November 8, 2013 at 10:42Tube child: how to integrate web services into new tools
A distinctive feature of many web applications is that they, in accordance with the canons of UNIX-way, perform one function perfectly, only occasionally assuming some limited interaction. But in order for the analogy to be complete, there is not enough of the main element - the analog of pipes, which would allow the services to be interconnected to obtain new functionality. We have selected tools that perfectly solve this problem - various mashups and automation tools that can connect disparate products into a single working environment.
The first in our list are “pipes” - a free service that can rightfully be called the “grandfather” of the Mashap genre. The main idea is to process text flows by cascading various filters, aggregators and handlers. It is felt that the developers were inspired by the good old Unix pipeline. The user is invited to use the database of existing pipes or create your own. In fact, each pipe is a small program that is written or, rather, drawn in a special editor.
Pipes are based on several basic concepts:
It is also worth noting that the result of the pipe can be obtained in various formats when requesting a special address of the form: pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=PIPE_ID&_render=json , which makes it possible to use it in your scripts or on the site page.
All this, on the one hand, makes pipes a rather flexible tool for processing data, on the other hand, it adds some complexity to writing your own “scripts”. By the way, the site also has a bunch of ready-made and working pipes for different occasions. For instance:
If This Then That is a true favorite of the public, one of the most popular services of this kind. It offers a slightly different approach to data processing than Yahoo Pipes, based on the idea of web hooks. IFTTT interacts with many APIs of various services, allowing you to create recipes - mini-scripts of a certain format. The recipe consists of a trigger - the conditions under which the data is processed (a new file in the dropbox, a new tweet, a new photo on instagram), and the action that is performed in the event of a trigger (write a letter, change the status on Facebook). The data is updated periodically, every 15 minutes, so there is no particular delay in the reaction to triggers (by the way, some triggers fire as soon as a certain event occurs - in IFTTT they are called “lightning fast”). It is worth noting that, Despite the simplicity of the idea, IFTTT is a fairly powerful service that allows you to configure the synchronization and automation of various services. When creating a recipe, there is still such a thing as ingredients - in fact, the context of the trigger execution, in which there are variable values, such as the text of the tweet or the subject of the letter. They can and should be used in actions (unless, of course, they receive some input data). I also note that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox. as ingredients, in essence, the context of the execution of the trigger, in which there are variable values, such as tweet text or subject line. They can and should be used in actions (unless, of course, they receive some input data). I also note that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox. as ingredients, in essence, the context of the execution of the trigger, in which there are variable values, such as tweet text or subject line. They can and should be used in actions (unless, of course, they receive some input data). I also note that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox. that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox. that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox.
The following recipes also seemed interesting to me:
Zapier appeared a little later than IFTTT, but the logic of work here is completely the same: there are recipes (only here they are called zapy), events and actions. There is a database of ready-made stocks and the ability to create your own. In fact, both mashups are very similar, and all their differences appear as a result of a different approach: if IFTTT is an automation service for your social life that should just make life easier, then Zapier is a business tool that can solve quite working issues ( for this, the services include Redmine, Zendesk, Asana, Shopify and PayPal). The main killer feature of the lock is the number of services. If in IFTTT there are about 60 of them, then there are about 250 of them. The creators, it seems, have set their sights on connecting everything that is possible - and that's great. The most important minus (of course, for users) is the paid service. Of course, there’s a free plan here, in order to try the service, but its capabilities are completely incomparable with the free IFTTT features. Prices, by the way, are also not symbolic - the minimum subscription costs $ 15 per month, so it seems to me that the advisability of using a lock rests on whether its price pays for you personally. And if, for example, he saves a lot of time for a freelancer, freeing him from an unpleasant routine, then why not? Examples of work steps: freeing from an unpleasant routine - why not? Examples of work steps: freeing from an unpleasant routine - why not? Examples of work steps:
And this is a service from the search giant. It is based on the idea of monitoring the results of a search query over time. In fact, you can configure alerts for new results on request. In fact, what could be more logical and correct - after all, the Google base is being updated faster and faster. They are able to filter any garbage and select the most relevant data.
In the list of notification parameters:
What can be monitored in this way? I think everyone has their own. Someone can monitor discounts on goods or services, someone - news about meteorite falls. And you can drive your name and nickname and get new mentions on the Internet. By the way, another use case will be tracking news about new vulnerabilities of a product, for example: “Rails Vulnerability” - for notifications of new problems in the framework’s security.
So, as useful user cases:
Mashup service for working with files. It is similar in idea to IFTTT, but with a focus on file processing. The only event here is the addition of a file to the cloud storage folder (Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box supported), but there can be quite a lot of actions:
In principle, it’s convenient if you need to configure some kind of automatic processing of files (for example, new screenshots), while other services cannot offer anything for this.
