This stumps so many of us when we first start with the plugin editor that I wanted to make a couple quick videos to demonstrate returning an object from your plugin. Video 1: Returning an object from a server-side action https://vimeo.com/590273642 – those notes I was writing are below. https://api.thecatapi.com/v1/images/search Getting an object back from the server side actions seems impossible at first but it actually really easy. Let’s start by creating a new plugin! We will start by heading to the api editor, adding a ‘dummy’ api call, and then defining the object that we want to have returned to us! To do this, we’ll need to use a ‘dummy’ url so that bubble knows we mean business (or that they know it’s going to work. They put a safeguard on the api calls so you MUST call a valid API service at least once and it must return something. Otherwise, without calling the dummy API, you cant return the object appropriately. SO, let’s go! P.s. we’ll be using the URL at the top of this doc for the dummy API call So notice what i did there. I initialize the API, save the call, and then click manually enter the response. Here is where we will define the object we want to return. And sometimes the api editor is a pain, so let’s validate that JSON Fun fact, the editor doesnt like malformed jsons or single quotes. So fix that! { "string":"asdfasdf", "boolean": false, "number": 4, "list":["asdf","asdf"] } After you click save, the editor will infer the data type each value should be Make sure those dropdowns have the correct data type. Bubble doesnt like the single quotes. Use the double quotes “” Now, let’s define our server action to return some data based on the model we provided. In the SSA you will need a field to define the type of data we we want to return. It must be “App Type”. What this will allow us to do is use the API response we just defined as the model of data to return within the app. Actually, we need to do one more thing. Set the returned value. Set the return value to the field type we set in the prvious step. If you plan to return a list of that model you created, set the return value to list. IMPORTANTTTT. You must append each key name with _p_ This lets the bubble engine display and interpret things correctly. You must also remember to return the list of objects Let’s check it out. But of course, if you’re not returning correctly, it wont work. So, You’ll need to return your data as an object that has your list of objects. Like this We’ll now test out the returned data. Add a button to start the action! One thing we need is the RG to display the list. We’ll set the element to have the data type that we just defined. Sometimes the editor won’t update the name appropriately. Perhaps this is a bubble bug to be reported? Video 2: Returning an object from a client-side action {{not yet recorded}} — this one is more difficult but definitely doable! Video 3: Returning an object from a plugin element’s update field. https://vimeo.com/590292827 Now that you’ve learned to return them from server side actions, let’s float over to the element itself and see how to return objects there. Note, we aren’t updating the API call in this video, just doing it again for show. So in short to return the object, You’ll need to Instantiate an api call to any service and define the return data yourself. Now that our API call is ready, we will head over to the element editor and work with it there. It’s a very similar process to the SSA. Create the element, define an input as App Type And define an exposed state whose data type is the input you just defined in the last step. What this means is when Data Out publishes any data, it will be in the format defined in the ‘datatype’ input field With actions that happen client side, we can only return objects using instance.publishState. We dont return an object the same way as in SSA, we only set it up the same way And that should be it. Always test though. Even if the element wont have a visual element, it must be dragged on the screen.. Oh yeah. Now that we’re element side, the data comes out in an exposed state which can be bound to another element as the data source. An element like a RG. We didn't set the exposed state to be a list Be mindful that any change in the plugin editor will require a refresh in the app editor to be observed. Video 4: Returning an object from a plugin element’s workflow actions — as a note. you don’t have access to instance from workflow actions. BUT YOU kinda DO if you publish instance to window. you could do something like this https://vimeo.com/590298084 So what you do is save instance to the window (a truly global variable that can be shared between elements and plugins. Then you call instance.publishstate from your window variable. Other than that, theres no difference.

