TOPIC: Token API - interest and prior work?

I've been toying with the idea of making an documented, free to use, public API interface to the content in TokenDB.

The goal would be to support code based consumers of token information, relying on TokenDB as a single source of truth with but with an eye towards something that would be easier to develop against, e.g. would provide a JSON format for token descriptions, maybe have a more flexible search interface, etc.).

Perhaps it would be able to expand on the information in TokenDB a bit (for example, over time it could have token collection/inventory management features, or bid/offer listings, or allow community "ratings" or "comments" on tokens, or...? who knows).

I'm curious about a few things:

1. Is there prior work here that I would be reinventing? For example do any of the excellent character builders or stores already offer up a public API for token data?

2. Have such projects been attempted in the past? If they failed, what would the creators/users say were the issues that led to the failure of the project?

3. Is there any interest in utilizing such a thing? If you, as a character builder developer/webstore owner/hobbyist would use such a thing maybe shoot me a PM so we could have an exchange about features that you would use.

You really ought to check with Jeff before beginning such a project.

Druegar wrote: You really ought to check with Jeff before beginning such a project.

Agreed! Which brings me to my primary concern if I was to use this; how current is the information? Because if it doesn't connect directly to the actual tokendb database then you would have to have some sort of regular sync process from tokendb to your own database which might have a non-negligible impact on the site. Or was your plan to just relay each request to tokendb in real time?

I obviously use tokendb to generate my product listings and it is very useful for that. If you made such an API I might switch to that instead, if the data was reliable and up to date.

I also might be inclined to write an Alexa skill that integrated with it (I just used Alexa do to my entire end-of-year inventory all by voice this year).

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Druegar wrote: You really ought to check with Jeff before beginning such a project.

Agreed! Which brings me to my primary concern if I was to use this; how current is the information? Because if it doesn't connect directly to the actual tokendb database then you would have to have some sort of regular sync process from tokendb to your own database which might have a non-negligible impact on the site. Or was your plan to just relay each request to tokendb in real time?

I obviously use tokendb to generate my product listings and it is very useful for that. If you made such an API I might switch to that instead, if the data was reliable and up to date.

I also might be inclined to write an Alexa skill that integrated with it (I just used Alexa do to my entire end-of-year inventory all by voice this year).

Just a note that the tokendb is not actually a database. It is wordpress pages but there is not an actual database.

Several years ago I offered to port theTokenDB to an SQL DB with a soap interface. My offer was declined, as people felt more comfortable maintaining the current system.

I thought about porting it for my own use, but ran into the issue of how to keep it in sync with Druegar's updates. I didn't want to build something that has to periodically scrape the TokenDB site.

But I still think having the data in a true DB with a read only web interface would be a valuable tool to the community.

What is an API?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface

TL;DR: Eagerly waiting for this to happen.

This came up in conversation with a mate of mine - about how to keep track of all my tokens. Having an API driven front end for TokenDB would mean that I could leverage all the work thats put into the TokenDB site but then write a custom backend for my inventory, transmuting goals/plans, etc without having to manually update anything I'm using for this. It would ALSO allow me to plan out a group with my mates on the otherside of the world with our own custom party planning.

I would definitely been keen to leverage anything that would get built. I know just enough to be dangerous, but not enough to lead anything. I'm mostly posting to see if there ever is traction in this vein.

Outside of any selfish goals here, , - it might eventually help streamline the work that goes into making the character card generator as that wouldn't rely on having to input any of the tokens. And I don't know about any of you, but our group is pretty spread out and having the ability to create our characters online and form a party would be amazing.

Aeroneus Martellus wrote: TL;DR: Eagerly waiting for this to happen.

This came up in conversation with a mate of mine - about how to keep track of all my tokens. Having an API driven front end for TokenDB would mean that I could leverage all the work thats put into the TokenDB site but then write a custom backend for my inventory, transmuting goals/plans, etc without having to manually update anything I'm using for this. It would ALSO allow me to plan out a group with my mates on the otherside of the world with our own custom party planning.

I would definitely been keen to leverage anything that would get built. I know just enough to be dangerous, but not enough to lead anything. I'm mostly posting to see if there ever is traction in this vein.

Outside of any selfish goals here, , - it might eventually help streamline the work that goes into making the character card generator as that wouldn't rely on having to input any of the tokens. And I don't know about any of you, but our group is pretty spread out and having the ability to create our characters online and form a party would be amazing.

Huh - well - this is the first positive response I've seen - maybe I'll dust off this idea (which hasn't been acted on at all).

I would 100% use it, and so would tdcharactercreator.com I'd guess. As long as it's accurate.

Hey all.

A TD buddy of mine and I have been working on an API of token data from tokendb, and I had planned to announce it once it was ready to be tested, etc.

But since there seems to be some interest for something like this, I'm willing to chat with those that are interested in learning more and potentially using the API.

Please email me at trentemail at yahoo dot com to let me know that you're interested, and if you don't mind, answer these two initial questions:

1 - What kind of data/information are you looking for?

2 - How would you like to consume the data (JSON, XML, etc.)?

Feel free to also include anything else you'd like to ask, share, etc.

Thanks!



Trent

Druegar wrote: You really ought to check with Jeff before beginning such a project.

QFT

Assuming you've done this already.