Better Genealogy Through APIs

Better Genealogy
Through APIs
Michael Berkovich
Platform Tech Lead, Geni.com
michael@geni.com
February 2, 2012

Thursday, February 2, 12

The Brief History of The Web

Web 1.0
1990-2004

Static Content

Publishing, Sharing, Surﬁng, Email, Chat, CMS, Personal
Websites, Screen Scraping

Delivered Through

HTTP, HTML, URL, Dialup



Web 2.0
2004-2008

Social Web and User Provided Content

Community, Collaboration, Interaction, Participation,
Blogging, Wikis, Tagging, Syndication, SEO

Delivered Through

DHTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, JSON, XML, XSLT, XHTML,
XMLHttpRequest, Prototype, jQuery, RSS



Web 2.0 ++
2008 - now

Integrated Data

Web Services, Platforms, Mashups, Cloud, SaaS, Mobile Apps

Delivered Through

API, SOA, REST, SOAP, OAuth, RSS


What is an API?

n Application Programming Interface

n Set of protocols that provide building blocks for
developers to build applications

n Previously were associated with computer
operating systems and native applications

n Today mostly refer to web services


What is a Web Service API?

Client Applications (Web, Mobile, Desktop) n Request messages along with a
deﬁnition of the structure of
response messages
HTTP
HTTPS
Client-Side SDKs n Data formats - JSON, XML
JS, iOS, Android, Java
XML
JSON
n Paradigms - REST, SOAP

Web Services Layer
n Protocols - HTTP, HTTPS
Family Tree Records Media
API API API

Core Platform and Data


Total API Over Time

Programmable Web Statistics

Source: http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/news/the-increasing-importance-of-apis-in-web-development/


Consumer API Categories


Source: http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/news/the-increasing-importance-of-apis-in-web-development/


Mashups Created in the Last 6 Months


Source: http://www.programmableweb.com


Beneﬁts of Web APIs

End Users

n Provides users with application choices and
better tools

Application Developers

n Allows unique and creative integration to
provide the best value to the end users

API Providers

n Increases interest in the products and services

n Increases web traffic

n Outsources a task that is not part of your core
business


Genealogy Applications Today

Documents & Records
Maps
Biographies

Family Tree

Family Photos

DNA Services
Charts


Genealogy Applications with API

Documents & Records Biographies

Maps
Family Photos

Genealogy Platform

DNA Services Charts


Why Genealogy API?

n Save users time
n Provides access to the best tools
n Allows for data aggregation
n Makes collaboration easy
n Enables integrated experience


APIs in Genealogy

Geni API

http://dev.geni.com

MyHeritage Family Graph API

http://www.familygraph.com

FamilySearch API

https://devnet.familysearch.org/docs/api-overview


Geni Platform Features

n Free public open API that provides access to Geni
users and data

n Application security and permissions

n API management and documentation

n Developer tools, SDKs and metrics

n Application directory


What Can You Do With Geni Platform?

n Geni Connect and Web Widgets
n Web, Mobile and Desktop
applications
n Embedded apps within Geni


Geni Platform Implementation

n Authorization - OAuth 2.0
n RESTful Paradigm
n Data Formats - JSON, XML
n Protocols - HTTP, HTTPS
n Encoding - UTF8


What is OAuth?

An open protocol to allow secure API
authorization in a simple and standard
method from desktop and web applications.

Source: http://oauth.net


Who is Using OAuth?

