Helper Function Collection

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Collection of fields added to the GraphQL schema, providing useful functionality concerning URLs, date formatting, text manipulation, and others.

Helper fields are Global Fields, hence they are added to every single type in the GraphQL schema: in QueryRoot, but also in Post, User, etc.

List of Helper Fields permalink

This is the list of helper fields.

_objectConvertToNameValueEntryList permalink

Retrieve the properties from a JSON object to create a list of JSON entries.

This field is used to transform a JSONObject output from some field, into a [JSONObject] that is input into another field.

For instance, the response from _httpRequestHeaders (from the HTTP Request via Schema extension) is a StringValueJSONObject, and the headers passed as input in _sendHTTPRequest are [HTTPRequestOptionHeaderInput!], with each HTTPRequestOptionHeaderInput having shape:

{
  "name": "...",
  "value": "..."
}

Then, the following query allows to bridge between output and input:

{
  headers: _httpRequestHeaders
  headersInput: _objectConvertToNameValueEntryList(
    object: $__headers
  )
  _sendHTTPRequest(
    input: {
      url: "...",
      options: {
        headers: $__headersInput
      }
    }
  ) {
    # ...
  }
}

_strConvertMarkdownToHTML permalink

Converts Markdown to HTML.

This method can help produce HTML content that is provided as input to some field or mutation. That is the case with mutation _sendEmail (from the Email Sender extension), which can send emails in HTML format.

For instance, this query uses Markdown content to produce the HTML to send in the email:

query GetPostData($postID: ID!) {
  post(by: {id: $postID}) {
    title @export(as: "postTitle")
    excerpt @export(as: "postExcerpt")
    url @export(as: "postLink")
    author {
      name @export(as: "postAuthorName")
      url @export(as: "postAuthorLink")
    }
  }
}

query GetEmailData @depends(on: "GetPostData") {
  emailMessageTemplate: _strConvertMarkdownToHTML(
    text: """

There is a new post by [{$postAuthorName}]({$postAuthorLink}):

**{$postTitle}**: {$postExcerpt}

[Read online]({$postLink})

    """
  )
  emailMessage: _strReplaceMultiple(
    search: ["{$postAuthorName}", "{$postAuthorLink}", "{$postTitle}", "{$postExcerpt}", "{$postLink}"],
    replaceWith: [$postAuthorName, $postAuthorLink, $postTitle, $postExcerpt, $postLink],
    in: $__emailMessageTemplate
  )
    @export(as: "emailMessage")
  subject: _sprintf(string: "New post created by %s", values: [$postAuthorName])
    @export(as: "emailSubject")
}

mutation SendEmail @depends(on: "GetEmailData") {
  _sendEmail(
    input: {
      to: "target@email.com"
      subject: $emailSubject
      messageAs: {
        html: $emailMessage
      }
    }
  ) {
    status
  }
}

_strDecodeXMLAsJSON permalink

Decode an XML string as JSON.

This method can help process an XML string, such as an RSS feed, by converting it into a JSON object which can be manipulated by several fields in Gato GraphQL.

This query:

{
  _strDecodeXMLAsJSON(xml: """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<bookstore>  
  <book category="COOKING">  
    <title lang="en">Everyday Italian</title>  
    <author>Giada De Laurentiis</author>  
    <year>2005</year>  
    <price>30.00</price>  
  </book>  
  <book category="CHILDREN">  
    <title lang="en">Harry Potter</title>  
    <author>J K. Rowling</author>  
    <year>2005</year>  
    <price>29.99</price>  
  </book>  
  <book category="WEB">  
    <title lang="en">Learning XML</title>  
    <author>Erik T. Ray</author>  
    <year>2003</year>  
    <price>39.95</price>  
  </book>  
</bookstore>
  """)
}

...will produce:

{
  "data": {
    "_strDecodeXMLAsJSON": {
      "bookstore": {
        "book": [
          {
            "@category": "COOKING",
            "title": {
              "@lang": "en",
              "_": "Everyday Italian"
            },
            "author": "Giada De Laurentiis",
            "year": "2005",
            "price": "30.00"
          },
          {
            "@category": "CHILDREN",
            "title": {
              "@lang": "en",
              "_": "Harry Potter"
            },
            "author": "J K. Rowling",
            "year": "2005",
            "price": "29.99"
          },
          {
            "@category": "WEB",
            "title": {
              "@lang": "en",
              "_": "Learning XML"
            },
            "author": "Erik T. Ray",
            "year": "2003",
            "price": "39.95"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

_strParseCSV permalink

Parse a CSV string into a list of JSON objects.

This field will take a CSV as input, and convert it into a format that can be extracted, iterated and manipulated using other function fields.

