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[[Category:Developing Qt::Network]]
[[Category:Developing Qt::Network]]
[[Category:Developing Qt::Bugs]]
[[Category:Developing Qt::Bugs]]


[toc align_right="yes" depth="3"]
= Qt and Web Services =


This page tracks current Web Service trends and the requirements of those in Qt. See also the "corresponding task in the Qt bug tracker":http://bugreports.qt.nokia.com/browse/QTBUG-13353 .
This page tracks current Web Service trends and the requirements of those in Qt. See also the [https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-13353 corresponding task in the Qt bug tracker] .


== Areas for Improvement ==
== Areas for Improvement ==


* "OAuth":http://bugreports.qt.nokia.com/browse/QTBUG-6229 . Needed for logging in to e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare etc.
* [https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-6229 OAuth] . Needed for logging in to e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare etc.
OAuth comes in two versions:
*OAuth comes in two versions:
** OAuth 1.0a: Authentication / authorization is done in either HTTP headers or URL, no SSL needed, but quite some signing / nonce creating etc. logic. There are two major 3rd party implementations:
** OAuth 1.0a: Authentication / authorization is done in either HTTP headers or URL, no SSL needed, but quite some signing / nonce creating etc. logic. There are two major 3rd party implementations:
*** QOAuth: depends on QCA and QCA's OpenSSL plugin and spins its own event loop to fake synchronous requests (which is bad).
*** QOAuth: depends on QCA and QCA's OpenSSL plugin and spins its own event loop to fake synchronous requests (which is bad).
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** OAuth 2: No signing / hashing etc. required, expects data to be sent over SSL. As far as I can see this can be easily supported on top of Qt.
** OAuth 2: No signing / hashing etc. required, expects data to be sent over SSL. As far as I can see this can be easily supported on top of Qt.
It seems like OAuth 2 is really taking over (Facebook, Foursquare, Google Data APIs offer it already); sites using OAuth 1.0a: (Twitter, LinkedIn).
It seems like OAuth 2 is really taking over (Facebook, Foursquare, Google Data APIs offer it already); sites using OAuth 1.0a: (Twitter, LinkedIn).
* "JSON support":http://bugreports.qt.nokia.com/browse/QTBUG-12761 . Web Services usually offer their data in either XML or JSON, with JSON having become a lot more popular than XML. JSON can be parsed directly from QML (I think - could somebody confirm?), if parsing within C++ is used, there is a 3rdparty solution called "QJson":http://qjson.sourceforge.net/ and one written by Girish called "qjsonparser":http://blog.forwardbias.in/2011/01/qjsonparser-parse-and-stringify-json-with-qt.html


== Completed features ==
== Completed features ==


* HTTP DELETE (done for 4.6). Can be used for some web services; however not a hard requirement, usually services allow to fake it or use it via POST.
* HTTP DELETE (done for 4.6). Can be used for some web services; however not a hard requirement, usually services allow to fake it or use it via POST.
* "HTTP multipart messages":http://bugreports.qt.nokia.com/browse/QTBUG-6222 (done for 4.8). Needed for Flickr / Facebook etc. image upload; in general used very often where uploading binary data is involved.
* [https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-6222 HTTP multipart messages] (done for 4.8). Needed for Flickr / Facebook etc. image upload; in general used very often where uploading binary data is involved.
* [https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-12761 JSON support] . Web Services usually offer their data in either XML or JSON, with JSON having become a lot more popular than XML.