Source: http://oauthx.com


OAuth 2.0

n Consumers

n Desktop and mobile applications

n Dashboard widgets and gadgets

n Javascript browser-based apps

n Providers (platform)

n Web applications and server-side API


OAuth 2.0 - High Level

User

Web Authorization
Browser Server

Shared
Authorization
Store

Client Resource
Application Server


OAuth 2.0 - Authorization Flow

Source: http://petermcintyre.com/2011/10/30/web-svc-security-principles-oauth/


OAuth 2.0 - Subsequent Requests

Source: http://petermcintyre.com/2011/10/30/web-svc-security-principles-oauth/


Geni Supported OAuth Flows

n Server-side (Authentication Code)

n Client-side (Implicit Grant)

n Desktop Apps (Implicit Grant)

n Mobile Apps (Implicit Grant)

n Trusted Apps (Resource Owners)

n App Login (Client Credentials)


API Access Scope & Permissions

User Family Tree

user_basic family_basic tree_basic

user_email X X

user_location family_location tree_location

user_about_me family_about_me tree_about_me

user_occupation family_occupation tree_occupation

user_events family_events tree_events

user_contact_info family_contact_info X

user_media family_media tree_media

update_user X update_proﬁles

publish_media
upload
tag
comment


RESTFul Paradigm

http://www.geni.com/api/user
http://www.geni.com/api/profile/12345
http://www.geni.com/api/profile/12345/immediate-family

n REpresentational State Transfer

n Stateless client-server architecture

n Web services are resources and can be identified
by their URLs

n API is defined as set of remote methods that
describe the action to be performed on the
resource

n HTTP methods such as GET and POST are used to
describe the necessary CRUD actions to be
performed


JSON Data Format

{
“ﬁrst_name”: “Michael”,
“last_name”: “Berkovich”,
“gender”: “male”,
“email”: “michael@geni.com”
}

n JavaScript Object Notation

n Lightweight data-interchange format

n Easy for humans to read and write

n Easy for machines to parse and generate

n Based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming
Language

n Completely language independent


Geni Platform Client SDKs

n JavaScript SDK

n http://geni.com/jsdk.js

n iOS SDK

n https://github.com/geni/geni-ios-sdk

n Android SDK (work in progress)

n Java SDK (work in progress)

n PHP SDK (work in progress)


Geni API


Proﬁle API Example
http://www.geni.com/api/proﬁle-23642470


Immediate Family API Example
http://www.geni.com/api/proﬁle-23642470/immediate-family


Proﬁles and Unions
http://www.geni.com/api/proﬁle-23642470/immediate-family


Proﬁle Documents API Example
http://www.geni.com/api/proﬁle-23642470/documents


Geni JavaScript SDK Example

Include Geni JS Client SDK Script
<script src="http://geni.com/jsdk.js"></script>

Initialize Geni Client
Geni.init({
app_id: 'YOUR_APP_KEY',
cookie: true, // enables saving the access token to a cookie
logging:true // enable log messages to help in debugging
});

Connect with Geni

Geni.connect(function(response) {
if(response.status == 'authorized') {
// User is logged in and has authorized your application.
// You can now make authorized calls to the API.
} else {
// User is either logged out, has not authorized the app or both.
}
});

Call Geni API

Geni.api('/profile-23642470', function(response) {
alert(response.name)
});


Geni iOS SDK Example

Import Geni Client Library
#import "GeniSDK.h"

Initialize Geni Client
Geni *geni = [[Geni alloc] initWithAppId:@”YOUR_APP_ID”];

Authorize Your App Using OAuth

<GeniSessionDelegate>

[geni authorize:self];

- (void) geniDidLogin {

}

- (void) geniDidNotLogin: (BOOL)cancelled {

}

Call Geni API
[geni requestWithPath:@"user/max-family" andDelegate:self];

- (void)request:(GeniRequest *)request didLoadResponse:(GeniResponse *)response {

}


Let’s write some code !!!


Geni Developer Community

Over 200 developers are working on more than 70 Geni Apps


Why Develop with Geni Platform?

n Instant access to our Free Public Open API

n Reach over 7 million users

n Get access to over 115 million proﬁles

n Access public content including historical proﬁles,
family trees, genealogy projects and surnames


Getting Started with Geni Platform

http://dev.geni.com

n Register as a developer

n Create a new application

n Use key and secret to get an access token

n Use Geni’s API to create an amazing user
experience

n Publish your application in the application
directory


And One More Thing

Geni platform is Open-Sourced!

http://github.com/berk/platform


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