Trying to fetch JSON with Android using Unirest

Question

Trying to use this "Words API" in an android application which only seems to accept requests using Unirest.

Request example for the definition of "incredible" (specified by api):

HttpResponse<JsonNode> response = Unirest.get("https://wordsapiv1.p.mashape.com/words/incredible/definitions")
  .header("X-Mashape-Key", "**********apikey************")
  .header("Accept", "application/json")
  .asJson();

The trouble is implementing the unirest request with doInBackground in AsyncTask.

protected void OnPreExecute(){
    json_url = "https://wordsapiv1.p.mashape.com/words/incredible/definitions";

    //where does api key go?
}

protected String doInBackground(Void... params) {
        try {               
            // unirest goes here but how? 

            URL url = new URL(json_url);
            HttpURLConnection httpURLConnection = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
            InputStream inputStream = httpURLConnection.getInputStream();
            BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream));
            StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
            while ((JSON_STRING = bufferedReader.readLine()) !=null)
                stringBuilder.append(JSON_STRING+"\n");

            bufferedReader.close();
            inputStream.close();
            httpURLConnection.disconnect();
            return stringBuilder.toString().trim();
        }catch (MalformedURLException e){
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        return null;
    }

Not sure exactly how to structure the request within doInBackground. Is it possible to do this?

Answer 1

This code is not tested but to give you an idea on how you might solve this problem.

private class TastingUniRestAsync extends AsyncTask<String, Void, String> {

    protected String doInBackground(String... urls) {
        String pathToFile = urls[0];
        String responseResult = "";
        HttpResponse<JsonNode> response = Unirest.get(pathToFile)
                .header("X-Mashape-Key", "**********apikey************")
                .header("Accept", "application/json")
                .asJson();

        if(null != response){
            //convert your response to the data type you want. Here I am using string
            responseResult = //assign the manipulated Json string;
        }
        return responseResult
    }
    protected void onPostExecute(String responseResult){
        // You can assign it to TextView widget for example
        mTextView.setText(responseResult);
    }
}

Answer 2

I think the better solution would be to use the Volley library. Take a look at my solution, don't forget to add a dependency: compile 'com.android.volley:volley:1.0.0'. If you need more information.

RequestQueue requestQueue = Volley.newRequestQueue(this);
String uri = Uri.parse("https://wordsapiv1.p.mashape.com/words/incredible/definitions")
    .buildUpon()
    .build().toString();

StringRequest stringRequest = new StringRequest(
    Request.Method.GET, uri, new Response.Listener<String>() {
        @Override
        public void onResponse(String response) {
            Log.d("VolleyResponse", "response: " + response);
        }
    }, new Response.ErrorListener() {
        @Override
        public void onErrorResponse(VolleyError error) {
            Log.e("VolleyError", error.toString());
        }
    }) {
        @Override
        public Map<String, String> getHeaders() throws AuthFailureError {
            Map<String, String>  params = new HashMap<>();
            params.put("X-Mashape-Key", "<API_KEY>");
            params.put("Accept", "text/plain");
            return params;
        }
    };
    requestQueue.add(stringRequest);