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Butler API

Version: 1.0.0

Status: ⚫⚪⚪

Butler interface for Thunder framework.

(Defined with IButler in IButler.h)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Scope

This document describes purpose and functionality of the Butler interface (version 1.0.0). It includes detailed specification about its methods provided and notifications sent.

Case Sensitivity

All identifiers of the interfaces described in this document are case-sensitive. Thus, unless stated otherwise, all keywords, entities, properties, relations and actions should be treated as such.

Acronyms, Abbreviations and Terms

The table below provides and overview of acronyms used in this document and their definitions.

Acronym Description
API Application Programming Interface
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
JSON JavaScript Object Notation; a data interchange format
JSON-RPC A remote procedure call protocol encoded in JSON

The table below provides and overview of terms and abbreviations used in this document and their definitions.

Term Description
callsign The name given to an instance of a plugin. One plugin can be instantiated multiple times, but each instance the instance name, callsign, must be unique.

References

Ref ID Description
HTTP HTTP specification
JSON-RPC JSON-RPC 2.0 specification
JSON JSON specification
Thunder Thunder API Reference

Description

Butler JSON-RPC interface.

Methods

The following methods are provided by the Butler interface:

Built-in methods:

Method Description
exists Checks if a JSON-RPC method or property exists
register Registers for an asynchronous JSON-RPC notification
unregister Unregisters from an asynchronous JSON-RPC notification

Butler interface methods:

Method Description
name
identifier
branch
move
delete
source
link
orphans

exists method

Checks if a JSON-RPC method or property exists.

Description

This method will return True for the following methods/properties: exists, register, unregister, name, identifier, branch, move, delete, source, link, orphans.

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.method string mandatory Name of the method or property to look up

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result boolean mandatory Denotes if the method exists or not

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.exists",
  "params": {
    "method": "methodName"
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": false
}

register method

Registers for an asynchronous JSON-RPC notification.

Description

This method supports the following event names: added, removed, updated, metadata.

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.event string mandatory Name of the notification to register for
params.id string mandatory Client identifier

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Errors

Message Description
ERROR_FAILED_REGISTERED Failed to register for the notification (e.g. already registered)

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.register",
  "params": {
    "event": "eventName",
    "id": "myapp"
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

unregister method

Unregisters from an asynchronous JSON-RPC notification.

Description

This method supports the following event names: added, removed, updated, metadata.

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.event string mandatory Name of the notification to register for
params.id string mandatory Client identifier

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Errors

Message Description
ERROR_FAILED_UNREGISTERED Failed to unregister from the notification (e.g. not yet registered)

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.unregister",
  "params": {
    "event": "eventName",
    "id": "myapp"
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

name method

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.name string mandatory ...

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result string (instance ID) mandatory ...

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.name",
  "params": {
    "name": "..."
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": "id1"
}

identifier method

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.id integer mandatory ...

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result string (instance ID) mandatory ...

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.identifier",
  "params": {
    "id": 0
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": "id1"
}

branch method

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.path string mandatory ...

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.branch",
  "params": {
    "path": "..."
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

move method

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.path string mandatory ...
params.newName string mandatory ...

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.move",
  "params": {
    "path": "...",
    "newName": "..."
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

delete method

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.path string mandatory ...

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.delete",
  "params": {
    "path": "..."
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

source method

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.id integer mandatory ...

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result string mandatory ...

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.source",
  "params": {
    "id": 0
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": "..."
}

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.name string mandatory ...
params.id integer mandatory ...

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.link",
  "params": {
    "name": "...",
    "id": 0
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

orphans method

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.module integer mandatory ...

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result array mandatory ...
result[#] integer mandatory ...

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.orphans",
  "params": {
    "module": 0
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": [
    0
  ]
}

Notifications

Notifications are autonomous events triggered by the internals of the implementation and broadcasted via JSON-RPC to all registered observers. Refer to [Thunder] for information on how to register for a notification.

The following events are provided by the Butler interface:

Butler interface events:

Notification Description
added
removed
updated
metadata

added notification

Notification Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.element string (instance ID) mandatory ...

Example

Registration

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.register",
  "params": {
    "event": "added",
    "id": "myid"
  }
}

Notification

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "myid.added",
  "params": {
    "element": "id1"
  }
}

The client ID parameter is passed within the notification designator, i.e. <client-id>.added.

removed notification

Notification Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.element string (instance ID) mandatory ...

Example

Registration

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.register",
  "params": {
    "event": "removed",
    "id": "myid"
  }
}

Notification

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "myid.removed",
  "params": {
    "element": "id1"
  }
}

The client ID parameter is passed within the notification designator, i.e. <client-id>.removed.

updated notification

Notification Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.element string (instance ID) mandatory ...

Example

Registration

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.register",
  "params": {
    "event": "updated",
    "id": "myid"
  }
}

Notification

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "myid.updated",
  "params": {
    "element": "id1"
  }
}

The client ID parameter is passed within the notification designator, i.e. <client-id>.updated.

metadata notification

Notification Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.element string (instance ID) mandatory ...

Example

Registration

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.register",
  "params": {
    "event": "metadata",
    "id": "myid"
  }
}

Notification

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "myid.metadata",
  "params": {
    "element": "id1"
  }
}

The client ID parameter is passed within the notification designator, i.e. <client-id>.metadata.