curl examples

update 11/02/2014 – in process of updating and checking examples – but we know for sure that the Twitter examples are broken.

notes

This post is a collection of many examples of using curl (from a terminal command line) to make API requests. The ones marked with* will run without passwords or api-keys. The responses will generally be in XML, JSON, or HTML

Some of these curl examples will have API keys, user names, and passwords. To run them, you’ll need to replace the keys with your own.

Also, when running from the command line, ampersands ‘&’ will need to be escaped by preceding them with a backslash, like \&

Other characters may need to be escaped, like:

%23 = #

%40 = @

Or you can wrap the entire URL is quotes like this:

curl "dict://dict.org/d:penguin"
tips for finding curl examples

Look in the address bar of your web browser. Copy the entire URL and run it in curl. It will respond with the ‘text’ version of the web page.

displaying JSON on the command line

The respond from curl is raw data. To format JSON data, pipe the output through python, like this:

curl dict://dict.org/d:dog | python -mjson.tool

examples:

dict.org*
curl dict://dict.org/d:antelope
Twitter search (broken)

Twtitter API now requires authentication and will not run from a single curl command, except by using widgets. See this post: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=17428

openweathermap.com*
curl http://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.1/forecast/city/524901

See this post for details: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=6265

vine.com*
curl https://api.vineapp.com/timelines/popular
mashape.com API

Here’s an example of a typical API call which gets the weather in San Francisco. Note I have obscured the API-key.

curl -H "X-Mashape-Authorization: YOUR-MASHAPE-KEY" "https://george-vustrey-weather.p.mashape.com/api.php?_method=getForecasts&location=San%20Francisco"

Here’s the result:

[{"day_of_week":"Wed","high":"63","low":"47","condition":"Mostly Clear"},{"day_of_week":"Thu","high":"66","low":"50","condition":"Partly Cloudy"}]

[Note] more examples in tkzic/mashape

dictionaryapi.com

Here is an example of a request to the Thesaurus API

curl http://www.dictionaryapi.com/api/v1/references/thesaurus/xml/cheese?key=ee2466d2-07a0-40af-b959-abcdeb125f0ca

 

*pandorabots.com

Here are two examples I just got to work using curl

curl -X POST  --data "botid=b0dafd24ee35a477&input=hello" http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk-xml

curl -X POST  --data "botid=b0dafd24ee35a477&input=Where are you?" http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk-xml
Here is the result for the second question
<result status="0" botid="b0dafd24ee35a477" custid="b3422b612633ac87"><input>Where are you?</input><that>I am in the computer at Pandorabots.com.</that></result>
*more pandorabots.com
curl -X POST  --data "botid=b0dafd24ee35a477&input=hello" http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk-xml

curl -X POST  --data "botid=b0dafd24ee35a477&input=Where are you?" http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk-xml

curl -X POST  --data "botid=b0dafd24ee35a477&input=Lets play some music today." http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk-xml
Google speech API (may be broken – need to check the key)

This is an example of the curl command to run from the command line

the test.flac file is located in tkzic/speech – it contains a recording of the phrase “there are turtles wandering through the city”. If you click on the file it will play through audacity.

curl \
  --data-binary @test.flac \
  --header 'Content-type: audio/x-flac; rate=16000' \
  'https://www.google.com/speech-api/v1/recognize?xjerr=1&client=chromium&pfilter=2&lang=en-US&maxresults=6'
cosm.com (may be broken)

Today I was finally able to get this working. Reading a Cosm (Pachube) feed from curl and from Max. Here is an example that works in curl: (replace API-KEY with actual key)

curl http://api.cosm.com/v2/feeds/76490/datastreams/Power.xml?key=API-KEY

You can get JSON responses by leaving off the .xml extension or replacing it with .json

Its critical to use “key=…” not “X-ApiKey=…” like in the cosm documentation, or you will get permission errors from curl and Max.

