Creating a web service client

Moodle 2.0

You need to know how to setup a web service first.

To see the API Documentation, connect as Admin and go to Administration > Plugins > Web services > API Documentation

Officially supported protocols

• REST: the Moodle REST server accepts GET/POST parameters and return XML/JSON values. This server is not RESTfull.
• SOAP: the Moodle SOAP server is based on the Zend SOAP server (itself based on the PHP SOAP server). Zend publishes a Zend SOAP client. The current server implementation doesn't fully work with Java/.Net because we didn't generated a fully describe WSDL yet. If you are working on a Java/.Net client, follow or participate to the tracker issues MDL-28988 / MDL-28989
• XML-RPC: the Moodle XML-RPC server is based on Zend XML-RPC server. Zend also publishes a Zend XML-RPC client.
• AMF: the Moodle AMF server is based on the Zend AMF server. The test client can be found in Settings blocks > Site Administration > Development > Web service test client > AMF Test client.

Demo client examples

Demo client sample codes can be downloaded on Github.

For HTML5 app creators, you can also find:

• a nice phonegap / Jquery mobile template
• a proof of concept of javascript cross-domain with Sencha Touch 1.1

A Java Library for REST can be found on Sourceforge.

How to get a user token

Moodle 2.2

Your client can call the script located in /login/token.php with a simple HTTP request. We highly recommend to do it securely with HTTPS. The required parameters are:

• username
• password
• service shortname - The service shortname is usually hardcoded in the pre-build service (db/service.php files). Moodle administrator will be able to edit shortnames for service created on the fly: MDL-29807. If you want to use the Mobile service, its shortname is moodle_mobile_app. Also useful to know, the database shortname field can be found in the table named external_services.

Call: https://www.yourmoodle.com/login/token.php?username=USERNAME&password=PASSWORD&service=SERVICESHORTNAME //Moodle mobile service shortname => moodle_mobile_app

Get in return: {token:4ed876sd87g6d8f7g89fsg6987dfh78d}

Difference between Moodle versions

• Moodle 2.2 and later: the script can generate user tokens for any service shortname (of course users must be allowed on the service, see How to create and enable a web service).
• Moodle 2.1: the script can only generate tokens for the official built-in mobile service. However the script can returns tokens for other services, they just need to have been previously generated.

About service shortname

At the moment a service can have a shortname if you:

• create the service as a built-in service (in db/services.php files)
• add the shortname manually in the DB. Note: we'll add the admin UI for shortname later (MDL-30229)

See also

• Web services developer documentation
• Web services user documentation
• Implement a web service and a web service function
• Web service Roadmap