== Web Services Matrix ==
== Web Services Matrix ==
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'''<span class="update to free feel outdated, possibly"></span>'''
'''<span class="update to free feel outdated, possibly"></span>'''


| '''Name''' | '''Access Method''' | '''Data format''' | '''Authentication''' | '''Additional Requirements''' | '''Comment''' |
{| class="wikitable"
| Facebook | REST, FQL (Facebook Query Language, their own SQL - style language) | XML, JSON | OAuth 2.0 for desktop apps | HTTP multipart messages (for uploading photos) | offers a XML schema at http://api.facebook.com/1.0/facebook.xsd code generation possible, cool! for developing Facebook applications, there is: FBML (their own HTML - style language), XFBML (for using FBML in a normal HTML site), FBJS (their own JavaScript-style language)<br>there is already a Qt Facebook API called Fantasma at http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/User:C++ (seems to be quite old, uses QHttp) |
! Name
| Flickr | REST, SOAP, XML - RPC | XML (SOAP 1.2 / plain / XML - RPC), JSON, PHP - serialized | as with facebook, some md5 required and launching a browser window for authorization (similar to OAuth) | HTTP multipart messages (for uploading photos) | |
! Access Method  
| Twitter | REST, ATOM (for some methods) | XML (plain / ATOM), JSON | OAuth (login via web page); HTTP Basic Auth (only until June 2010) | OAuth 1.0a | some parts of the API are only available in JSON and ATOM, namely search and trends<br>Authentication described at http://apiwiki.twitter.com/Sign-in-with-Twitter |
! Data format  
| MySpace | REST | XML, JSON | OAuth | OAuth | the API supports OpenSocial API, which is "a common API for social applications" |
! Authentication  
| Google Maps | JavaScript | | | | no real Web service API, but a JavaScript library to be used within a browser |
! Additional Requirements  
| Google Search | Ajax, REST | JavaScript (Ajax), JSON (REST) | none required | | REST interface is very limited, see http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/04/google-search-rest-api.html<br>REST API documented at http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/documentation/#fonje |
! Comment  
| Bing Search | REST, SOAP+WSDL | XML (plain / SOAP) | none required | | |
|-
| Last.fm | REST, XML - RPC, some calls as well RSS and iCal | XML (plain / XML-RPC) | either Web browser (Web / Desktop apps) or getting username &amp; password from user and send that via md5 to last.fm | | there is a Qt C++ API called Liblastfm: http://github.com/mxcl/liblastfm/tree/master |
| Facebook  
| Google Data API | REST (using Atom Publishing Protocol) | XML (Atom), JSON, RSS | for installed apps: their own ClientLogin (via HTTPS, but then sending the 2-year-expiry auth key in plaintext!), for web apps: either an AuthSub mechanism (directing the user to a google web page) or OAuth | HTTP multipart messages (not a strict requirement, for uploading photos etc.), OAuth | |
| REST, FQL (Facebook Query Language, their own SQL - style language)  
| Amazon Cloud Services (EC2, S3 etc.) | SOAP+WSDL, REST | XML | SOAP: WS-Security (http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/2009-08-15/DeveloperGuide/index.html?using-soap-api.html#using-soap-api-authentication), REST: own security scheme based on SHA1/SHA256 (http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/2009-08-15/DeveloperGuide/index.html?using-query-api.html#query-authentication , I saw no password there, strangely) | SOAP: WS-Security | |
| XML, JSON  
| Ebay API | SOAP+WSDL, REST, HTTP GET | XML, JSON | | HTTP multipart messages | |
| OAuth 2.0 for desktop apps  
| Wordpress | XMLRPC | XML | | | |
| HTTP multipart messages (for uploading photos)  
