Getting a cURL command to work in Xbasic

[Nathan Zeiset]

I'm struggling to get an API call to work in Alpha. I'm using it to create a draft email in the Front app (https://dev.frontapp.com/reference/p...nnel-id-drafts). I finally was able to get it to work in Postman, but now I need to be get this cURL command working in Xbasic, and progress is painfully slow. Here is the cURL command, which works perfectly in Postman:

curl --location --request POST 'https://api2.frontapp.com/channels/cha_123/drafts' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
--form 'author_id="tea_123"' \
--form 'to[]="[email protected]"' \
--form 'subject="test subject 3"' \
--form 'body="test message 3"' \
--form 'attachments=@"/E:/myfiles/test.jpg"'

How can I make this work in Xbasic? The CURL to Xbasic genie doesn't seem to help much.

[Sarah Mitchell]

The CURL to Xbasic genie doesn't seem to help much.

Where is this falling down for you?

[Nathan Zeiset]

If I use the genie, it generates this code:

dim cf_1 as extension::CurlFile
dim flag_1 as l
dim slist1[0] as c = [ "Authorization: Bearer <token>" ]
dim ce as extension::Curl

ce = extension::Curl.Init()
ce.setOpt("BUFFERSIZE",102400)
ce.setOpt("URL","https://api2.frontapp.com/channels/cha_123/drafts")
dim posted_fields as c = ("--form 'author_id="tea_123"' --form 'to[]="[email protected]"' --form 'subject="test subject 3"' --form 'body="test message 3"' --form 'attachments=@"/E:/myfiles/test.jpg"'")
ce.setOpt("POSTFIELDS",posted_fields)
ce.setOpt("POSTFIELDSIZE_LARGE", len(posted_fields) )
ce.setOpt("HTTPHEADER",slist1)
ce.setOpt("USERAGENT","curl/7.81.0")
ce.setOpt("MAXREDIRS",50)
ce.setOpt("CAINFO",a5.Get_Exe_Path()+"\caroot\ca-cert.pem")
ce.setOpt("CAPATH",a5.Get_Exe_Path()+"\caroot")
ce.setOpt("PROXY_CAPATH", a5.get_exe_path() + "\caroot")
ce.setOpt("FTP_SKIP_PASV_IP",1)
ce.setOpt("TCP_KEEPALIVE",1)
ce.SetOpt("FILE",cf_1)
flag_1 = ce.Exec()
if flag_1 then

dim headers as c
dim contents as c
headers = cf_1.GetHeaders()
contents = cf_1.GetContent()

'BE SURE TO COMMENT OUT THIS CODE IN A WEB APPLICATION AS showVar() CANNOT BE USED IN WEB APPLICATIONS
dim msg as c
msg = "Headers: " + crlf() + headers + crlf() + "Content: " + contents
showvar( msg)


else
dim errors as c
errors = ce.error()

'BE SURE TO COMMENT OUT THIS CODE IN A WEB APPLICATION AS showVar() CANNOT BE USED IN WEB APPLICATIONS
showvar("error: " + errors)
end if
ce.close()

When I make the API call, this returns "Content: {"_error":{"status":400,"title":"Bad request","message":"Body did not satisfy requirements","details":["body.author_id: missing","body.body: missing"]}}"

If I don't use the genie, but just use the "Generate Xbasic" button, I get this code, which is obviously inadequate:

dim ce as extension::Curl

ce = extension::Curl.Init()
ce.setOpt("BUFFERSIZE",102400)
ce.setOpt("URL","https://api2.frontapp.com/channels/cha_123/drafts")
ce.close()

[madtowng]

Hi Nathan,
The code shown below is the base you'll need for using the http_fetch function.
I'm available to help if you still need it.
I usually ask that you show a successful test call with the api (preferably using the http option from their documentation site).

