View source for PHP/Getting Started

== Getting Started ==

Before following these instructions, please [https://github.com/alexmayo/smartbots-php-api download] the source files and place them into your project.

To begin, you will first need to create a blank .php file and include the 'smartbots_api.php' file.
<source lang="php">
<?php
    include("smartbots_api.php"); // Include the SmartBots API file.
</source>

Next, we will need to define your [https://www.mysmartbots.com/process/adminbot.html SmartBots Developer API key], your bot's name and [http://www.mysmartbots.com/docs/Bot_access_code access code] so that it's easier to use them later.
<source lang="php">
$apiKey        = "e40e365171a99nl05bdmd697273b573t"; // SmartBots API Key.
$botName       = "Example Resident"; // The bot's full name.
$botAccessCode = "KbYpnfa"; // The bot's access code.
</source>

If you're not familiar with Object-Orientated PHP, the next section may look a little strange, however follow the instructions and all should be clear.

Now we will create the <source lang="php" enclose="none">$bot</source> variable and instansiate a new <source lang="php" enclose="none">SmartBot() class</source> so that we can begin making our bot function.
<source lang="php">
$bot = new SmartBot(); // Instansiate a new SmartBot class.
</source>

To let the SmartBots API know what bot we are going to be controlling, we now need to use the <source lang="php" enclose="none">setup()</source> method/function to enter in the variables we created earlier. The setup process returns <source lang="php" enclose="none">TRUE</source> or <source lang="php" enclose="none">FALSE</source>, depending on whether or not it was successful, meaning that you would use it within an 'if' statement if you wanted.
<source lang="php>
$bot->setup($apiKey, $botName, $botAccessCode); // Pass the setup variables to the API.
</source>

Your SmartBot is now connected to the API and is ready to accept some awesome functions!
At the end of this section, your code could look a little something like this:
<source lang="php>
<?php
    include("smartbots_api.php"); // Include the SmartBots API file.

    $apiKey        = "e40e365171a99nl05bdmd697273b573t"; // SmartBots API Key.
    $botName       = "Example Resident"; // The bot's full name.
    $botAccessCode = "KbYpnfa"; // The bot's access code.

    $bot = new SmartBot(); // Instansiate a new SmartBot class.
    $bot->setup($apiKey, $botName, $botAccessCode); // Pass the setup variables to the API.
?>
</source>

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