| StudiVZ (German Facebook clone) | REST | XML, JSON, JavaScript, ATOM+XML | OAuth | OAuth | supports OpenSocial ; currently says "OAuth not supported at the moment", I don't know if they are actually using it or not |
| offers a XML schema at http://api.facebook.com/1.0/facebook.xsd code generation possible, cool! for developing Facebook applications, there is: FBML (their own HTML - style language), XFBML (for using FBML in a normal HTML site), FBJS (their own JavaScript-style language)<br>there is already a Qt Facebook API called Fantasma at http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/User:C++ (seems to be quite old, uses QHttp)  
| LinkedIn | REST | XML | OAuth 1.0a | OAuth 1.0a | |
|-
| Windows Messenger Connect | JavaScript | | | OAuth WRAP | | |
| Flickr  
| REST, SOAP, XML - RPC  
| XML (SOAP 1.2 / plain / XML - RPC), JSON, PHP - serialized  
| as with facebook, some md5 required and launching a browser window for authorization (similar to OAuth)  
| HTTP multipart messages (for uploading photos)  
|  
|-
| Twitter  
| REST, ATOM (for some methods)  
| XML (plain / ATOM), JSON  
| OAuth (login via web page); HTTP Basic Auth (only until June 2010)  
| OAuth 1.0a  
| some parts of the API are only available in JSON and ATOM, namely search and trends<br>Authentication described at http://apiwiki.twitter.com/Sign-in-with-Twitter  
|-
| MySpace  
| REST  
| XML, JSON  
| OAuth  
| OAuth  
| the API supports OpenSocial API, which is "a common API for social applications"  
|-
| Google Maps  
| JavaScript  
|  
|  
|  
| no real Web service API, but a JavaScript library to be used within a browser  
|-
| Google Search  
| Ajax, REST  
| JavaScript (Ajax), JSON (REST)  
| none required  
|  
| REST interface is very limited, see http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/04/google-search-rest-api.html<br>REST API documented at http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/documentation/#fonje  
|-
| Bing Search  
| REST, SOAP+WSDL  
| XML (plain / SOAP)  
| none required  
|  
|  
|-
| Last.fm  
| REST, XML - RPC, some calls as well RSS and iCal  
| XML (plain / XML-RPC)  
| either Web browser (Web / Desktop apps) or getting username & password from user and send that via md5 to last.fm  
|  
| there is a Qt C++ API called Liblastfm: http://github.com/mxcl/liblastfm/tree/master  
|-
| Google Data API  
| REST (using Atom Publishing Protocol)  
| XML (Atom), JSON, RSS  
| for installed apps: their own ClientLogin (via HTTPS, but then sending the 2-year-expiry auth key in plaintext!), for web apps: either an AuthSub mechanism (directing the user to a google web page) or OAuth  
| HTTP multipart messages (not a strict requirement, for uploading photos etc.), OAuth  
|  
|-
| Amazon Cloud Services (EC2, S3 etc.)  
| SOAP+WSDL, REST  
| XML  
| SOAP: WS-Security (http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/2009-08-15/DeveloperGuide/index.html?using-soap-api.html#using-soap-api-authentication), REST: own security scheme based on SHA1/SHA256 (http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/2009-08-15/DeveloperGuide/index.html?using-query-api.html#query-authentication , I saw no password there, strangely)  
| SOAP: WS-Security  
|  
|-
| Ebay API  
| SOAP+WSDL, REST, HTTP GET  
| XML, JSON  
|  
| HTTP multipart messages  
|  
|-
| Wordpress  
| XMLRPC  
| XML  
|  
|  
|  
|-
| StudiVZ (German Facebook clone)  
| REST  
| XML, JSON, JavaScript, ATOM+XML  
| OAuth  
| OAuth  
| supports OpenSocial ; currently says "OAuth not supported at the moment", I don't know if they are actually using it or not  
|-
| LinkedIn  
| REST  
| XML  
| OAuth 1.0a  
| OAuth 1.0a  
|  
|-
| Windows Messenger Connect  
| JavaScript  
|  
|  
| OAuth WRAP  
|  
|}

