johnmel3/cs361_petfinder_ms

CS361_PetfinderAPI_MS

This microservice makes a call to the Petfinder API and returns pet information in the form of JSON.

Prerequisites

• Python: Version 3.x (recommended 3.7 or later)
• Flask: A micro web framework written in Python. Flask can be installed via pip, Python's package installer.
• Requests Library: A Python HTTP library, used for making API calls. Also installable via pip.
• Petfinder API Key and Secret: You must have a registered Petfinder account to obtain an API key and secret necessary for making authenticated requests to the Petfinder API.

Using the Microservice

Requesting Data

Information can be fetched from the microservice through several methods, including using a web browser (for simple GET requests) or a command-line tool like curl.

Web Browser

1. Open a web browser.
2. Enter the full URL into your browser's address bar.
3. The default Flask port is 5000, so in this example, enter http://127.0.0.1:5000/.
4. A GET request to the /pets endpoint to retrieve a JSON response with 5 cats: http://127.0.0.1:5000/pets?type=cat&limit=5.

Using curl

curl is a command-line tool to make web requests. To make the same request as above using curl, you would open a terminal or command prompt and enter the following command:

curl "http://127.0.0.1:5000/pets?type=cat&limit=5"

This command performs a GET request to the microservice's /pets endpoint with the query parameters (type=cat&limit=5). The microservice processes this request and returns a JSON response with data on 5 cats, which is displayed in the terminal.

Receiving Data

The microservice will respond with JSON-formatted data representing the requested pets. Below is an example of what this looks like.

{
  "animals": [
    {
      "_links": {
        "organization": {
          "href": "/v2/organizations/ga38"
        },
        "self": {
          "href": "/v2/animals/70825338"
        },
        "type": {
          "href": "/v2/types/dog"
        }
      },
      "age": "Adult",
      "attributes": {
        "declawed": null,
        "house_trained": false,
        "shots_current": true,
        "spayed_neutered": true,
        "special_needs": false
      },
      "breeds": {
        "mixed": true,
        "primary": "Pit Bull Terrier",
        "secondary": null,
        "unknown": false
      },
      "coat": null,
      "colors": {
        "primary": null,
        "secondary": null,
        "tertiary": null
      },
      "contact": {
        "address": {
          "address1": "251 Automation Drive",
          "address2": null,
          "city": "Carrollton",
          "country": "US",
          "postcode": "30117",
          "state": "GA"
        },
        "email": null,
        "phone": "770-214-3590 "
      },
      "description": "Toga is a 7.5 year old Pit mix who is extremely sweet, playful, and loving. Toga loves to smile all...",
      "distance": null,
      "environment": {
        "cats": null,
        "children": null,
        "dogs": null
      },
      "gender": "Male",
      "id": 70825338,
      "name": "Toga",
      "organization_animal_id": "20255945",
      "organization_id": "GA38",
      "photos": [],
      "primary_photo_cropped": null,
      "published_at": "2024-02-23T09:55:46+0000",
      "size": "Medium",
      "species": "Dog",
      "status": "adoptable",
      "status_changed_at": "2024-02-23T09:55:47+0000",
      "tags": [],
      "type": "Dog",
      "url": "https://www.petfinder.com/dog/toga-70825338/ga/carrollton/carroll-county-animal-shelter-ga38/?referrer_id=fd8b497a-af59-458a-b6d9-383b5e2f8682&utm_source=api&utm_medium=partnership&utm_content=fd8b497a-af59-458a-b6d9-383b5e2f8682",
      "videos": []
    }

UML Diagram