Cookbook

Orange is one of the leading telecommunications operators in the world; allowing developers to enrich their applications with communication services such as 2-way SMS, geo-location of a mobile phone, or conference call. Using Orange APIs extensions for sMash, Assemble flows can send SMS, locate a mobile phone, initiate a call between two persons or even run a flow upon SMS reception. With this cookbook recipe, you will learn how to subscribe to Orange APIs and add Orange repository to your sMash environment. You don’t have to be an Orange subscriber to use Orange APIs. If you are a sMash user or if you already used Orange API and want to quiclky build communication logic, Orange APIs extension for sMash is designed to help you.

1. Add the Orange’s remote repository

• Open an existing application (or create a new one) and access to the the console tab.
• Click on “Command Prompt”. Once displayed, simply enter: zero modulegroup addurl http://gui.alpha.orange-api.net/ihm/ext/APISdk/
• Check if the addition has been done by typing the command: zero repository info. You should see the whole list of the remote repositories in which sMash can browse in.
  
  

  Step 1: Add the Orange remote repository to sMash, in order to download API packages

2. Download Orange API packages as a dependency for your application

• Open the application, go to the Dependencies tab, then
• Click the “Add” button (1),
• Click “Manage Repository” button (2).
• Enter “orange” as Organization search field, then click Search (3).
  All “Orange” modules found will be listed in the Remote Repository Chain list; simply select the ones you need.
  
  

  Step 2: Download Orange API packages as a dependency for your application

• Click the “<<” (4) to download the packages into your local repository.
• Close this window (5)
• Select from the actualized local source repository the packages you’ve just downloaded to add (6) them to your application.
  
  

  Step 2: Then select from the packages from local source repository to add to your application.

3. Use Orange APIs from the Flow Editor

Now, Orange APIs should appear in your flow palette as shown below, and you can start adding Orange APIs to your sMash application.

Step 3: Use Orange APIs from the Flow Editor

4. Free registration as a Orange Partner member

Don’t forget that you need to be an Orange Partner member to have your access key in order to run an application

• Access Orange Partner web site
• Click on “become a member” at the top right of the page
• Once completed the registration process, go to the API tab
• Then access the API manager of the required API, let’s take the example of Instant API’s SMS, in clicking on the related *** API Manager *** under the Instant API at the left of the screen
• Re-authenticate to access your account. The key to access this type of API is presented in the next page as the access key. Please sure to have this access key, while configuring your activities.

5. Create Telco 2.0 application

Then the sky is the limit to create sMash-based Web 2.0 applications using Orange’s telecom capabilities such as receive/send SMS, initiate a call, start conference calls, get geo location of one’s mobile device, etc.

Christophe Boulangé
- IBM Executive IT Architect

P.S.: Orange API are mostly for European countries but can span the World for some these APIs. See documentation of each API for applicability.