@jared.gibb this thread helped me alot! Thankyou for putting it together. Creating the datatype from the API is so useful. It’s not particularly intuitive and I am glad someone worked it out

Hi @jared.gibb , yes the first video was extremely helpful and I’, successfully returning objects from my plugin calls. My issue is when I have an array of objects rather than a singular object to return. My action code is the following: function(properties, context) { var burl = '' , query = '' , method = 'GET' , testa = ''; const ts = Date.now(); var crypto = require('crypto-js') , text = 'timestamp=' + Date.now() , skey = properties.secret_key , hash , symbolinput = properties.symbol.trim() , symbola = '' , symbol = ''; if (properties.testnet.toString() == "false") burl = 'https://api.binance.com/api/v3/'; else burl = 'https://testnet.binance.vision/api/v3/'; if (symbolinput.length > 0){ symbola = symbolinput.toUpperCase(); symbol = "?symbol=" + symbola.replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim() } if (properties.endpoint.trim() == "Current Average Price"){ var query = 'avgPrice' + symbol; } if (properties.endpoint.trim() == "24hr Ticker Price Change Statistics"){ var query = 'ticker/24hr' + symbol; } var hash = crypto.HmacSHA256(text, skey).toString() , url = burl + query const options = { url: url ,method: method ,headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" } } const response = context.request(options); console.log(response); var body = JSON.parse(response.body); const {convert} = require('json-to-bubble-object'); let returnlist = [] returnlist.push(convert(body)) return { "result": returnlist, "api_result": JSON.stringify(body) } } When I specify a Symbol, the result is returned as the following Demo Login {"symbol":"BTCUSDT","priceChange":"3682.66000000","priceChangePercent":"9.959","weightedAvgPrice":"38562.22336739","prevClosePrice":"36978.77000000","lastPrice":"40661.51000000","lastQty":"0.00491600","bidPrice":"40661.53000000","bidQty":"0.05017100","askPrice":"40661.54000000","askQty":"0.05951600","openPrice":"36978.85000000","highPrice":"60000.00000000","lowPrice":"7500.00000000","volume":"3571.14095500","quoteVolume":"137711135.18314058","openTime":1643929763213,"closeTime":1644016163213,"firstId":332519,"lastId":475709,"count":143191} and the object is returned and displayed in my RG [image] But when I don’t specify a Symbol (which returns all symbols data), the response is an ARRAY of objects like as follows, and all the fields are displayed as null. [image] Demo Login [{"symbol":"BNBBUSD","priceChange":"-260.30000000","priceChangePercent":"-72.245","weightedAvgPrice":"261.29676153","prevClosePrice":"380.00000000","lastPrice":"100.00000000","lastQty":"0.10000000","bidPrice":"0.00000000","bidQty":"0.00000000","askPrice":"400.00000000","askQty":"16.61000000","openPrice":"360.30000000","highPrice":"400.00000000","lowPrice":"100.00000000","volume":"101.90000000","quoteVolume":"26626.14000000","openTime":1643928538140,"closeTime":1644014938140,"firstId":167,"lastId":229,"count":63},{"symbol":"BTCBUSD","priceChange":"-397015.20000000","priceChangePercent":"-96.928","weightedAvgPrice":"199767.05017855","prevClosePrice":"15731.00000000","lastPrice":"12584.80000000","lastQty":"0.01770000","bidPrice":"12584.80000000","bidQty":"0.00794600","askPrice":"800000.00000000","askQty":"0.00312900","openPrice":"409600.00000000","highPrice":"1000000.00000000","lowPrice":"12584.80000000","volume":"0.10249400","quoteVolume":"20474.92404100","openTime":1643929869031,"closeTime":1644016269031,"firstId":984,"lastId":1112,"count":129},{"symbol":"ETHBUSD","priceChange":"317.96000000","priceChangePercent":"12.166","weightedAvgPrice":"2682.22056263","prevClosePrice":"2715.36000000","lastPrice":"2931.38000000","lastQty":"0.03411000","bidPrice":"2612.40000000","bidQty":"0.23518000","askPrice":"2931.38000000","askQty":"0.03483000","openPrice":"2613.42000000","highPrice":"2931.38000000","lowPrice":"2612.40000000","volume":"11.89729000","quoteVolume":"31911.15587760","openTime":1643929208027,"closeTime":1644015608027,"firstId":1201,"lastId