Latest revision as of 14:34, 5 March 2016


This page tracks current Web Service trends and the requirements of those in Qt. See also the corresponding task in the Qt bug tracker .

Areas for Improvement

  • OAuth . Needed for logging in to e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare etc.
  • OAuth comes in two versions:
    • OAuth 1.0a: Authentication / authorization is done in either HTTP headers or URL, no SSL needed, but quite some signing / nonce creating etc. logic. There are two major 3rd party implementations:
      • QOAuth: depends on QCA and QCA's OpenSSL plugin and spins its own event loop to fake synchronous requests (which is bad).
      • kOAuth: I have not looked at that closely.
    • OAuth 2: No signing / hashing etc. required, expects data to be sent over SSL. As far as I can see this can be easily supported on top of Qt.

It seems like OAuth 2 is really taking over (Facebook, Foursquare, Google Data APIs offer it already); sites using OAuth 1.0a: (Twitter, LinkedIn).

Completed features

  • HTTP DELETE (done for 4.6). Can be used for some web services; however not a hard requirement, usually services allow to fake it or use it via POST.
  • HTTP multipart messages (done for 4.8). Needed for Flickr / Facebook etc. image upload; in general used very often where uploading binary data is involved.
  • JSON support . Web Services usually offer their data in either XML or JSON, with JSON having become a lot more popular than XML.

Web Services Matrix

Name Access Method Data format Authentication Additional Requirements Comment
Facebook REST, FQL (Facebook Query Language, their own SQL - style language) XML, JSON OAuth 2.0 for desktop apps HTTP multipart messages (for uploading photos) offers a XML schema at http://api.facebook.com/1.0/facebook.xsd code generation possible, cool! for developing Facebook applications, there is: FBML (their own HTML - style language), XFBML (for using FBML in a normal HTML site), FBJS (their own JavaScript-style language)
there is already a Qt Facebook API called Fantasma at http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/User:C++ (seems to be quite old, uses QHttp)
Flickr REST, SOAP, XML - RPC XML (SOAP 1.2 / plain / XML - RPC), JSON, PHP - serialized as with facebook, some md5 required and launching a browser window for authorization (similar to OAuth) HTTP multipart messages (for uploading photos)
Twitter REST, ATOM (for some methods) XML (plain / ATOM), JSON OAuth (login via web page); HTTP Basic Auth (only until June 2010) OAuth 1.0a some parts of the API are only available in JSON and ATOM, namely search and trends
Authentication described at http://apiwiki.twitter.com/Sign-in-with-Twitter
MySpace REST XML, JSON OAuth OAuth the API supports OpenSocial API, which is "a common API for social applications"
Google Maps JavaScript no real Web service API, but a JavaScript library to be used within a browser
Google Search Ajax, REST JavaScript (Ajax), JSON (REST) none required REST interface is very limited, see http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/04/google-search-rest-api.html
REST API documented at http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/documentation/#fonje
Bing Search REST, SOAP+WSDL XML (plain / SOAP) none required
Last.fm REST, XML - RPC, some calls as well RSS and iCal XML (plain / XML-RPC) either Web browser (Web / Desktop apps) or getting username & password from user and send that via md5 to last.fm there is a Qt C++ API called Liblastfm: http://github.com/mxcl/liblastfm/tree/master
Google Data API REST (using Atom Publishing Protocol) XML (Atom), JSON, RSS for installed apps: their own ClientLogin (via HTTPS, but then sending the 2-year-expiry auth key in plaintext!), for web apps: either an AuthSub mechanism (directing the user to a google web page) or OAuth HTTP multipart messages (not a strict requirement, for uploading photos etc.), OAuth
Amazon Cloud Services (EC2, S3 etc.) SOAP+WSDL, REST XML SOAP: WS-Security (http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/2009-08-15/DeveloperGuide/index.html?using-soap-api.html#using-soap-api-authentication), REST: own security scheme based on SHA1/SHA256 (http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/2009-08-15/DeveloperGuide/index.html?using-query-api.html#query-authentication , I saw no password there, strangely) SOAP: WS-Security
Ebay API SOAP+WSDL, REST, HTTP GET XML, JSON HTTP multipart messages
Wordpress XMLRPC XML
StudiVZ (German Facebook clone) REST XML, JSON, JavaScript, ATOM+XML OAuth OAuth supports OpenSocial ; currently says "OAuth not supported at the moment", I don't know if they are actually using it or not
LinkedIn REST XML OAuth 1.0a OAuth 1.0a
Windows Messenger Connect JavaScript OAuth WRAP
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