vBulletin SOAP API

sorry for my bad english


Changes:

v. 1.0.7
Bugfix in the updateUser function
added getOnlineUsers() function, to get the list of the logged in users

v. 1.0.6
updateUser uand deleteUser updated, now is posible to call it with userid or other field from user table
getStats() funktion added, to get forum stats


v. 1.0.5
Added updateUser, deleteUser to update user data ( email/password, username )
or delete user

v. 1.0.4
Added doActivateSession function to let vbulletin accept sessionid

v. 1.0.3
functions to get userdata and postdata are now done
postmessage returns as formated html

v. 1.0.2
added support for vbulletin "session"
the server can now send all needed cookies, to the client, last 2 optional:
(PREFIXsessionhash/lastvisit/lastactivity/(userid/password))

v. 1.0.1
rename login funtion to doLogin
add placeholder for getUser/setUser, getPost/setPost, getThread/setThread functions
change URL in the WSDL file to relative URL




this is a beta version !!

what this hack do:

this hack provide a soap api to access vbulletin functions over internet
( for example: ebay, amazon or google have they webservices api to access is over soap )

this hack has at the moment this functions

1. login to vbulletin
you must give username and password, as response you get userid and password as md5 ( with salt ) hash

so that you can set vbulletin cookie on your application

2.
a. last X post from the forum
b. last X post from the forum, which the user ( which is loged in, see 1. ) can see

3. manipulate a user, get user information , create users or delete then

4.
get forum statistics from vbulletin ( Sponsored by 1Agency (www.1agency.de) )
you will get new user, max threads/posts and some other stuff as result

5.
get all logged in users in vbulletin


what can you do with this hack ?

you can make common login with your application ( written in PHP/ASP(.NET)/JAVA/C or any language which supports SOAP calls ( for example mozilla firefox ^^)).
to make common login, you must set vbulletin cookie, see 1.

or you can write firefox extension to get last 10 thread from your forum, with threads that you can see

or synchronise users from your application and vbulletin ( this feauture is on development )

other planced feautures are:
write comment
write thread
get thread ( with all comments )


whis SOAP-SERVER is written in PHP5 with SOAP - extension
so that you need to be php5 and soap extension installed on your server
( all new destributions provides php5 and soap extensions as rpm packages )

it is posible to write this server in php4 oder php5 without soap extension ( with nuSOAP or PEAR::SOAP ) but this is not planed at the time, sorry
php
Clients can be written in Java, ASP or PHP, with all language which supports soap
so that you can make common login between an ASP or JSP CMS and Vbulletin


how to install

unpack the package, move the "soap" folder in your forum root
and install the product with product installer

to test the functionality i have included some test files in /soap/examples

you must change the url and username/password and the key in this files


later i will make some examples for typo3/joomla/xoops to access and login into vbulletin

i will accept every help and feedback to make this extension better

updated example is in the "soap" folder

[Way2IT]

"you must change the url and username/password and the key in this files"

key - which key is he referring to? anyone?

[papaschloss]

The key....
I, too, am wondering what exactly is meant by the key.

In server.php, there is a line

// set access_key
$this->access_key = $this->options['vbsoap_server_key'];

I'm new to vbulletin, so I need to ask, where does the options array come from and how does the key 'vbsoap_server_key' get set?

I'm using 3.6.x and I noticed that this library is based on 3.5.2. Has this proved to be much of a difference for anyone?

Any help much appreciated.

[papaschloss]

The original poster, leonsio, says

the installer ( XML ) create new field unter vbulletin settings, called SOAP API
you can setup then the Key for the soap connection

more is not needed to have this addon work

Is he talking about 'the' installer? The one run by hitting install.php? If so then how does it know to add the setting for this key? And, really don't feel like emptying my DB... Or, is there some other installation process I'm unaware of.

I guess in the meantime, I'm going to try to hack this hack so as to remove the need for the key. <shrug>

[papaschloss]

OK, I figured the whole key thing out. The installation process being talked about by leonsio is a product installation process.

Admincp -> Plugins & Products -> Manage Products

Click on Add/Import Product and upload the product-soapapi.xml file from the root of the unzipped VB_SOAP archive.

Now go to

Admincp -> vBulletin Options -> VBulletin SOAP API (in the right hand list)

Click edit. The key should be there set to 'topsecretaccessky'. I set 'Activate or deactivate the SOAP server' to yes and then clicked on the Save button. However, I tried the login.php file again and got the infamous and always entertaining 'looks like we got no XML document'.

Help on this still appreciated.

[e3fnxs6p]

Originally Posted by leonsio

i have stopped the development because of few interest
[...]

vBulletin SOAP API deserves some more attention. Most developers developing in another language then PHP, will skip programmatic integration with vBulletin because they think it's only PHP based. But the vBulletin SOAP API allows these developers to use other languages (like Java, C#, Ruby) to communicate with vBulletin.

I think Java developers often try jforum.net as java forum software, but it hasn't a public API, so we want/need vBulletin SOAP API.

[gregoryaide]

Originally Posted by papaschloss

OK, I figured the whole key thing out. The installation process being talked about by leonsio is a product installation process.

Admincp -> Plugins & Products -> Manage Products

Click on Add/Import Product and upload the product-soapapi.xml file from the root of the unzipped VB_SOAP archive.

Now go to

Admincp -> vBulletin Options -> VBulletin SOAP API (in the right hand list)

Click edit. The key should be there set to 'topsecretaccessky'. I set 'Activate or deactivate the SOAP server' to yes and then clicked on the Save button. However, I tried the login.php file again and got the infamous and always entertaining 'looks like we got no XML document'.

Help on this still appreciated.

Thanks for the help. I was ale to get it working on vBulletin 3.7. You need to change the login.php page to use the same key you specify in the admin control panel as well as make sure you use a full url for the SoapClient. I did nothing else special to get it to work. I've only tried the login.php and test.php pages so far but will look to itnergrate this on other pages throughout my site. Does anyone know of any mods similiar to this that are designed for vBulletin 3.7 or that might be better than this one? Seems like it's a common thing that would be needed in large sites that don't want to have to manage multiple user tables.

[g.gadaleta]

i'm using vb soap api to make login vbulletin through c# application

[busur]

Hello,

In C# application, i receive "Call to undefined function vbsetcookie()" error. It returns from server.php. what shall i do?

[Hanoifishing]

I have vbulletin 3.8.2 and install this products. but when I run it, I receipt this error. Call to undefined function vbsetcookie()

Please help me.

Thanks!

[coffee_bean]

I am surprised there's so little attention on this topic!

This addon would allow developers to create proper iPhone application for their site, especially where large community sites are involved, not to mention desktop applications or more customised feeds than RSS allows.