Youtube.com v3 API

Link to documentation: https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/search/list

Here is an example (minus the api-key) which searches for videos about cats and returns a JSON response

curl "https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/search?key=API-KEY&part=snippet&q=cats"
google.com custom search API

Use this method to have a custom search which searches the whole web…

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4082966/google-web-search-api-deprecated-what-now

Here is an example of a search using this method with curl – note the API-KEY is removed

curl "https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key=API-KEY&cx=012117491442732664551:egvalbpelhq&q=lectures"
Twitter streaming API (broken)
 google.com simple search API*

Not really applicable to curl, but it shows something.

curl -A Mozilla http://www.google.com/search?q=linux
coastal wind data API (broken 11/2014)
with a specific lat/lon you can get results along the west coast of us - here's san francisco. This query returns all the current time points for SF

curl http://cordc.ucsd.edu/js/COAMPS/query.php?ll=37.78,-122.44\&fmt=json > sf.json 

lets try for santa cruz

curl http://cordc.ucsd.edu/js/COAMPS/query.php?ll=36.99,-122.03\&fmt=json > sc.json

 

spellout.org API*
very cool api that does phonetic spellings - works!!!!

curl http://api.spellout.org/en/convert?text=some%20text\&alphabet=int-icao\&format=json
cosm.com API (PUT request)
This works as of 1/28/2013

curl -v --request PUT --data-binary @./abc.json --header "X-ApiKey: 96PqSh4rj7HzNif3rWms3SUhwaDFGUT0g" http://api.cosm.com/v2/feeds/98281.json

 

Internet sensors projects

overview

A series of projects that use Internet API’s for interactive media projects.

updated 2/14/2021.

Projects have been tested on Max8 and Mac OS Catalina – except where noted.  Other dependencies are are listed on individual project pages.

My goal is to show a variety of methods to get data to and from Max. API’s come and go, as do the libraries that support them.

download

internet-sensors is on Github at:  https://github.com/tkzic/internet-sensors

Each project is in a separate folder.

authorization

Some projects require passwords and API-keys from providers.

For example, for the ‘Twitter streaming API in Max’ project you’ll need to set up a Twitter application from your account to get authorization credentials.

For projects that need authorization usually you’ll just need to modify the patches/source code with your user information – as directed in the instructions.  The API keys embedded in the code will not work unless specifically mentioned, like with the Google speech API.

help

API’s used in the projects change fairly often. So there’s no guarantee they’ll work. If you find problems or have ideas – please post to them to the github repository. Or email me at [email protected].

projects

1. Twitter streaming API in Max (FM, php, curl, geocoding, [aka.speech], Soundflower (optional), Morse code, OSC, data recorder, Twitter v1.1 API, Twitter Apps, Oauth)

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=5786

2. Sending tweets from Max using curl ([sprintf], [aka.shell], xively.com API, zapier.com API, JSON, javascript Twitter v1.1 API, Oauth)

deprecated 2/11/2021 – old project link here: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=5447

3. Send and receive tweets in Max using ruby (ruby, API, JSON, javascript Twitter v1.1 API, OSC, Oauth)

New! – use the project above to send tweets from using a Fisher Price “Little Tikes” piano: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=6993

4. Speech to text in Max (Google speech API, JSON, javascript, sox, Twitter v1.1 API, Oauth)

Note: Send Tweets using speech as well.

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=4690

5. A conversation with a robot in Max (Google speech API, sox, JSON,  pandorabots API, python, [aka.speech]

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=9834

7. Playing bird calls in Max (xeno-canto API, [jit.uldl], [jit.qt.movie])

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=4225

8. Soundcloud API in Max (node.js)

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=20120

 

9. Real time train map using Max and node.js (XML, JSON, OSC, data recorder, web sockets, Irish Rail API)

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=5477

10. stock market music in Max (OSC, netcat,  php, mysql, html, javascript, Yahoo API, linux)

…updates in progress…

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=12029

11. Using weather forecast data to drive weather sounds in Pure Data (ruby, OSC, JSON, openweathermap API, “Designing Sound” by Andy Farnell)

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=5846

… updates in progress…

12. Using ping times to control oscilators in Max (Mashape ping-uin API, ruby, OSC, JSON)

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=5945

13. Spotify Segment analysis player – sonification of audio analysis data from Spotify (echo nest) API, node,  Max/MSP)

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=20096

14. Quadcopter AR_drone – Fly a quadcopter using Max – with streaming Web video. ( node.js, AR_drone, Google Chrome, Osc, Max/MSP)

deprecated 2/14/2021 – old project link: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=6635

