ExpressionEngine Docs

Legacy API Library

The API libraries attempt to provide a simple, unified abstraction to common ExpressionEngine operations. This includes managing templates and channels, as well as creating, editing, and deleting channel entries. Typically operations of this sort are complex with multiple steps to maintain database consistency. That makes them prone to errors and difficult to maintain. Making use of the provided APIs removes the burden of staying up-to-date with all of the required steps and ensures that your add-ons will remain functional even if the underlying architecture changes.

Calling the API

ee()->load->library('api');

After loading the parent API library, the child classes are loaded with instantiate():

ee()->legacy_api->instantiate('channel_entries');

At this point, methods within the api_channel_entries api are callable via ee()->api_channel_entries->method_name();

Available APIs

Function Reference

The following public functions are accessible:

Api::instantiate($which)

Parameter Type Description
$which String Name of the API to instantiate. Options: channel_categories, channel_entries, channel_fields, channel_structure, and template_structure.
Exception Raises an exception if the specified API doesn’t exist
Returns Void

Instantiate an API:

ee()->legacy_api->instantiate('channel_entries');

Api::error_count()

Parameter Type Description
Returns Integer The number of errors generated in API functions

Get the number of API errors:

ee()->legacy_api->error_count();

Api::make_url_safe($str)

Parameter Type Description
$str String String to make URL safe
Returns String Cleansed string

Makes a string safe for use in a URL segment:

ee()->load->library('api');
$str = 'this is a string that's not URL safe.  (we will clean it for $5).';
$str = ee()->legacy_api->make_url_safe($str); // Result thisisastringthatsnotURLsafe.wewillcleanitfor5.

Note: Valid Characters are: a-zA-Z0-9_-.

Api::is_url_safe($str)

Parameter Type Description
$str String String to verify URL safety
Returns Boolean TRUE on success, FALSE on failure

Checks if a string is safe for use in a URL segment:

ee()->load->library('api');
$str = 'this is a string that\'s not URL safe.  (we will clean it for $5).';
if ( ! ee()->legacy_api->is_url_safe($str))
{
    // Do additional Processing on the string to make it URL safe
}