CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpajaxweb-servicesmoodlemoodle-api
Ana
Ana

Reputation: 167

Should I use a web service if I am not performing CRUD operations on DB?

I am writing a simple live search block plugin. I access resources of an external website via API and display the results that matches what the user is searching as they type. I am planning to write a web service that will do this. I will pass the user input as one of the args in the ajax.call and then my web service function will return the suggested result. I am wondering if using a web service is necessary since I am not retrieving or returning any data from the Moodle database and I don't want to store the suggestions but only display them.

For now I am using XMLHttpRequest to call an internal php file in my plugin that connects via api and returns the result, but I would like to know if there is a recommended way to do this.

//the ajax call
ajax.call([{
    methodname: 'block_xxxx_loadpages',
    args: {userinput: userinput},}])


// the webservice function

class block_xxxx_external extends external_api {

  //parameters
  public static function loadpages() {
    return new external_function_parameters (
      array('userinput' => new external_value(PARAM_TEXT, 'the user input'))
    );
  }

  //the function
  public static function loadpages($userinput = 'userinput') {

    //parameter validation
    $params = self::validate_parameters(self::hello_world_parameters(),
    array('userinput' => $userinput));

    //connect to api and return the result page matching the userinput

    return $result;

  }

  public static function loadpages_returns() {
    return new external_value(PARM_TEXT, 'the result')
  }

}

Upvotes: 0

Views: 159

Answers (1)

Naveen
Naveen

Reputation: 64

It is not mandatory to have web service for every ajax call in moodle unless you handle the exceptions and capabilities well. You can use regular XML HttpRequest to get the data.

Upvotes: 1

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