POST /channels/cha_123/drafts HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Content-Type: application/json
Host: api2.frontapp.com
{"mode":"shared"}

[alexc]

It looks to be the way you are using posted fields with Xbasic curl looking at the error you are getting. the format of the curl

curl --request POST \
--url https://api2.frontapp.com/channels/cha_123/drafts \
--header 'Accept: application/json' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '
{
 "mode": "private",
 "author_id": "tea_123"
...
}
'

[Nathan Zeiset]

I'm trying this again using http_fetch(). I can get this to work using the following function (with items in <>brackets replaced with actual data):

FUNCTION testAPI3 AS C ( )
dim settings as p
settings.host = "api2.frontapp.com"
settings.page = "/channels/<channel_id>/drafts"
settings.method = "POST"
settings.ssl_on = .t.
settings.header = <<%txt%
Accept: application/json
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer <token>
%txt%
settings.body = <<%json%
{
"author_id": "<auth_id>",
"to": [
"<email>"
],
"subject": "Test subject",
"body": "Test body"
}
%json%
result = http_fetch(settings)
if (result.error_code <> 0) then
showvar(result)
else if (result.parsed_headers.status_code == 201) then
' API returns 201 (Created) if successful
showvarjson(result.body)
else
showvar(result)
end if
END FUNCTION

This creates a draft email in Front. However, I also want to include attachments, and according to their documentation, I have to use "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" in order to do that. If I change the Content-Type to that, it returns "Bad request: content-type missing boundary". So I added the boundary, as in the following function, which works, but the file does not get uploaded:

FUNCTION testAPI3 AS C ( )
dim settings as p
settings.host = "api2.frontapp.com"
settings.page = "/channels/<channel_id>/drafts"
settings.method = "POST"
settings.ssl_on = .t.
settings.header = <<%txt%
Content-Type: multipart/form-data;boundary="boundary"
Authorization: Bearer <token>
%txt%
settings.body = <<%txt2%
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="author_id"

<auth_id>
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="to[]"

<email>
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="subject"

Test Subject
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="body"

Test body
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="attachments"; filename="example.jpg"

@<filepath>
--boundary--
%txt2%
result = http_fetch(settings)
if (result.error_code <> 0) then
showvar(result)
else if (result.parsed_headers.status_code == 201) then
' API returns 201 (Created) if successful
showvarjson(result.body)
else
showvar(result)
end if
END FUNCTION

[Nathan Zeiset]

Any advice on how to get file attachments to work, either with http_fetch() or cURL?

[madtowng]

Hi Nathan,

I can't stress enough how valuable the sample is in their documentation.
Run it through that, and then look at the code they provide.

[Nathan Zeiset]

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, so far I've been unsuccessful in working through this using their documentation (https://dev.frontapp.com/reference/p...nnel-id-drafts). When I put in all the data in the fields, and then use the "CURL command to Xbasic" genie to generate the Xbasic needed to run it, it works, except that the attachment is not uploaded. I expect this is because the documentation states that if attachments are used, then I must use Content-Type: multipart/form-data, and a link is given to another page which provides an example (https://gist.github.com/hdornier/e04...f46ff8a539a4cb). If I use the example given there to create an API call in PostMan, it works great. If I use the "CURL command to Xbasic" genie to generate the Xbasic needed to run the code produced by Postman, I get this response, as described in my second post on this thread:

Content: {"_error":{"status":400,"title":"Bad request","message":"Body did not satisfy requirements","details":["body.author_id: missing","body.body: missing"]}}

[madtowng]

Use the html option.
Based on what I saw lookng at the documentation screen, you need to put data into the
author_id box and the body box.

I'm more than willing to do a screen-sharing / phone session to work through this.

[Nathan Zeiset]

This issue still has me stumped. A week ago Sarah told me that the Alpha team identified the issue in the CURL to Xbasic genie, that it does not generate the Xbasic to include the form values, and they are working on a solution. In the meantime, if anyone has had success using Xbasic to make an API call that uses "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" and successfully uploads a file, I would be glad to hear from you!

