Trucker

Trucker is a PHP package for mapping remote API resources (usually RESTful) as models in an ActiveResource style. The benefit is easier use of remote APIs in a fast and clean programming interface.

<?php

class Product extends Trucker\Resource\Model {} //create a class to use

$p = new Product(['name' => 'My Test Product']);
$success = $p->save(); //create a new entity

$found = Product::find(1); //find an existing entity

$found->name = 'New Product Name';
$success = $found->save(); //update an entity

$success = $found->destroy(); //destroy an entity

$results = Product::all(); //find a collection

This project is looking for new maintainers. Please open an issue if interested.

README Contents

• Installation
  • Requirements
  • Install With Composer
    • Configure in Laravel
    • Configure outside Laravel
• Configuration Options
  • Auth
  • Error Handler
  • Query Condition
  • Request
  • Resource
  • Response
  • Result Order
  • Transporter
• Creating an entity
• Working with your entity
  • Fetching Records
    • Fetch an Instance
    • Fetch a Collection
      • Fetch a collection using query conditions and result ordering
  • Create, Update & Destroy Operations
    • Create
    • Update
    • Destroy
• Customizing Entities
  • Setting concrete class properties
  • Setting runtime properties
  • Setting config values at runtime

Installation

Requirements

• Any flavour of PHP 5.4+ should do

Install With Composer

You can install the library via Composer by adding the following line to the require block of your composer.json file:

"indatus/trucker": "dev-master"

For Laravel 5 support, see the laravel-5 branch

Next run composer install, now you need to publish the config files.

Trucker's config files are where you'd define constant things about the API your interacting with, like the end-point, what drivers you want to use etc.

Configure in Laravel

Trucker works well with the Laravel framework. If your using Trucker within Laravel, you just need to run the following command to publish the Trucker config files to the app/config/packages/indatus/trucker folder.

php artisan config:publish indatus/trucker

The final step is to add the service provider. Open app/config/app.php, and add a new item to the providers array.

'Trucker\TruckerServiceProvider'

Now you should be ready to go.

Configure outside Laravel

If your using Trucker outside Laravel you just need to create the .trucker folder in your project root and copy the package's config files there. Here's the *nix command for that.

mkdir .trucker && cp vendor/indatus/trucker/src/config/* .trucker/

Configuration Options

Trucker comes with its own configuration file where you can specify options that are constant to your configuration.

Auth (auth.php)

Setting	Default	Description
driver	null	This parameter specifies the driver to use for authenticating requests with the remote API. Supported Options: basic
basic.username	null	basic driver option: HTTP Basic Authentication username
basic.password	null	basic driver option: HTTP Basic Authentication password

Supported Option Details:

Option	Details
basic	This driver will use HTTP Basic Authentication, and set the auth.basic.username and auth.basic.password config values on the request. Supported Options: array_response, parameter_key

Error Handler (error_handler.php)

Setting	Default	Description
driver	array_response	This parameter specifies the driver to use for interpreting error messages provided by the remote API.
errors_key	null	When returning a response for an API action this element may contain a string or an array of errors that prevented the success of the request.

Supported Option Details:

Option	Details
array_response	This driver assumes that when there is an error any error messages will be given as the full response body as an array.
parameter_key	This driver uses finds the response parameter with a key that matches what is defined in errors_key and parses the error messages contained therein.

Query Condition (query_condition.php)

When making a request for a collection you may specify conditions similar to a SQL WHERE clause. These will be sent along with your request as an array parameter which contains a grouping of key / values that define the set of conditions.

Setting	Default	Description
driver	get_array_params	This setting tells Trucker how to give directives to the remote API which govern how conditions on a collection fetch shoud be conveyed. Supported Options: get_array_params
get_array_params.container_parameter	search	get_array_params driver option: The request parameter which will contain the array of search conditions
get_array_params.property	property	get_array_params driver option: The name of the parameter key used to identify an attribute of a remote entity
get_array_params.operator	operator	get_array_params driver option: Name of the parameter key used to specify a search rule operator i.e.: =, >=, <=, !=, LIKE
get_array_params.value	value	get_array_params driver option: Name of the parameter key used to identify an entity value when providing search conditions
get_array_params.logical_operator	logical_operator	get_array_params driver option: Name of the parameter key used to identify how search criteria should be combined when multiples are present
get_array_params.and_operator	AND	get_array_params driver option: Name of the parameter value for specifying "AND" search rule combination behavior
get_array_params.or_operator	OR	get_array_params driver option: Name of the parameter value for specifying "OR" search rule combination behavior

Supported Option Details:

Option	Details
get_array_params	This option will send the collection query conditions as an array of GET parameters nested under the get_array_params key defined in the config.

