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Grivan
State War Academy Caldari State
2
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Posted - 2012.05.19 23:29:00 -
[1] - Quote
I heard there's this really cool thing called the 'API'. I haven't really used it because I'm not able to play EVE much at the moment, but today I actually wanted to use it for something.
You'll notice I have no face, I quite like having no face and therefore don't want to log in. However, I hit a little snag, I would like to see what (if any) items are left on this character. As I said, I haven't really used the API before and it did not occur to me that this would solve this issue; until today.
So I begin hunting for my api keys: no mention of them anywhere whatsoever. No idea how I found the page in the end, buried in the support section of the community site, alas, I digress. So what do I do with this key? The answer is not to be found anywhere near my api key. I end up on various wikis.
Behold, the wonderful wiki keepers, with a bountiful resource of every url you could possibly need to discover anything you could possibly want to know. I get this link to use:
https://api.eveonline.com/corp/AssetList.xml.aspx
Absolutley brilliant. That page returns nothing of any kind. It is listed as the base url, so this is somewhat expected. But, funnily enough, I know nothing (like many others) about the api so have no idea how to get it to work. I do find a list below the url telling me I need: userID, apiKey and characterID. Guess what, I know what 1 of those 3 things are.
Let's cut out the middle part. I have the url for the assets list (which doesn't actually want the user id, but the api key id - I think). I just need a character ID. So I look up character ID and get this:
https://api.eveonline.com/eve/CharacterID.xml.aspx
I mean, do documentation writers take classes on how to write the most useless documentation? Some more searching around reveals that I can add character names, seperated by commas, to the end to return their ID's.
So, here's the crux of the issue. What the freaking hell is the syntax for it? Why is there no real life example where I can just change the name of the character? Maybe I'm being dumb, maybe I'm missing something patently obvious. I tried copying the syntax from other urls. I put in '?' and '=' and 'key=' but none of it works.
Long rant because I get frustrated when something that should be really simple is made really hard for no reason. Can someone please tell me how to get my character ID?
tl;dr: I'm pretty sure there are no items on my character anyway...
Edit: Ok, I just found an old example of someone doing it however long ago (4 years ago) on the EVE forums. My point still stands, the wiki's were next to useless. |
adam smash
University of Caille Gallente Federation
66
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Posted - 2012.05.20 00:06:00 -
[2] - Quote
TLDR...
You donno what to do with an api key you put in where the key goes LUL
How you open your house? What does the key do? lul. |
Grivan
State War Academy Caldari State
2
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Posted - 2012.05.20 00:09:00 -
[3] - Quote
Interesting reply for someone who didn't read the thread. How do you open your house when it's too much effort to read the numbers outside to make sure you get the right one? |
Mars Theran
EVE Rogues EVE Rogues Alliance
221
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Posted - 2012.05.20 00:19:00 -
[4] - Quote
long post.. saw the acronym API preceded by, "..thing called," and stopped reading.
..also: you have no face. Auction - EVE Rogues Alliance [ROGUE]: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1215438#post1215438-á-á~ Auction starts @ 20 Million ISK. |
Pres Crendraven
30
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Posted - 2012.05.20 00:46:00 -
[5] - Quote
From Technolgy lab forum If you want to learn php this will help. If you don't Theres a book called programming collective intelligence that teaches how to pull api's in python. If you don't want to learn several computer lauguages I'd suggest you just download evehq, theres an asset manager plugin that will do what you want to do. Why reinvent the wheel unless you just like coding? You probably know how to get your api key by now but... if you don't, there it is.
Yes API sucks cause you have to be familiar with running a server, php,mysql, passing http parameters like a hacker and probably css and html to make it look pretty. They could have given us comma delimited pulls so the masses could drop it into spreadsheets but its CCP. EVE is hard. Just use evehq. Meta34me
Corp and Alliance details hidden to protect the innocent. |
Serge Bastana
GWA Corp Unified Church of the Unobligated
539
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Posted - 2012.05.20 01:03:00 -
[6] - Quote
If you want to simply obtain a list of your assets you could just try jEVEassets WoW holds your hand until end game, and gives you a cookie whether you win or lose. EVE not only takes your cookie, but laughs at you for bringing one in the first place... |
Grivan
State War Academy Caldari State
2
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Posted - 2012.05.20 12:29:00 -
[7] - Quote
Thanks for the replies. I wasn't sure what 3rd party programmes could be trusted (although I deleted the key after I used it anyway). But now I know!
The thing about learning programming is that it shouldn't be required. I managed it, eventually, without knowing what I was doing by reading about 3 different websites. I could have achieved the whole thing in 10 minutes if there was an existing link to one characters asset list (a purpose made alt) with a link to the page to tell me where to get each of my own identifiers with working links for those too. Therefore it is just copy and paste for me, the layman. |
Della Monk
the boltzmann experience Confederation of xXPIZZAXx
29
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Posted - 2012.05.20 12:56:00 -
[8] - Quote
API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is literally meant to be used with custom programs so yes, some programming is to be expected. Thankfully there are a number of people who have done so for the rest of us. |
gfldex
509
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Posted - 2012.05.20 13:30:00 -
[9] - Quote
Grivan wrote:I could have achieved the whole thing in 10 minutes if there was an existing link to one characters asset list (a purpose made alt) with a link to the page to tell me where to get each of my own identifiers with working links for those too.