Despite the fact that today we looked exclusively at web applications, I decided to add this interesting project from Microsoft. on {X} is an android application that allows you to do about the same thing as the services described above - to perform an action when a certain condition occurs. Of the interesting features:
The project is rather experimental, but this did not stop him from developing a community of enthusiasts. Of course, in the best traditions of such services, it is possible to create new recipes, share them and install (by reading the phone with a special QR code).
Since, unlike previous projects, the phone’s API is used here, and recipes are written in a real programming language, the developer has additional freedom for creativity. The most interesting rules include:
Author: Mikhail Elovskikh .
First published in the Hacker magazine from 07/2013.
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Yahoo pipes
The first in our list are “pipes” - a free service that can rightfully be called the “grandfather” of the Mashap genre. The main idea is to process text flows by cascading various filters, aggregators and handlers. It is felt that the developers were inspired by the good old Unix pipeline. The user is invited to use the database of existing pipes or create your own. In fact, each pipe is a small program that is written or, rather, drawn in a special editor.
Pipes are based on several basic concepts:
- Data source (everything revolves around the RSS format, that is, it is the RSS feed itself, search results or a request in a special YQL language).
- User input - data that can be entered in the special fields of the pipe to change the logic of its operation. For example, a nickname on Twitter or a search query.
- Handlers are many different functions that receive input from a user input or source, do something with them and display the result of their work. By the way, even another pipe can be used as a handler.
It is also worth noting that the result of the pipe can be obtained in various formats when requesting a special address of the form: pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=PIPE_ID&_render=json , which makes it possible to use it in your scripts or on the site page.
All this, on the one hand, makes pipes a rather flexible tool for processing data, on the other hand, it adds some complexity to writing your own “scripts”. By the way, the site also has a bunch of ready-made and working pipes for different occasions. For instance:
- pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=ypEo0_zd2xGgEDTaJhOy0Q - pipe to generate a single RSS feed from an OPML file (a special format for compiling a list of feeds);
- pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=nHNB8TJm3BGumlGA9YS63A is a universal search on a heap of various resources, filtering and aggregating results.
IFTTT
If This Then That is a true favorite of the public, one of the most popular services of this kind. It offers a slightly different approach to data processing than Yahoo Pipes, based on the idea of web hooks. IFTTT interacts with many APIs of various services, allowing you to create recipes - mini-scripts of a certain format. The recipe consists of a trigger - the conditions under which the data is processed (a new file in the dropbox, a new tweet, a new photo on instagram), and the action that is performed in the event of a trigger (write a letter, change the status on Facebook). The data is updated periodically, every 15 minutes, so there is no particular delay in the reaction to triggers (by the way, some triggers fire as soon as a certain event occurs - in IFTTT they are called “lightning fast”). It is worth noting that, Despite the simplicity of the idea, IFTTT is a fairly powerful service that allows you to configure the synchronization and automation of various services. When creating a recipe, there is still such a thing as ingredients - in fact, the context of the trigger execution, in which there are variable values, such as the text of the tweet or the subject of the letter. They can and should be used in actions (unless, of course, they receive some input data). I also note that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox. as ingredients, in essence, the context of the execution of the trigger, in which there are variable values, such as tweet text or subject line. They can and should be used in actions (unless, of course, they receive some input data). I also note that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox. as ingredients, in essence, the context of the execution of the trigger, in which there are variable values, such as tweet text or subject line. They can and should be used in actions (unless, of course, they receive some input data). I also note that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox. that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox. that the service looks very nice and has a rather large base of ready-made recipes (you can also share your own). Of those that I use: a weather reminder to the mail, as well as automatic uploading of your favorite photos to the dropbox.
The following recipes also seemed interesting to me:
- Keeping a log of all your favorite YouTube videos on Evernote. To do this, create a new recipe, specify “YouTube” as the “This” channel, the “New favorite video” trigger, and “That” - the Evernote channel, the Append to note action. It remains to enter the settings for the action (a journal in which to save the note, the name of the note, and the like) - and you're done.
- Automatic file downloader from Gmail to Dropbox. The recipe consists of a Gmail -> New email from search trigger and Dropbox -> Add file from URL action. Additionally, in the settings, specify the field “Search for: downloadthisfile” and assign a folder to download. Now you can send yourself a link to the file by mail - it will automatically appear in the dropbox folder.