The resulting GET parameters may look something like:

search[0][property]=someProperty
search[0][operator]=<
search[0][value]=1234
search[1][property]=anotherProperty
search[1][operator]=LIKE
search[1][value]=someString
logical_operator=AND

Request (request.php)

Setting	Default	Description
base_uri	null	This is the base URI that your API requests will be made to. It should be in a format such as http://my-endpoint.com
driver	rest	This parameter specifies the driver to use for making HTTP requests to the remote API. The driver handles how the requests are made, formatted etc. Supported Options: rest
http_method_param	null	This is a parameter to send with the request that will contain a string disclosing the desired HTTP method ('put', 'post', 'patch', 'delete' etc.). If specified PUT, POST, PATCH and DELETE requests will all be made as a POST and the given parameter will be added with the http method as it's value. An example might be "_method". Otherwise a true PUT, POST, PATCH or DELETE request will be made

Supported Option Details:

Option	Details
rest	The rest driver makes HTTP request using GET, PUT, POST and DELETE HTTP methods to indicate what type of CRUD operation should be completed. Optional usage of the http_method_param config option can also be used.

Resource (resource.php)

Setting	Default	Description
identity_property	id	This setting defines the response property that contains a remote resource's unique identity property.
collection_key	null	When returning a collection of items ( /products for example ) if your API provides the collection within a sub element of the response it can be defined here.
base_64_property_indication	_base64	When working with an entity that will have properties which contain a file the property's value may be set as a Base64 encoded string that contains the file contents. Before sending to the API endpoint the Base64 string will be written to a file at the scratch_disk_location, then added to the HTTP Request using HTTP-Chunk-Encoding. This config setting provides a way to indicate that the property value to be set contains Base64 encoded content. The indication can be anywhere in the property name. Example config setting: 'base_64_property_indication' => '_base64' Example usage: $instance->avatar_base64 = $base64EncodedAvatarImageString; echo $instance->avatar; // => /tmp/tmp_avatar_52dad37453c67.jpg
scratch_disk_location	/tmp	This is a filesystem path where temporary files could be written if needed. An example would be an Entity attribute that is a file (via base64 encoded string). The file would be written to the scratch disk before sending to the endpoint, then sent with the request via HTTP chunked transfer encoding.

Response (response.php)

Setting	Default	Description
driver	http_status_code	This parameter specifies the driver to use for interpreting API responses as successful, invalid, error etc. Supported Options: http_status_code
http_status.success	200, 201	http_status_code driver option: successful request
http_status.not_found	404	http_status_code driver option: not found
http_status.invalid	422	http_status_code driver option: invalid request. i.e. an entity couldn't be saved
http_status.error	500	http_status_code driver option: an error was encountered when processing the request

Wildcards may be used to match what an http code starts with (e.g - 20*).

Supported Option Details:

Option	Details
http_status_code	This driver uses status codes set in the http_status config section to determine the success or error of the request.

Result Order (result_order.php)

Setting	Default	Description
driver	get_params	This setting tells Trucker how give directives to the remote API which govern how collection results should be ordered. Supported Options: get_params
get_params.order_by	order_by	get_params driver option: Name of the parameter key used to identify the property to order search results by
get_params.order_dir	order_dir	get_params driver option: Name of the parameter key used to identify the order direction of search results when providing the order_by parameter
get_params.order_dir_ascending	ASC	get_params driver option: Name of the parameter value for specifying ascending result ordering
get_params.order_dir_descending	DESC	get_params driver option: Name of the parameter value for specifying descending result ordering

Supported Option Details:

Option	Details
get_params	This option will send the property to order results by, and the sort direction as GET parameters on the request. The parameters are specified in get_params.order_by and get_params.order_dir. The resulting GET parameters may look something like: order_by=someProperty,order_dir=ASC

Transporter (transporter.php)

Setting	Default	Description
driver	json	This setting defines the transport method for API endpoint. Supported Options: json

Creating an entity

Now you can create an entity object for a noun in your API (this is the minimum code you'll need to get started):

<?php
class Product extends Trucker\Resource\Model
{

}

Trucker uses convention over configuration, so it will infer what the URI should be based on your class name. In the example of 'Product' the URI will be assumed to be /products.

Working with your entity

Now that you have Trucker object you can use it with CRUD operations as you may expect you would with an ORM.

Fetching Records

Trucker splits fetching records over your API into 2 categories. Getting an instance and getting a collection.

Fetch an Instance

If you have an entity where you know the value of it's identity_property you can fetch it with the find() method.

$p = Product::find(1);

Optional 2nd arg: find() takes a second parameter as well that allows you to pass in an arbitrary associative array that you want to be converted into query string arguments that get sent with the request.

Optional 3rd arg: find() takes a third parameter as well that allows you to pass in an object of the class your finding on with properties that have been set at runtime. The find() function will use this object for interperting the URL if given, other wise it will call new static; on the class find() is called on.

Fetch a Collection

When you want to fetch a collection of records you can use the all() function.

$results = Product::all();

The all() function takes arguments that allow you to specify conditions on the results that you'll get back. How the request will be made to the API depends on collection_query_condition_driver and collection_result_order_driver you are using.