You could have solved the whole thing in two minutes by asking a question at the right spot. What problem do you expect your rant to solve?
When someone burns down your sandcastle, bring sausages. |
Spurty
D00M. Northern Coalition.
272
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Posted - 2012.05.20 13:40:00 -
[10] - Quote
I agree with the OP. API stuff is very poorly documented from a Step-by-step guide to get started.
After you are armed with the information, the documentation suddenly appears sufficient!
Typical eve style, make that first step require a ladder and some scaffolding. ---- CONCORD arrested two n00bs yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off. |
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Derus Grobb
Iron Oxide Institute
91
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Posted - 2012.05.20 14:46:00 -
[11] - Quote
Pathetic. |
Morganta
Peripheral Madness The Midget Mafia
1198
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Posted - 2012.05.20 15:26:00 -
[12] - Quote
its not even that involved
you are simply passing instructions to the server via url variables
you take your link www.someplace.com/api/fuu.php
you add a argument delimiter (?)
you add your key
you add another delimiter if you have more variables (&)
you then pass (post) the entire URL to the server and you get back raw XML that you need to parse and format into readable output in the browser
so
www.someplace.com/api/fuu.php?myapikey&somethingelse&somethingelse
returns the data in XML format (another sort of delimited format, but all the pieces of data are wrapped in tags)
yes, php is good to know, but it's really pretty simple as far as php goes, the hardest part will be parsing the returned data
of course it does help to have the correct syntax and order for the variables in the URL, the docs actually do cover that part if I remember
remember in the grand scheme of things EVE's API docs are really no worse than banking API's or google api's they all demand a certain level of programming knowledge and a rarely if ever written to accommodate non-programmers The American public's reaction to the change was poor and the new cola was a major marketing failure. The subsequent reintroduction of Coke's original formula, re-branded as "Coca-Cola Classic", resulted in a significant gain in sales, leading to speculation that the introduction of the New Coke formula was just a marketing ploy |
Samantha Utama
Caldari Provisions Caldari State
63
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Posted - 2012.05.20 15:47:00 -
[13] - Quote
"I heard there's this really cool thing called the 'API'" :D |
Sarah Schneider
PonyWaffe Test Alliance Please Ignore
111
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Posted - 2012.05.20 15:48:00 -
[14] - Quote
The API functions and xml outputs were meant to be for 3rd party developer use, not for common access, thus, the documentations (eg. the wiki) promotes readability and access towards developers, not for general use. |
Oraac Ensor
School of Applied Knowledge Caldari State
5
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Posted - 2012.05.20 16:36:00 -
[15] - Quote
I would like to be able to use EFT and EVEMon, but I believe they both require an API to work. As I have absolutely zero knowledge of programming, does this mean I am doomed never to be able to use them? |
knulla
School of Applied Knowledge Caldari State
28
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Posted - 2012.05.20 16:45:00 -
[16] - Quote
Quote:Baffled beyond all belief
Hyperbole. |
Morganta
Peripheral Madness The Midget Mafia
1199
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Posted - 2012.05.20 17:32:00 -
[17] - Quote
Oraac Ensor wrote:I would like to be able to use EFT and EVEMon, but I believe they both require an API to work. As I have absolutely zero knowledge of programming, does this mean I am doomed never to be able to use them?
go to www.eveonline.com/api to generate a custom key copy it
enter into evemon or eft in the proper field hit whatever button in those programs you hit to refresh data
no programming needed... the above post is about custom api queries, apps have the hard work done already, you just need to generate a key for yourself and plug it in. The American public's reaction to the change was poor and the new cola was a major marketing failure. The subsequent reintroduction of Coke's original formula, re-branded as "Coca-Cola Classic", resulted in a significant gain in sales, leading to speculation that the introduction of the New Coke formula was just a marketing ploy |
Grivan
State War Academy Caldari State
2
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Posted - 2012.05.20 20:31:00 -
[18] - Quote
Hyperbole, definitely. That's how you get attention to your threads. Make an outlandish title or opening statement and people will flood to it and post.
What did I want to achieve with my thread? An answer. However, I discovered the answer almost by mistake after posting.
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Steve Ronuken
Fuzzwork Enterprises
411
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Posted - 2012.05.20 21:20:00 -
[19] - Quote
Most important thing to know about the current API - It's read only. No changes can be made from it, so that's the level of trust you have to give, if you're using a third party program.
(There is a R/W api coming. You'll need to trust that more, if you want to use it.)
If you don't want to use a dedicated Eve third party application, you could always use Excel, and a csv that you can grab from my website. The CSV is a lookup table, to go between type ids and type names. Excel can import the XML from the API easily. You then do a vlookup.
All in all, the API gives you a lot of flexibility. But to use it, you have to have a clue how to use Excel/Google's spreadsheet (at the very least) and more likely a full programming language. And you're going to have to be willing to read. If you're not going to use the programs put together by other people, that is. FuzzWork Enterprises http://www.fuzzwork.co.uk/ Blueprint calculator, invention chance calculator, isk/m3 Ore chart-á and other 'useful' utilities. |
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