TheGamesDBApiWrapper 1.1.0

TheGamesDBApiWrapper

Wrapper Lib for handling requests to the TheGamesDB API. For API-Docs look here: https://api.thegamesdb.net/#/

NOTE Not a official release - so no warranty for usage.

External Libraries This Library uses the following lib(s) fro archive its functionality:

• RestSharp
• NewtonSoft.Json/JSON.NET

Requirements

• .NET Core 3.1 or higher
• The GamesDB API Access (Request your keys here)

Install

Nuget:

Install-Package TheGamesDBApiWrapper 

Dotnet Cli

dotnet add package TheGamesDBApiWrapper

Usage

Add

Add to Services:

//Startup.cs

public IServiceProvider ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services) {
    
    // Variant 1: Load Settings from IConfiguration for API Wrapper (See Readme.md -> Configure for more details):
    services.AddTheGamesDBApiWrapper();
    // Variant 2: Provide a type of TheGamesDBApiConfigModel to configure the api lib.
    services.AddTheGamesDBApiWrapper(new TheGamesDBApiConfigModel() {
        BaseUrl = "....", // Change Base Url for API Requests e.g. for proxies (Defaults to: https://api.thegamesdb.net/)
        Version = 1, //Indicate the Version to use of the API (Defaults to 1)
        ApiKey = "abc",  // The API Key to use (either the one lifetime private key or the public key received by the API Team of "TheGamesDB" see "Requirements",
        ForceVersion = false // Indicates if version is forces to use - see Configure Readme Section for more
    });
    
    // Variant 3: Provide value by value
     services.AddTheGamesDBApiWrapper("apikey",1, "https://api.thegamesdb.net/");
  
}

Configure

You can configure the API Lib by using the App Configuration. For Example in your appsettings.json:

{
  ...
  "TheGamesDB": {
     "BaseUrl": "https://api.thegamesdb.net/",
     "Version": 1,
     "ApiKey": "abcdefg",
     "ForceVersion": false
  }
  
  ...
}

Use

To use it in code simple inject the API Class to your service or controller:

public class MyServiceClass { 
  private ITheGamesDBAPI api;
  
  public MyServiceClass(ITheGamesDBAPI api) {
    this.api = api;
  }

The Api Wrapper Lib is built in fluent pattern and based on the documentation of TheGamesDB api. So for loading all Platforms which is the api endpoint /Platforms you simple call:

var platforms = await this.api.Platform.All();

All parameters of all methods in the specific api class is documented in the "TheGamesDB" Api Docs

Keeping Track of your monthly allowance

TheGamesDB API has set an monthly request limit called "monthly allowance". To keep track of it you have (Starting with version 1.1.x) 2 ways to do so:

Method 1 The IAllowanceTracker Singelton

The singelton can be injected at every place of your code. Once you call one of the API endpoints such as /Platforms The values of the singelton will be set and you cann access it (Be sure that its in the same context)

Example: Monthly Allowance limit reached

public class MyService:IMyService {
  private ITheGamesDBAPI api;
  private IAllowanceTracker tracker;

  public MyService(IAllowanceTracker tracker, ITheGamesDBAPI api) {
    this.tracker = tracker;
    this.api = api;
  }

  public async Task ImportPlatforms() {

      var platforms = await this.api.Platforms.All();
      //... do something with the response

      var currentAllowance = this.tracker.Current;

      if (currentAllowance != null) {
          int remainingRequests = currentAllowance.Remaining;
          DateTime resetDate = currentAllowance.ResetAt;

          // Do something with this info
          // For example store it in db to use it as offset next time (See "Allowance Offset" in this readme)


      }

  }

}

Method 2 The AllowanceTrack Property

The AllowanceTrack Property of ITheGamesDBAPI is a shortcut handle to access the Singelton´s Current Property. Its the same as above only you dont need to inject the singelton in your service.

public class MyService:IMyService {
  private ITheGamesDBAPI api;

  public MyService(ITheGamesDBAPI api) {
    this.api = api;
  }

  public async Task ImportPlatforms() {

      var platforms = await this.api.Platforms.All();
      //... do something with the response

      var currentAllowance = this.api.AllowanceTrack; // Shortcut to IAllowanceTracker->Current

      if (currentAllowance != null) {
          int remainingRequests = currentAllowance.Remaining;
          DateTime resetDate = currentAllowance.ResetAt;

          // Do something with this info
          // For example store it in db to use it as offset next time (See "Allowance Offset" in this readme)

      }

  }

}

Allowance Offset

When you store the allowance in DB or Cache you can load it before you call any api and set the IAllowanceTracker by yourself. This is helpfull, for keeping track of your allowance before sending the next api call.

// Assuming our Entity have the following properties:
// int Remaining, int ResetInSeconds
var mydbentity = this.loadFromDB(); // Load the data from db

if (mydbentity != null) {
  // Tracker is our IAllowanceTracker
   tracker.SetAllowance(mydbentity.Remaining, 0, mydbentity.ResetInSeconds);
}

if (tracker.Current != null && tracker.Current.Remaining == 0) {
    throw new Exception($"We reached TheGamesDBApi Limit and can use the api again at {tracker.Current.ResetAt}");
}

 var platforms = await this.api.Platforms.All();

 // do something with the response

mydbentity.Remaining = tracker.Current.Remaining; 
mydbentity.ResetInSeconds = tracker.Current.ResetAtSeconds;

this.saveDbEntity(mydbentity);

In the example above we save the allowance contents to db to check on every run if we allready reached it. This way if you know the amount of api calls for your operation you can see if you have enough monthly allowance left to finish your operation or you want to wait for reaching the reset timer.

Helpers

Paginating

All paginated responses have two helper methods called NextPage and PreviousPage. So you can swap between pages by calling this async methods. For Example:

var gamesresponse = await this.api.Games.ByGameName("Counter");

// Info about current, next, prev page is stored in the sub oject "Pages"

// Check if we have a next page and switch to it

if (gamesresponse.Pages?.Next != null) {
    var nextResponse = await gamesresponse.NextPage();
    // Do something...
}

// Same for prev. page:
if (gamesresponse.Pages?.Previous != null) {
    var prevResponse = await gamesresponse.PreviousPage();
    // Do something...
}

Contribute / Donations

If you got any Ideas to improve my projects feel free to send an pull request.

If you like my work and want to support me (or want to buy me a coffee/beer) paypal donation are more than appreciated.