API wrapper in JavaScript

This guide is a work in progress, we’d appreciate any contributions to it.

You can use the API wrapper in JavaScript to make requests to the API. This is very useful for themes and modules, and you should use it instead of making requests yourself.

Having a wrapper allows us to make changes to the API without having to change the code in your theme or module. This makes your code more feature-proof.

Importing the wrapper

To import the API wrapper, use the following code:

<meta name="csrf-token" content="{{ CSRFToken }}">
<script src="{{ "Api/API.js?v=#{guest.system_version}" | library_url }}"></script>

This code first creates a new meta tag that stores the CSRF token. The API wrapper uses this tag to add the token to API requests. Next, it imports the API wrapper using the library_url filter, which generates the correct URL for the file, then it appends the current system version to prevent cache issues.

Displaying a “spinner”

The FOSSBilling API wrapper will display a spinner (sometimes called a loader) during long-running requests. It will automatically be centered on the middle of the screen, has a fade-in, and will only be displayed once a request has been running for at least 250 milliseconds.

To have it be used, simply have an animation class called spinner-border. FOSSBilling will automatically create and destroy the element for it:

spinner example

Disabling the spinner

To disable the spinner, do one of the following things:

  • Don’t have a spinner-border class.
  • Pass false to the spinner option when using the API wrapper. (this parameter is completely optional unless you wan to disable the spinner)

Example:

API.admin.post("client/get_list", {}, function(response) {
  // handle successful response
}, function(error) {
  // handle error response
}, false);

Making requests

An API request using the wrapper will look something like this: API.guest.get("system/version", {}, function(response){console.log(response)}); The API wrapper has the following parameters:

  • Endpoint Type: the type of API endpoint (admin, client, or guest).
  • method: the HTTP method to use (get or post).
  • endpoint: the specific endpoint to request (e.g., /system/version).
  • params: any parameters to include in the request (e.g., query parameters for a GET request or request body data for a POST request).
  • successHandler: a function to handle a successful response from the API.
  • errorHandler: a function to handle an error response from the API.

Here’s a few different examples: To make a GET request to the guest API and request the /api/guest/system/version endpoint, use:

API.guest.get("system/version", {}, function(response) {
  // handle successful response
}, function(error) {
  // handle error response
});

To make a POST request to the admin API and request the /api/admin/client/get_list endpoint, use:

API.admin.post("client/get_list", {}, function(response) {
  // handle successful response
}, function(error) {
  // handle error response
});

Handling API Responses

Successful Responses

In the example code snippets above, the successHandler function is called when the API request is successful. You can use this function to process the data returned by the API.

Error Responses

The errorHandler function is called when an error occurs during the API request. You can use this function to handle any errors and display an appropriate error message to the user.