15. Adding markers to Google Maps in Max – ( node.js, ruby, Google Chrome, Osc, Max/MSP, websockets, Google Maps API, Jquery, javascript)

deprecated 2/14/2021 – old project link: https://reactivemusic.net/?p=11412

16. Max data recorder –  Record and play back streams of data simultaneously at various rates

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=8053

17. MBTA bus data in Max –  Sonification of Mass Ave buses, from Harvard to Dudley

… updates in progress…

https://reactivemusic.net/?p=17524

Screen Shot 2014-11-11 at 3.26.16 PM

 

Using wind forecast data to generate wind sounds with Pd

This project receives wind data from the U.S. Coastal Observing Research and Development Center (CORDC) at Scripps Institute of Oceanography  the openweathermap.org API

http://cordc.ucsd.edu/projects/models/coamps/api/

http://openweathermap.org/API

It uses the data to set the ‘wind speed’ of Andy Farnell’s wind sound patches from “Designing Sound”

http://aspress.co.uk/sd/index.php

Error 4/26/2014

Getting a parsing error on the ruby script. Will be debugging shortly!

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">/Users/tkzic/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p353@global/gems/json-1.8.1/lib/json/common.rb:155:in `initialize': A JSON text must at least contain two octets! (JSON::ParserError)</span>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">from /Users/tkzic/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p353@global/gems/json-1.8.1/lib/json/common.rb:155:in `new'</span>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">from /Users/tkzic/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.0.0-p353@global/gems/json-1.8.1/lib/json/common.rb:155:in `parse'</span>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">from ./wind-open-forecast.rb:92:in `&lt;main&gt;'</span>

———————————————–

The http: requests are managed by a ruby server script and sent via OSC to Pure Data.

Two of Andy Farnell’s patches are also running (with very slight mods): wind4a.pd, and thunder4a.pd

From pd, you can select which city to get data from, and control the rate at which the data is replayed from the ruby server. The forecast cycle is about 3 days long.

From the pd patch you can select the rate of data playback, and select which city to use for data (Santa Cruz or San Diego).

Note: the wind speed expected by Andy Farnell’s wind patch is between 0 and about 0.7

download

https://github.com/tkzic/internet-sensors

folder: pd-weather

files

main Pd patches
  • wind-open-machine.pd
  • thunder4a.pd
  • wind4a.pd
pd abstractions

designingSound/ folder:

Add this folder to the path list in Pd before the system files because the distance.pd abstraction has the same name as a system file used for map distances.

  • distance.pd
  • fcpan.pd
  • strike-pattern.pd
  • strike-sound.pd
  • udly.pd
ruby
  • wind-open-forecast.rb
required gems include:
  • osc-ruby
  • patron
  • json

authorization

  • none required

instructions

1. Open all three pd patches
  • wind-open-machine.pd
  • thunder4a.pd
  • wind4a.pd
2. Turn audio on
3. start the ruby script from a terminal window by typing

./wind-open-forecast.rb
(NOTE: Sometimes the ruby script will time-out when you first launch it. Just run it again.)

4. You can tweak various parameters to scale the effect of the wind data on the sounds

revision history

5/19/2014

currently getting this error in the ruby server – need to rewrite:

  • update 3-25-2013 If you are running this  project and getting errors from the ruby script –   CORDC is not producing wind data – so please use this workaround – which uses the openweathermap.org API

 

RGB LED globe

I have been distracted today by an idea to make a globe (any size) out of RGB led’s which would be addressable by lat/lon coordinates. I found a story about these guys who built a single 40 led ring which rotates – at a certain frame rate – with 200 addressable positions – ie., 40×200.

by Solderlab

http://www.solderlab.de/index.php/led-projects/rgb-globe

Here’s an example of spherical projection mapping

by Hrvoje Benko at Microsoft Research

A patent application for a spherical electronic LCD display.

By Robin Dziama

http://www.google.com/patents/US20110199286