For instance, this query:

{
  _strParseCSV(
    string: """Year,Make,Model,Description,Price
1997,Ford,E350,"ac, abs, moon",3000.00
1999,Chevy,"Venture ""Extended Edition"" (2008)","",4900.00
1999,Chevy,"Venture ""Extended Edition, Very Large"" (2008)","",5000.00
1996,Jeep,Grand Cherokee,"MUST SELL!
air, moon roof, loaded",4799.00"""
  )
}

...will produce:

{
  "data": {
    "_strParseCSV": [
      {
        "Year": "1997",
        "Make": "Ford",
        "Model": "E350",
        "Description": "ac, abs, moon",
        "Price": "3000.00"
      },
      {
        "Year": "1999",
        "Make": "Chevy",
        "Model": "Venture \"Extended Edition\" (2008)",
        "Description": "",
        "Price": "4900.00"
      },
      {
        "Year": "1999",
        "Make": "Chevy",
        "Model": "Venture \"Extended Edition, Very Large\" (2008)",
        "Description": "",
        "Price": "5000.00"
      },
      {
        "Year": "1996",
        "Make": "Jeep",
        "Model": "Grand Cherokee",
        "Description": "MUST SELL!\nair, moon roof, loaded",
        "Price": "4799.00"
      }
    ]
  }
}

_urlAddParams permalink

Adds params to a URL.

The parameters input is a JSONObject of param name => value, allowing us to pass values of multiple types, including String, Int, List (eg: [String]) and also JSONObject.

This query:

{
  _urlAddParams(
    url: "https://gatographql.com",
    params: {
      stringParam: "someValue",
      intParam: 5,
      stringListParam: ["value1", "value2"],
      intListParam: [8, 9, 4],
      objectParam: {
        "1st": "1stValue",
        "2nd": 2,
        "3rd": ["uno", 2.5]
        "4th": {
          nestedIn: "nestedOut"
        }
      }
    }
  )
}

...produces:

{
  "data": {
    "_urlAddParams": "https:\/\/gatographql.com?stringParam=someValue&intParam=5&stringListParam%5B0%5D=value1&stringListParam%5B1%5D=value2&intListParam%5B0%5D=8&intListParam%5B1%5D=9&intListParam%5B2%5D=4&objectParam%5B1st%5D=1stValue&objectParam%5B2nd%5D=2&objectParam%5B3rd%5D%5B0%5D=uno&objectParam%5B3rd%5D%5B1%5D=2.5&objectParam%5B4th%5D%5BnestedIn%5D=nestedOut"
  }
}

(The decoded URL is "https://gatographql.com?stringParam=someValue&intParam=5&stringListParam[0]=value1&stringListParam[1]=value2&intListParam[0]=8&intListParam[1]=9&intListParam[2]=4&objectParam[1st]=1stValue&objectParam[2nd]=2&objectParam[3rd][0]=uno&objectParam[3rd][1]=2.5&objectParam[4th][nestedIn]=nestedOut".)

Please notice that null values are not added to the URL.

This query:

{
  _urlAddParams(
    url: "https://gatographql.com",
    params: {
      stringParam: null,
      listParam: [1, null, 3],
      objectParam: {
        uno: null,
        dos: 2
      }
    }
  )
}

...produces:

{
  "data": {
    "_urlAddParams": "https:\/\/gatographql.com?listParam%5B0%5D=1&listParam%5B2%5D=3&objectParam%5Bdos%5D=2"
  }
}

(The decoded URL is "https://gatographql.com?listParam[0]=1&listParam[2]=3&objectParam[dos]=2".)

_urlRemoveParams permalink

Removes params from a URL.

This query:

{
  _urlRemoveParams(
    url: "https://gatographql.com/?existingParam=existingValue&stringParam=originalValue&stringListParam[]=firstVal&stringListParam[]=secondVal&stringListParam[]=thirdVal",
    names: [
      "existingParam"
      "stringParam"
      "stringListParam"
    ]
  )
}

...produces:

{
  "data": {
    "_urlRemoveParams": "https:\/\/gatographql.com\/"
  }
}

Examples permalink

In combination with extensions HTTP Request via Schema and Field to Input, we can retrieve the currently-requested URL when executing a GraphQL custom endpoint or persisted query, add extra parameters, and send another HTTP request to the new URL.

For instance, in this query, we retrieve the IDs of the users in the website and execute a new GraphQL query passing their ID as parameter:

{
  users {
    userID: id
    url: _urlAddParams(
      url: "https://somewebsite/endpoint/user-data",
      params: {
        userID: $__userID
      }
    )
    headers: _httpRequestHeaders
    headerNameValueEntryList: _objectConvertToNameValueEntryList(
      object: $__headers
    )
    _sendHTTPRequest(input: {
      url: $__url
      options: {
        headers: $__headerNameValueEntryList
      }
    }) {
      statusCode
      contentType
      body
    }
  }
}

Bundles including extension permalink

• “All Extensions” Bundle
• “Application Glue & Automator” Bundle

Recipes using extension permalink

• Sending emails with pleasure
• Sending a notification when there is a new post
• Sending a daily summary of activity

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