":1271,"count":71},{"symbol":"LTCBUSD","priceChange":"-10.40000000","priceChangePercent":"-9.420","weightedAvgPrice":"109.56956955","prevClosePrice":"110.00000000","lastPrice":"100.00000000","lastQty":"0.18116000","bidPrice":"100.00000000","bidQty":"4.81884000","askPrice":"110.40000000","askQty":"7.91238000","openPrice":"110.40000000","highPrice":"110.40000000","lowPrice":"100.00000000","volume":"2.26878000","quoteVolume":"248.58924800","openTime":1643927358794,"closeTime":1644013758794,"firstId":6,"lastId":13,"count":8},{"symbol":"TRXBUSD","priceChange":"0.00000000","priceChangePercent":"0.000","weightedAvgPrice":"0.00000000","prevClosePrice":"0.06018000","lastPrice":"0.00000000","lastQty":"0.00000000","bidPrice":"0.05955000","bidQty":"1000.00000000","askPrice":"0.00000000","askQty":"0.00000000","openPrice":"0.00000000","highPrice":"0.00000000","lowPrice":"0.00000000","volume":"0.00000000","quoteVolume":"0.00000000","openTime":1643846868283,"closeTime":1643933268283,"firstId":-1,"lastId":-1,"count":0},{"symbol":"XRPBUSD","priceChange":"-0.01760000","priceChangePercent":"-2.940","weightedAvgPrice":"0.60186777","prevClosePrice":"0.59880000","lastPrice":"0.58100000","lastQty":"172.10000000","bidPrice":"0.57500000","bidQty":"1652.20000000","askPrice":"0.59310000","askQty":"172.10000000","openPrice":"0.59860000","highPrice":"0.61060000","lowPrice":"0.56100000","volume":"108426.80000000","quoteVolume":"65258.59666000","openTime":1643928550344,"closeTime":1644014950344,"firstId":605,"lastId":782,"count":178},{"symbol":"BNBUSDT","priceChange":"26.80000000","priceChangePercent":"7.251","weightedAvgPrice":"380.08239973","prevClosePrice":"369.50000000","lastPrice":"396.40000000","lastQty":"6.35000000","bidPrice":"396.40000000","bidQty":"2.28000000","askPrice":"396.50000000","askQty":"6.92000000","openPrice":"369.60000000","highPrice":"398.20000000","lowPrice":"80.00000000","volume":"41526.98000000","quoteVolume":"15783674.21180000","openTime":1643929863662,"closeTime":1644016263662,"firstId":70606,"lastId":78117,"count":7512},{"symbol":"BTCUSDT","priceChange":"3647.90000000","priceChangePercent":"9.859","weightedAvgPrice":"38564.23034247","prevClosePrice":"37000.16000000","lastPrice":"40647.14000000","lastQty":"0.00250000","bidPrice":"40647.13000000","bidQty":"0.07019500","askPrice":"40647.14000000","askQty":"0.06589400","openPrice":"36999.24000000","highPrice":"60000.00000000","lowPrice":"7500.00000000","volume":"3568.59494800","quoteVolume":"137620117.57363274","openTime":1643929870517,"closeTime":1644016270517,"firstId":332606,"lastId":475743,"count":143138},{"symbol":"ETHUSDT","priceChange":"-79.19000000","priceChangePercent":"-7.999","weightedAvgPrice":"946.20699162","prevClosePrice":"992.02000000","lastPrice":"910.85000000","lastQty":"0.01207000","bidPrice":"909.03000000","bidQty":"0.13365000","askPrice":"912.67000000","askQty":"18.62675000","openPrice":"990.04000000","highPrice":"2373.20000000","lowPrice":"463.14000000","volume":"581.75887000","quoteVolume":"550464.31023250","openTime":1643929804202,"closeTime":1644016204202,"firstId":1614,"lastId":2846,"count":1233},{"symbol":"LTCUSDT","priceChange":"-10.50000000","priceChangePercent":"-9.013","weightedAvgPrice":"110.36943858","prevClosePrice":"116.50000000","lastPrice":"106.00000000","lastQty":"281.14085000","bidPrice":"0.00000000","bidQty":"0.00000000","askPrice":"106.00000000","askQty":"218.85915000","openPrice":"116.500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The key thing to note is the difference, which I think is causing my problems. I am receiving the api result, but for some reason the returnlist function is not returning the result. I feel I am doing something obviously wrong but I’m having trouble figuring it out. I think It may be because bubble thinks I’m returning an array rather than an object

How did you define your return value? How did you define your custom data type I. The api connector? Idk how that library works to bubblize JSON bodies. I’d recommend doing this step yourself. What does the response from the api look like when you request 1 vs all tokens?