[Lenny Forziati]

dim yourToken    as c = "your API token goes here"
dim attachment    as c = "c:\dev\socket.txt" '"E:\myfiles\test.jpg"
dim formdata[0]    as p
formdata[].name = "author_id"
formdata[..].value = "tea_123"
formdata[].name = "to[]"
formdata[..].value = "[email protected]"
formdata[].name = "subject"
formdata[..].value = "test subject 3"
formdata[].name = "body"
formdata[..].value = "test message 3"
formdata[].name = "attachements"
formdata[..].filename = file.filename_parse(attachment, "NE")
formdata[..].value = file.to_blob(attachment)

dim boundary    as c = "--------------------------" + remspecial(api_uuidcreate())
dim req            as p
dim resp        as p
dim req.host    as c = "api2.frontapp.com"
dim req.page    as c = "/channels/cha_123/drafts"
dim req.method    as c = "POST"
dim req.header    as c = "Authorization: Bearer " + yourToken + crlf() + "Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=" + boundary
dim req.ssl_on    as l = .t.
dim req.body    as b
dim element        as p
for each element in formdata
    req.body = req.body + boundary + crlf()
    req.body = req.body + "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=" + s_quote(element.name)
    if eval_valid("element.filename")
        req.body = req.body + "; filename=" + s_quote(element.filename)
    end if
    req.body = req.body + crlf() + element.value + crlf()
next element
req.body = req.body + crlf() + "--" + boundary + "--"

resp = http_fetch(req)
showvar(resp)

[Nathan Zeiset]

Thanks, Lenny! Unfortunately, it's still not working. The response I get is:

{
"body": "{\"_error\":{\"status\":400,\"title\":\"Bad request\",\"message\":\"stream ended unexpectedly\"}}",
"error_text": "",
"error_code": 0,
"headers": "HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request\r\nDate: Tue, 02 Aug 2022 16:00:44 GMT\r\nContent-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8\r\nContent-Length: 85\r\nConnection: close\r\nx-protected-by: Sqreen\r\nx-ratelimit-limit: 100\r\nx-ratelimit-remaining: 99\r\nx-ratelimit-reset: 1659456104.223\r\netag: W/\"55-dQzmMfSvcU8y7m7hPkkDPbls3U0\"\r\nX-Front-Time: 193",
"parsed_headers": {
"status_code": 400,
"reason_phrase": "Bad Request",
"http_version": "HTTP/1.1",
"Date": "Tue, 02 Aug 2022 16:00:44 GMT",
"ContentType": "application/json; charset=utf-8",
"ContentLength": "85",
"Connection": "close",
"xprotectedby": "Sqreen",
"xratelimitlimit": "100",
"xratelimitremaining": "99",
"xratelimitreset": "1659456104.223",
"etag": "W/\"55-dQzmMfSvcU8y7m7hPkkDPbls3U0\"",
"XFrontTime": "193"
},
"http_version": "0"
}

[Nathan Zeiset]

After careful debugging, I made a few adjustments as follows:

dim yourToken as c = "your API token goes here"
dim attachment as c = "c:\dev\socket.txt" '"E:\myfiles\test.jpg"
dim formdata[0] as p
formdata[].name = "author_id"
formdata[..].value = "tea_123"
formdata[].name = "to[]"
formdata[..].value = "[email protected]"
formdata[].name = "subject"
formdata[..].value = "test subject 3"
formdata[].name = "body"
formdata[..].value = "test message 3"
formdata[].name = "attachements"
formdata[..].filename = file.filename_parse(attachment, "NE")
formdata[..].value = get_from_file(attachment)

dim boundary as c = "--------------------------" + remspecial(api_uuidcreate())
dim req as p
dim resp as p
dim req.host as c = "api2.frontapp.com"
dim req.page as c = "/channels/cha_123/drafts"
dim req.method as c = "POST"
dim req.header as c = "Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=\"" + boundary + "\"" + crlf() + "Authorization: Bearer " + yourToken
dim req.ssl_on as l = .t.
dim req.body as b
dim element as p
for each element in formdata
req.body = req.body + "--" + boundary + crlf()
req.body = req.body + "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=" + s_quote(element.name)
if eval_valid("element.filename")
req.body = req.body + "; filename=" + s_quote(element.filename)
end if
req.body = req.body + crlf() + crlf() + element.value + crlf()
next element
req.body = req.body + crlf() + "--" + boundary + "--"

resp = http_fetch(req)
showvar(resp)

This now generates a 200 response, and a draft message is created. However, the attachment part still does not work. It appears to create an attachment, but it's very small (6B), and when debugging it shows only a few characters ("ؿ͊"). How do I get it to upload the attachment as binary data?

[Lenny Forziati]

Try changing get_from_file() to file.to_blob()