Zapier
Zapier appeared a little later than IFTTT, but the logic of work here is completely the same: there are recipes (only here they are called zapy), events and actions. There is a database of ready-made stocks and the ability to create your own. In fact, both mashups are very similar, and all their differences appear as a result of a different approach: if IFTTT is an automation service for your social life that should just make life easier, then Zapier is a business tool that can solve quite working issues ( for this, the services include Redmine, Zendesk, Asana, Shopify and PayPal). The main killer feature of the lock is the number of services. If in IFTTT there are about 60 of them, then there are about 250 of them. The creators, it seems, have set their sights on connecting everything that is possible - and that's great. The most important minus (of course, for users) is the paid service. Of course, there’s a free plan here, in order to try the service, but its capabilities are completely incomparable with the free IFTTT features. Prices, by the way, are also not symbolic - the minimum subscription costs $ 15 per month, so it seems to me that the advisability of using a lock rests on whether its price pays for you personally. And if, for example, he saves a lot of time for a freelancer, freeing him from an unpleasant routine, then why not? Examples of work steps: freeing from an unpleasant routine - why not? Examples of work steps: freeing from an unpleasant routine - why not? Examples of work steps:
- Automatic ticket creation in Redmine from an entry in Evernote. Event select Evernote -> New Note, action - Redmine -> Create Issue. Do not forget to specify the name of the journal in Evernote, for which this app.
- HipChat reminder when creating a card in Trello. Everything is quite simple here: the event is Trello -> New Card, in the role of the action HipChat -> Create Message.
Google alert
And this is a service from the search giant. It is based on the idea of monitoring the results of a search query over time. In fact, you can configure alerts for new results on request. In fact, what could be more logical and correct - after all, the Google base is being updated faster and faster. They are able to filter any garbage and select the most relevant data.
In the list of notification parameters:
- the request itself (the syntax of Google search queries is also supported);
- type of request (all, news, blogs, videos, discussions, books);
- frequency of notifications (in real time, once a day, once a week);
- filter the best results or all;
- sending results by email or as an RSS feed.
What can be monitored in this way? I think everyone has their own. Someone can monitor discounts on goods or services, someone - news about meteorite falls. And you can drive your name and nickname and get new mentions on the Internet. By the way, another use case will be tracking news about new vulnerabilities of a product, for example: “Rails Vulnerability” - for notifications of new problems in the framework’s security.
So, as useful user cases:
- tracking discounts, coupons. To do this, create an alert with the words "coupon code" OR "discount code";
- alert when new mentions of a person appear - an alert with the name and nickname on Twitter.
Wappwolf
Mashup service for working with files. It is similar in idea to IFTTT, but with a focus on file processing. The only event here is the addition of a file to the cloud storage folder (Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box supported), but there can be quite a lot of actions:
- Synchronization with other cloud storage Box, SkyDrive, Google Drive, as well as with an FTP server.
- Various simple operations are possible for images, such as resizing, converting to shades of gray, rotating, adding a watermark.
- For sound files - conversion to another format.
- For text files: convert to PDF, e-book formats, download to Kindle, print via Google Cloud Printer.
- For all types of files: adding to the archive to the archive, renaming, encryption / decryption.
In principle, it’s convenient if you need to configure some kind of automatic processing of files (for example, new screenshots), while other services cannot offer anything for this.
- To configure the synchronization of the Dropbox folder with the FTP server, you need to authorize the web application, select the folder to synchronize (or create a new one) and enter the details of the FTP server.
- To automatically convert the audio file, we also indicate the desired folder for which the action will work, select the Convert Audio action and the corresponding format (MP3, AIFF, FLAC, M4A, OGG, WAV or WMA). It is convenient if a suitable converter is not at hand.
on {x}
Despite the fact that today we looked exclusively at web applications, I decided to add this interesting project from Microsoft. on {X} is an android application that allows you to do about the same thing as the services described above - to perform an action when a certain condition occurs. Of the interesting features:
- Rules (they are also recipes in IFTTT terminology) are written in JavaScript.
- Various data sources (including phone sensors) can act as triggers: weather, time, news, Wi-Fi network signal, battery level and GPS position.
- You can also use the phone’s API as actions, displaying notifications, launching applications and performing other actions.
The project is rather experimental, but this did not stop him from developing a community of enthusiasts. Of course, in the best traditions of such services, it is possible to create new recipes, share them and install (by reading the phone with a special QR code).
Since, unlike previous projects, the phone’s API is used here, and recipes are written in a real programming language, the developer has additional freedom for creativity. The most interesting rules include:
- the rule that forces the phone to lose the ringtone if one of your three most frequent contacts rings, even if the phone is in quiet mode www.onx.ms/# ! recipeEditPage? scriptId = ringOnFrequentCaller;
- a reminder to bring an umbrella when you first unlock the screen in the morning, if today it is forecasted to rain www.onx.ms/# ! recipeEditPage? scriptId = weatherReminder.
Author: Mikhail Elovskikh .
First published in the Hacker magazine from 07/2013.
Publish on Issuu.com
Subscribe to Hacker