty_print is case insensitive. If large amounts of data are being transferred and human readability is unimportant it is suggested to disable pretty print so as to enable faster API requests and data parsing.

License and Credit

The API Builder PHP Mini Library is developed and maintained by Brannon Dorsey and is published under the MIT License. If you notice any bugs, have any questions, or would like to help me with development please submit an issue or pull request, write about it on the wiki, or contact me.