Troubleshooting ESPN API in Rails

Question

In my rails app, I've got a working method for capturing ESPN Headlines via their API. But, when I try to replicate this to capture all NFL players, the method is failing.

Here's the headline method that is working via IRB, when I run Headline.all in IRB it works great.

MODEL (headline.rb)
class Headline
  include HTTParty
  base_uri 'http://api.espn.com/v1/sports'

  def self.all
    response = Headline.get('/news/headlines',
      :query => { :apikey => 'my_api_key' })
    response["headlines"]
  end
end

CONTROLLER (headlines_controller.rb)
class HeadlinesController < ApplicationController
  def index
    @headlines = Headline.all
  end
end

Here's the almost identical code for NFL players, and it returns "nil" via IRB. Any ideas why?

MODEL (athlete.rb)
class Athlete
  include HTTParty
  base_uri 'http://api.espn.com/v1/sports'

  def self.all
    response = Athlete.get('/football/nfl/athletes',
      :query => { :apikey => 'my_api_key_from_espn' })
    response["athletes"]
  end
end

CONTROLLER (athletes_controller.rb)
class AthletesController < ApplicationController
  def index
    @athletes = Athlete.all
  end
end

Update: I should comment that I can successfully run the GET request via the browser (and see results) via...http://api.espn.com/v1/sports/football/nfl/athletes/?apikey=my_api_key_from_espn

Thanks. This is my first post to StackOverflow so open to feedback on approach/format of my question.

Can we see the relevant code for the controller actions? Have you debugged `response` in the `Athlete.all` method? Does it have the `"athletes"` key you're looking for? — deefour, Jun 11 '13 at 06:03
Hi @Deefour - can you give a few basic pointers on how I might debug the response? I should comment that I can successfully run the GET request via the browser (and see results) via... — mxs, Jun 11 '13 at 06:13
Put something like `Rails.logger.debug response.to_s` into the method and check your application log. Or, get something like [better_errors](https://github.com/charliesome/better_errors) and throw an exception after the `GET` request. `better_errors` offers a REPL you can use to inspect the current state of the application where the exception was thrown. Finally, you can try [pry](https://github.com/pry/pry) and put a `binding.pry` line after the `GET` request and inspect that way. — deefour, Jun 11 '13 at 06:18

mxs · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-11T18:22:23.877

I got it working and here's my revised method syntax for Athlete.all. Basically, the athletes API response array needs to be walked a bit deeper than the headlines api.

class Athlete
 include HTTParty
 base_uri 'http://api.espn.com/v1/sports'

  def self.all
    response = Athlete.get('/football/nfl/athletes',
      :query => { :apikey => 'my_api_key_from_espn' })
    response['sports'].first['leagues'].first['athletes']
  end
end

For good measure, here's my app/views/athletes/index.html.erb syntax:

<ul id="athletes">
  <% @athletes.each do |item| %>
    <li class="item"><%= link_to item["displayName"], item["links"]["web"]["athletes"]["href"] %></li>
  <% end %>
</ul>

(Special thanks to @ivanoats and of course @deefour on this.)

Troubleshooting ESPN API in Rails

1 Answers1