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

Introduction

Hey there, fellow Go enthusiast! Ready to dive into the world of GoCanvas API integration? You're in for a treat. We're going to walk through building a robust integration that'll have you pulling forms, submitting data, and retrieving submissions like a pro. Let's get cracking!

Prerequisites

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

• Go installed (I know, obvious, right?)
• Your GoCanvas API credentials (you can't get far without these!)
• A burning desire to code something awesome

Setting up the project

First things first, let's get our project off the ground:

mkdir gocanvas-integration
cd gocanvas-integration
go mod init gocanvas-integration

Now, let's grab the packages we'll need:

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

Authentication

GoCanvas uses API key authentication. Let's set that up:

package main

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

const (
    baseURL = "https://www.gocanvas.com/apiv2"
    apiKey  = "your-api-key-here"
)

func main() {
    client := resty.New()
    client.SetHeader("Authorization", "Bearer "+apiKey)
    client.SetBaseURL(baseURL)
    
    // We'll use this client for all our requests
}

Making API requests

Now that we've got our client set up, let's make some requests!

Fetching forms

resp, err := client.R().
    SetResult(&FormsResponse{}).
    Get("/forms")

if err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error fetching forms: %v", err)
}

forms := resp.Result().(*FormsResponse)

Submitting form data

submission := map[string]interface{}{
    "form_id": 123,
    "data": map[string]string{
        "field1": "value1",
        "field2": "value2",
    },
}

resp, err := client.R().
    SetBody(submission).
    Post("/submissions")

if err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error submitting form: %v", err)
}

Retrieving submissions

resp, err := client.R().
    SetQueryParam("form_id", "123").
    SetResult(&SubmissionsResponse{}).
    Get("/submissions")

if err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error retrieving submissions: %v", err)
}

submissions := resp.Result().(*SubmissionsResponse)

Error handling and logging

Don't forget to implement robust error handling and logging. Here's a quick example:

if err != nil {
    log.Printf("Error occurred: %v", err)
    // Handle the error appropriately
}

Data processing and storage

Once you've got your data, you'll want to do something with it. Maybe store it in a database?

func storeSubmission(submission Submission) error {
    // Your database logic here
}

Creating a simple CLI interface

Let's make our tool user-friendly with a CLI:

package main

import (
    "flag"
    "fmt"
)

func main() {
    action := flag.String("action", "", "Action to perform (fetch-forms, submit, get-submissions)")
    flag.Parse()

    switch *action {
    case "fetch-forms":
        fetchForms()
    case "submit":
        submitForm()
    case "get-submissions":
        getSubmissions()
    default:
        fmt.Println("Invalid action. Use -action=fetch-forms|submit|get-submissions")
    }
}

Testing the integration

Don't forget to test your code! Here's a simple test to get you started:

func TestFetchForms(t *testing.T) {
    forms, err := fetchForms()
    if err != nil {
        t.Fatalf("Error fetching forms: %v", err)
    }
    if len(forms) == 0 {
        t.Error("No forms returned")
    }
}

Best practices and optimization

Remember to implement rate limiting to avoid hitting API limits:

client.SetRetryCount(3).
    SetRetryWaitTime(5 * time.Second).
    SetRetryMaxWaitTime(20 * time.Second)

And consider caching responses to reduce API calls:

var cache = make(map[string]interface{})

func getCachedOrFetch(key string, fetchFunc func() interface{}) interface{} {
    if val, ok := cache[key]; ok {
        return val
    }
    val := fetchFunc()
    cache[key] = val
    return val
}

Conclusion

And there you have it! You've just built a GoCanvas API integration in Go. Pretty cool, right? Remember, this is just the beginning. There's always room for improvement and expansion. Why not try adding more features or optimizing the performance even further?

Keep coding, keep learning, and most importantly, have fun with it! You've got this! 🚀