external_api Class Reference

Base class for external api methods. More...

Inheritance diagram for external_api:

Static Public Member Functions
static	call_external_function ($function, $args, $ajaxonly=false)
	Call an external function validating all params/returns correctly.
static	clean_returnvalue (external_description $description, $response)
	Clean response If a response attribute is unknown from the description, we just ignore the attribute.
static	external_function_info ($function, $strictness=MUST_EXIST)
	Returns detailed function information.
static	set_context_restriction ($context)
	Set context restriction for all following subsequent function calls.
static	set_timeout ($seconds=360)
	This method has to be called before every operation that takes a longer time to finish!
static	validate_context ($context)
	Makes sure user may execute functions in this context.
static	validate_parameters (external_description $description, $params)
	Validates submitted function parameters, if anything is incorrect invalid_parameter_exception is thrown.

Static Protected Member Functions
static	get_context_from_params ($param)
	Get context from passed parameters.
static	get_context_parameters ()
	Returns a prepared structure to use a context parameters.

Detailed Description

Base class for external api methods.

Copyright

2009 Petr Skodak

License

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later

Since

Moodle 2.0

Member Function Documentation

call_external_function()

static external_api::call_external_function ( $function, $args, $ajaxonly = false )

static

Call an external function validating all params/returns correctly.

Note that an external function may modify the state of the current page, so this wrapper saves and restores tha PAGE and COURSE global variables before/after calling the external function.

Parameters

string	$function	A webservice function name.
array	$args	Params array (named params)
boolean	$ajaxonly	If true, an extra check will be peformed to see if ajax is required.

Return values

array

containing keys for error (bool), exception and data.

clean_returnvalue()

static external_api::clean_returnvalue ( external_description $description, $response )

static

Clean response If a response attribute is unknown from the description, we just ignore the attribute.

If a response attribute is incorrect, invalid_response_exception is thrown. Note: this function is similar to validate parameters, however it is distinct because parameters validation must be distinct from cleaning return values.

Parameters

external_description	$description	description of the return values
mixed	$response	the actual response

Return values

mixed

response with added defaults for optional items, invalid_response_exception thrown if any problem found

Author

2010 Jerome Mouneyrac

Since

Moodle 2.0

external_function_info()

static external_api::external_function_info ( $function, $strictness = MUST_EXIST )

static

Returns detailed function information.

Parameters

string | object	$function	name of external function or record from external_function
int	$strictness	IGNORE_MISSING means compatible mode, false returned if record not found, debug message if more found; MUST_EXIST means throw exception if no record or multiple records found

Return values

stdClass

description or false if not found or exception thrown

Exceptions

coding_exception

for any property and/or method that is missing or invalid

Since

Moodle 2.0

get_context_from_params()

static external_api::get_context_from_params ( $param )

staticprotected

Get context from passed parameters.

The passed array must either contain a contextid or a combination of context level and instance id to fetch the context. For example, the context level can be "course" and instanceid can be courseid.

See context_helper\get_all_levels() for a list of valid context levels.

Parameters

array

$param

Since

Moodle 2.6

Exceptions

invalid_parameter_exception

Return values

context

get_context_parameters()

static external_api::get_context_parameters ( )

staticprotected

Returns a prepared structure to use a context parameters.

Return values

external_single_structure

Reimplemented in core_competency\external, and tool_lp\external.

set_context_restriction()

static external_api::set_context_restriction ( $context )

static

Set context restriction for all following subsequent function calls.

Parameters

stdClass

$context

the context restriction

Since

Moodle 2.0

set_timeout()

static external_api::set_timeout ( $seconds = 360 )

static

This method has to be called before every operation that takes a longer time to finish!

Parameters

int

$seconds

max expected time the next operation needs

Since

Moodle 2.0

validate_context()

static external_api::validate_context ( $context )

static

Makes sure user may execute functions in this context.

Parameters

stdClass

$context

Since

Moodle 2.0

validate_parameters()

static external_api::validate_parameters ( external_description $description, $params )

static

Validates submitted function parameters, if anything is incorrect invalid_parameter_exception is thrown.

This is a simple recursive method which is intended to be called from each implementation method of external API.

Parameters

external_description	$description	description of parameters
mixed	$params	the actual parameters

Return values

mixed

params with added defaults for optional items, invalid_parameters_exception thrown if any problem found

Since

Moodle 2.0

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The documentation for this class was generated from the following file:

• lib/externallib.php