API: XML is now generated without templates

[annando]

There is now a generic functionality to generate XML output for API calls. Additionally some old code was dropped (support for a deprecated Activity Streams output). Also there are some changes to the sql queries.

There is some work left at the queries. But I wanted to do the pull request now so that the changes are split in several pull requests.

[fabrixxm]

I think it's not needed. Just always put in namespace declarations and make the parser happy.. The parser don't complain on unused declared ns, but will stop on used undeclared ones...

[annando]

There are XML that never will return something with different namespaces (like the IDs of friends). I find it a little bit ugly to return namespaces there. Of course this is only some beautification.

Do you think this is a show stopper?

[fabrixxm]

Do you think this is a show stopper?

absolutely not

[fabrixxm]

Have you tried this with some clients?
I want to try with Friendly on Jolla, that uses xml

[annando]

I don't know clients that use the XML, but I compared every API call with an older Friendica server version and with a GNU Social server.

[fabrixxm]

Ok, just give me some time to test it with Friendly :-)

[annando]

I will be so friendly :-)

[annando]

BTW: There had been massive differences between XML and JSON (missing fields and/or fields that aren't part of the JSON) and there were many functions that never had worked with XML output because of missing templates.

[rabuzarus]

Short note from my side (like always): Please add the description of the new db row to the db docu

[annando]

There is no new database row, just a new index.

[rabuzarus]

ahh ok. sorry

[annando]

@fabrixxm could you give me a hint how to install a sailfish emulator and this app? Then I could do some testing (for future changes) on my own. I want to do some more changes to the api in the future.

[tobiasd]

you can find the SailfishOS SDK stuff here and the Friendly source is at Fabios projects repository. It's a customized QtCreator.

You need the i486 kit an run it then in debug mode,. Open the friendly.pro file and on the button below the help choose "Debug" -> "deploy as RPM package". QtCreator should tell you that the VM is not running and the emulator and ask it it should start them for you.

[annando]

@fabrixxm Have you done your testings?

[fabrixxm]

No, sorry, I'm quite busy right now. I'll test it this sunday.

[fabrixxm]

I was trying this PR but I have some problems because I'm on latest PHP (7.0.9) which raises a strange error:

Warning: Parameter 1 to api_statuses_home_timeline() expected to be a reference, value given in include/api.php on line 277

Which is:

$r = call_user_func($info['func'], $a, $type);

Looks like it want $a passed by reference because the function in $info['func'] is defined as api_statuses_home_timeline(&$a, $type).

I get this warning also in current develop, looks like a php regression.

I never get any warning so far here. The only way I found to make it work is using

$r = call_user_func_array($info['func'], array(&$a, $type));

That's made the code work in develop.

If I change that line in this patch, I get a new series of warning:

Warning: It is not yet possible to assign complex types to properties in include/xml.php on line 55

[annando]

So we just should drop passing the "a" variable to the functions. I could include this in the current pull request if you like.

[fabrixxm]

Update:
I've made a test.
Looks like old PHP simply not complains and pass $a as value instead of reference when using call_user_func().
The correct way is using call_user_func_array() with $a passed as reference to the array

I tried this
https://gist.github.com/fabrixxm/02dab6eadbbc6a93871b7d9bfcbb79bb
on php 5.6 and 7.0.2
Note that the output value should increase after every call to my_function() but doesn't after call_user_func(), without warning in old php and with warning in last php.

I would simply change that line to use

$r = call_user_func_array($info['func'], array(&$a, $type));

After this, there is the new warning in include/xml.php :-D

[fabrixxm]

Ok, the warning is raised when there is an activity of an item. The array is:

{
  "id" : ...,
  [...]
  "friendica_activities": {
      "like": [
        {
          "name": [
            "Mario Rossi"
          ],
          "url": [
            "http://friendica.local/profile/mrossi"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "dislike": [],
      "attendyes": [],
      "attendno": [],
      "attendmaybe": []
    },

So, every activity is an array of [user=>", url=>""] for every user that like or disliked or whatever the item.

The code at include/xml.php:53-57 assume that if the key is a number, the value is a scalar, which in this case is false, because the value is an array.

As this is a friendica-only extension to the api output, we can decide how the xml should be, but I'm not sure on how to make the code work.

Using templates I was thinking something like:

<friendica:activities>
  <like>
    <contact>
        <user>Mario Rossi</user>
        <url>http://friendica.local/profile/mrossi</url>
    </contact>
  </like>
 ...
</activities>

(Note that the in the current develop branch, the XML still returns only the count of every sinlge activity, while the json is updated)

[annando]

The warning because of $a should now have disappeared.

Concerning the activities we should do it like Twitter once did (when they hadn't deprecated the XML output like they did now): there you have the plural and singular versions of the elements. Means: "statuses" and "status" or "users" and "user". We could do the same with "our" fields.

[tobiasd]

for this I get the error PHP Warning: It is not yet possible to assign complex types to properties in /.../include/xml.php on line 55 with PHP 7.0.9.

Posting new entries works (but raises the error) fetching the home time line does not (using Friendly).