@jared.gibb Thanks for your help. I have solved the problem. For anyone else with issues of returning Arrays of objects, my solution is the following code" const response = context.request(options); console.log(response); var body = JSON.parse(response.body); const {convert} = require('json-to-bubble-object'); let returnlist = [] if (Array.isArray(body) == false){ returnlist.push(convert(body)) } else { for (let i = 0; i < body.length; i++) { returnlist[i] = convert(body[i]); } } return { "result": returnlist, } } Essentially, if the returned API data is just one single object, without [], we can pass that through as per the usual. If not, Iterate through each object in the array and use the convert function to include the p prefix to each object. This then allows it to be passed back through the API as a list.

Would love some help returning a value client side from an action - so far this seems impossible!

Did you see the video above? Which part didn’t work for you?

Hi @jared.gibb , Mostly the part where there was no video :wink: [Screenshot_2022-02-21-07-44-29-912_com.android.chrome] Although on further reading, I don’t believe it’s possible with Client Side actions Cheers Simon

@jared.gibb Hey Jared, First, thank you for taking the time to thoroughly outline and explain these steps! This is enormously helpful. I have a followup question for you or anybody that can answer. Perhaps you will cover this in video 2, but I’m not sure, so I’ll go head and ask here. How do you pass dynamic url parameters from the API call tab to the elements tab for use in the code on the elements and/or actions tab? Essentially, I want to use/transform a dynamic variable(s) provided from the “get data from API” feature, before returning the response as JSON. Adding the parameter is easy, I’m just perplexed about how to call it and assign it as a variable in the actual code. Maybe it’s obvious, but I haven’t seen any documentation on how to explicitly do this.

Hello Everybody, First of all, thank you very much @jared.gibb for this full tutorial, it’s help me a lot, and I think I (finally) understand some basics. It’s real game changer for bubble building. Second, English is not my native language, so I’m sorry if some things are not clear. Plus i’m not a “coder” and I have just very few knowledges about JS et nodejs. Third, PLEEEEAAASE I need your help. I’m struggle with this for weeks, so there it is : I’m trying to create a plugin for calculate Levenshtein Distance. If you don’t know what it is, it’s the difference between to strings (e.g : love/love = 0 because it’s the same word, love/hate = 3 because 3 letters has been changed… ) for that I use the nodejs package levenshtein. I need to catch the result (levenshtein.distance) and change a cell’s data of my bubble DB. I use server side action, because I need to loop the worklow. Here is how I process : 1 - The user click on the button, the first action launch the API Workflow. [image] 2 - Here is the API Worklow launched. First step, is ok then, I launch my plugin SCORE [image] 3 - I want to keep the result on the database in a user field in the next step [image] That where it’s not working. So plugin side : 1 - Plugin API Calls [image] 2 - API Response [image] [image] 3 - Values [image] 4 - Code [image] 5 - SSA Console Output [image] If I change the console.log(score) to return {“score_titre” : score}, nothing happend… I don’t get it. I don’t know what I missing or if use it the wrong way ? Thank you very much for reading me and your help!! Tewfiq

You never return {“some”:”value”} You probably want to return { “_p_score_titre”: levscore.distance } But you probably have an async action happening there and you’ll need more code than that if true

How to return objects from plugins (SSA, CSA, Element Update & Element Workflow Actions)

Plugin builders

SJL February 20, 2022, 8:46pm 30

Hi @jared.gibb ,

Mostly the part where there was no video

Although on further reading, I don’t believe it’s possible with Client Side actions

Cheers
Simon

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How to return objects from plugins (SSA, CSA, Element Update & Element Workflow Actions)

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