fb 0.4.0

Python SDK for the Facebook Graph Api. (Latest Version Overview: Introduced the Helper Methods)

fb is a python sdk for the Facebook Graph Api. The sdk provides three methods

for interacting largely with facebook. publish(), get_object() and delete()

In addtion to the three, there is one helper method to view the structure of

objects returned from facebook, show_fields()

Installation

sudo pip install fb

1. Publishing to Facebook

For publishing, use the publish() method. Publishing means creating objects like:

a wall post, a like, events and albums, etc. Currently photo upload

is not supported. The method returns the id of the object created.

At developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/api/publishing/

under ‘Other Objects’, see list of publish categories except “photos”.

Examples

import fb

# Go to developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer to generate test token

token=”the facebook token you are going to use”

facebook=fb.graph.api(token)

#Post on the current user’s wall

facebook.publish(cat=”feed”, id=”me”, message=”My facebook status”)

#Like an object(wall post, photo and anything thats likable in facebook) with id=object_id

facebook.publish(cat=”likes”, id=object_id)

#Comment on an objects thats commentable

facebook.publish(cat=”comments”, id=object_id, message=”My comment”)

#Create an album

facebook.publish(cat=”albums”, id=”me”, name=”Album Name”, message=”Album Details”)

Create an event

facebook.publish(cat=”events”, id=”me”, name=”My Event”, start_time=”2013-10-16-12:20”, end_time=”2013-10-18-14:30” )

Important

In addition to ‘cat’ (the category) and ‘id’, publish takes any parameter thats

valid for the publish category(cat). Like “message” for wall post, “name” for albums,

nothing for likes, etc. Check facebook doc for full list of valid parameters

for each kind of publishing. If you find that a parameter is raising error,

it maybe because this sdk does not yet support the parameter,please report such cases

to the author.

2. Fetch Objects from Facebook

Objects can be fetched in two ways using the get_object() method.

Fetch “single” object with it’s given “fields” passed in a list.

Or retrieve “multiple” objects passed with their “ids” in a list.

The method returns the object as python dictionary containing related fields

Examples

#Retrieve given fields for a single object

object=facebook.get_object(cat=”single”, id=object_id, fields=[“name”, “email” ] )

#Retrieve ALL fields for a single object

object=facebook.get_object(cat=”single”, id=object_id, fields=[ ] )

#Rertieve multiple objects

object=facebook.get_object(cat=”multiple”, ids=[‘zuck’, ‘me’] )

3. Delete Objects

Deleting objects is simple. use the delete method and pass the id of the

object to be deleted. Note that a “like” has no id in facebook, so in case of deleting

a “LIKE”, you have to pass the id of the object liked and the category of the delete

which is “likes”.

Examples

#Delete a status

facebook.delete(id=status_id)

#Delete a comment

facebook.delete(id=comment_id)

#Delete a “LIKE”

facebook.delete(cat=”likes”, id=object_id)

4. The Helper Methods

As of version 0.4.0, there is one helper method, show_fields(). Using this method,

it is possible to view the structure of the objects returned by facebook. This will help

further manipulate the fetched objects for individual needs.

Examples

#Get “friends” and “education” of the current user

friends_and_education=facebook.get_object(cat=’single’, id=’me’, fields=[‘friends’, ‘education’])

#Display the Structure of the object returned from facebook graph

facebook.show_fields(friends_and_education)

The method will print the following:

______________________

education(list)

school

id

name

type

year

id

name

friends

paging

next

data(list)

name

id

id

_______________________

The above are all dictionary keys with sub-keys. Some of the keys are prefixed by “(list)”

which means their values are saved inside a list and should be accessed through indexing.

In line with the structure printed by the method, we can access various parts of the object

fetched from facebook as shown below

# “name” of schools attended

friends_and_education[‘education’][0][‘school’][‘name’]

friends_and_education[‘education’][1][‘school’][‘name’] and so on……..

# “type” of the nth school in the object

friends_and_education[‘education’][n][‘type’]

#”name” of the nth friend in the object

friends_and_education[‘friends’][‘data’][n][‘name’]

#”name” and “id” of all friends

friends_and_education[‘friends’][‘data’]

Note:

The idea behind introducing the show_fields() method is to help developers

get a visual overview of the internal structure of objects retrieved from facebook graph

so that they can write their own methods easily to further meet their needs.

Reporting issues

Please report bugs here. Or email to [e-mail]