Step by Step Guide to Building a Docparser API Integration in Go

Aug 18, 2024 • 6 minute read

Introduction

Hey there, fellow Go enthusiast! Ready to supercharge your document parsing game? Let's dive into integrating the Docparser API into your Go project. Docparser is a powerful tool for extracting data from PDFs, and with Go's efficiency, we're about to create a match made in coding heaven.

Prerequisites

Before we jump in, make sure you've got:

Go installed (I know, obvious, right?)
A Docparser account with an API key
Your favorite code editor fired up

Setting up the project

Let's kick things off:

mkdir docparser-go-integration
cd docparser-go-integration
go mod init docparser-integration

Now, let's grab the HTTP client we'll need:

go get github.com/go-resty/resty/v2

Authentication

First rule of API club: keep your secrets secret! Create a .env file:

DOCPARSER_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

Now, let's set up our client:

package main

import (
    "github.com/go-resty/resty/v2"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    client := resty.New()
    client.SetHeader("Authorization", "Basic "+os.Getenv("DOCPARSER_API_KEY"))
    client.SetHostURL("https://api.docparser.com/v1")
}

Basic API Operations

Fetching parser list

Let's see what parsers we've got:

resp, err := client.R().
    SetResult([]map[string]interface{}{}).
    Get("/users/me/parsers")

if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

parsers := resp.Result().(*[]map[string]interface{})
for _, parser := range *parsers {
    fmt.Printf("Parser: %s\n", parser["name"])
}

Uploading a document

Time to feed the beast:

resp, err := client.R().
    SetFile("file", "path/to/your/document.pdf").
    SetFormData(map[string]string{"parser_id": "your_parser_id"}).
    Post("/document/upload")

if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

fmt.Println("Upload successful:", resp.StatusCode() == 200)

Retrieving parsed data

Let's see what we've got:

resp, err := client.R().
    SetResult([]map[string]interface{}{}).
    Get("/results/your_parser_id")

if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

results := resp.Result().(*[]map[string]interface{})
for _, result := range *results {
    fmt.Printf("Parsed data: %v\n", result)
}

Error Handling

Don't let those pesky errors catch you off guard:

resp, err := client.R().
    Get("/some/endpoint")

if err != nil {
    log.Printf("Request failed: %v", err)
    return
}

if resp.StatusCode() != 200 {
    log.Printf("API error: %s", resp.String())
    return
}

Advanced Features

Webhook integration

Set up a simple HTTP server to handle those sweet, sweet webhooks:

http.HandleFunc("/webhook", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    body, _ := ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
    // Process the webhook payload
    fmt.Printf("Received webhook: %s\n", string(body))
})

http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)

Testing

Let's make sure everything's shipshape:

func TestParserList(t *testing.T) {
    // Mock the API response
    httpmock.Activate()
    defer httpmock.DeactivateAndReset()

    httpmock.RegisterResponder("GET", "https://api.docparser.com/v1/users/me/parsers",
        httpmock.NewStringResponder(200, `[{"name": "Test Parser"}]`))

    // Run your actual code here
    // ...

    // Assert the results
}

Best Practices

Respect rate limits: Use exponential backoff for retries.
Log everything: It's better to have and not need, than need and not have.
Report errors: Your future self will thank you.

Conclusion

And there you have it! You've just built a robust Docparser API integration in Go. From authentication to webhooks, you're now equipped to parse documents like a pro. Remember, the key to mastery is practice, so keep coding and exploring. The document parsing world is your oyster!

Resources

Now go forth and parse those documents! Happy coding! 🚀📄