Fetch a collection using query conditions and result ordering

$conditions = ConditionFactory::build();
$conditions->addCondition('name', '=', 'Roomba 650');
$conditions->addCondition('vendor', '=', 'Irobot');
$conditions->addCondition('price', '>=', 10000);
$conditions->setLogicalOperator($conditions->getLogicalOperatorAnd());

$order = ResultOrderFactory::build();
$order->setOrderByField('name');
$order->setOrderDirection($order->getOrderDirectionDescending());

$results = Product::all($conditions, $order);

Note: You may also provide a third array parameter to the all() function containing an associative array of values to include in the request as querystring parameters.

Create, Update & Destroy Operations

Create

$attributes = ['name' => 'XYZ Headphones', 'vendor' => 'Acme', 'price' => '10000'];

//pass attributes to the constructor
$p = new Product($attributes);

//or use the fill() method
$p = new Product;
$p->fill($attributes);

//get the attributes back if you want to see them
print_r($p->attributes());
// => ['name' => 'XYZ Headphones', 'vendor' => 'Acme', 'price' => '10000']

//maybe you want to see a particular property
echo $p->name; // => XYZ Headphones

//or modify a property
$p->name = "ABC Headphones";

//save the object over the API.  The save() method will create or update 
//the object as necessary.  It returns true or false based on success.
$success = $p->save(); 

if ($success) {

  //the identity property is set back on the object after it is created
  echo "Saved product '{$p->name}' with ID: ". $p->getId();

} else {

  //maybe you want to print out the errors if there were some
  echo "Errors: ". implode(", ", $p->errors());
  // => ['Category is required', 'Cost must be greater than 0']
}

Update

Update works quite similar to the create functionality, from the code perspective it is nearly identicial.

$p = Product::find(1);
$p->name = "My Product";

if ($p->save()) {
   echo "Updated!";
} else {
   echo "Error: ". implode(", ", $p->errors());
}

Destroy

The destroy function requires an existing instance, and returns a boolen based on the success of the request.

$p = Product::find(1);

if ($p->destroy()){
  echo "Deleted product: {$p->name}";
} else {
  echo "Error deleting product: {$p->name}";
  echo "Errors: ". implode(", ", $p->errors());
}

Customizing Entities

Trucker uses sensible defaults for its default configuration, but allows you to customize it via the config settings. Additionally you can override the config settings for an individual class by overriding properties on the concrete implementation; by setting values at runtime on the class or in the config.

Setting concrete class properties.

The following fields can be set on a class implementation to override interpreted values, default values or just to define the class functionality.

Property	Visibility	Type	Description
resourceName	protected	string	The name of the resource which is used to determine the resource URI through the use of reflection. By default if this is not set getResourceName() will use the class name. A Person class would be inflected to /people but you could change that by setting the resourceName to something different like "Employee" to get /employees. Alternativley you could set the uri property directly.
uri	protected	string	Property to overwrite the getURI() function with a static value of what remote API URI path should be used. Should be set with a value with a leading slash if used.
nestedUnder	public	string	Property to hold the data about entities for which this resource is nested beneath. For example if this entity was 'Employee' which was a nested resource under a 'Company' and the instance URI should be /companies/:company_id/employees/:id then you would assign this string with 'Company:company_id'. Doing this will allow you to pass in ':company_id' as an option to the URI creation functions and ':company_id' will be replaced with the value passed. Alternativley you could set the value to something like 'Company:100'. This value can be nested as a comma separated string as well.
identityProperty	protected	string	Remote resource's primary key property
guarded	protected	string	Comma separated list of properties that can't be set via mass assignment
fileFields	protected	string	Comma separated list of properties that will take a file path that should be read in and sent with any API request
readOnlyFields	protected	string	Comma separated list of properties that may be in a GET request but should not be added to a create or update request
scratchDiskLocation	protected	string	Filesystem location that temporary files could be written to if needed
base64Indicator	protected	string	Portion of a property name that would indicate that the value would be Base64 encoded when the property is set.

Example:

<?php
class Product extends Trucker\Resource\Model
{
  protected $uri = "/small_electronic_products";
  protected $guarded = "price,sale_price";
  protected $fileFields = "picture";
}

Setting runtime properties

There may be situations where you can't set a property in the concrete class implementation because it's value is variable and changes at runtime. For this situation you could set the property before it is used in a request.

Example:

<?php
$vendor_id = 9876;
$p = new Product;
$p->nestedUnder = "Vendor:{$vendor_id}";
$found = Product::find(1, [], $p);
//will hit /vendors/9876/products/1

Setting config values at runtime

There may be times where you need to change values that are set in your Trucker config files at runtime before a request is made that uses those values. You can use Trucker's config manager for this.

Note: If your using Trucker in Laravel you'll want to alias the Trucker config manager Config to something different like TruckerConfig so it doesn't conflict with Laravel's own Config class.

Example:

<?php
use Trucker\Facades\Config as TruckerConfig;

TruckerConfig::set('auth.basic.username', $someUsername);
TruckerConfig::set('auth.basic.password', $somePassword);
$found = Product::find(1);