Is there a STEX REST API?

[mad_genius 16]

As many of us probably know, the lot exchange over at sc4devotion currently has a REST api that has allowed the community to develop desktop and mobile applications to navigate the exchange and download lots, mods, etc.

Does the STEX also have such an api? Are there any plans to develop one in the future?

 

I'm asking because I've been recently poking around the REST api of the LEX to train my Visual C# skills a little bit. And I thought it would be interesting to try to interact with both the LEX and the STEX in the same application.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

One wonders what the point is of downloading a Plugin for a Windows (x86) game on a mobile system which is probably an ARM system running Android (Linux-based).  Oh, and the game (SimCity 4 Deluxe) was written in C++ Version 6 (Microsoft) for Windows 95.

[mad_genius 16]

2 hours ago, A Nonny Moose said:

One wonders what the point is of downloading a Plugin for a Windows (x86) game on a mobile system...

Okay, let me explain the point a little better.

 

Obviously, the downloads are made through the desktop application, not the mobile one. The mobile application exists with the sole purpose of allowing the user to view and search the exchange for plugins and to use the "Add to download list" functionality of the LEX.

What the desktop application than allows is for the user to download the marked plugins "in bulk" instead of going to the website to download them one-by-one. This application can also be programmed to take advantage of the "Download history" functionality of the LEX to check for updates to previously downloaded plugins.

 

Now, AFAIK, the STEX doesn't have the notion of a user's "Download list" and/or "Download history" which means that a desktop application interacting with the STEX would simply provide a way to view the latest uploads and/or search for plugins, and select them to be downloaded imediately.

 

Assuming that my C# exercises may end up producing a desktop application to be shared with the SC4 communities, a "cross-exchange" windows desktop application would be a "nice-to-have" tool for users to quickly view and/or download plugins from both these exchanges quickly, all accessible in the same interface.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Commendable.  Be sure to maintain portability of your C# code (avoid Visual Studio) and make sure it runs on OS/X as well as Windows and your phone/tablet.  To make this work well, you might have to set up your makefile to aim at a particular architectural set.

To run your program, I'd have to run it under control of mono (the Linux base to run .NET and ECMA programs with the JIT compiler).

The whole thing about C# is that it is the most portable language around with, perhaps, the exception of Java which I really don't like.  Of course, the other possibility is Python which can be released in source for interpretation.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

Sounds an interesting idea -- anything which makes the STEX more accessible can only be of benefit.

It might be worth asking @Dirktator if this would be within the realms of the site. I don't believe such a framework is currently enabled.

[mad_genius 16]

@A Nonny Moose I'm actually doing my research more focused on the Windows platform, thus using Visual Studio, since there's already a Java cross-platform application made by Casper Vg and a mobile app made by somebody else over at SC4Devotion. Nonetheless, your suggestion of trying to compile C# code for other platforms got me curious. I'll definitely research a bit on that to try and gain new knowledge and skills.

And if it gets confirmed the existence of some webservice (REST or SOAP) or some other way to interact with the STEX, I would pm Casper and maybe he would be interested in extending his Java application to also access the STEX.

 

@Cyclone Boom Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try to pm Dirktator and ask him about it.

 

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

You should find that VS does, in fact, create a makefile when you ask for a compilation.  You might want to take a look at it and compare it to the GNU make process.  Shouldn't be too different, and I've had some success running regular VS C# programs using mono (sometimes from within the wine layer) on Linux.

I suggest you might want to set up a Linux dual boot with your Windows system so you can easily switch platforms for testing.  If you want a solid release, I suggest Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, which will be supported until April 2017.  This is without cost to individual users except for the labour and the media (probably a DVD-R).  You can test this without affecting your storage as the system can run entirely in memory.