Recap: What’s New in QuickBooks API and Tools Documentation

Hey Devs,

This is a recap of the Hangout from May 19, 2017 with Patty, Shawn and George from the Docs Team.

Sample Apps

We started it all off with George giving us a tour of the new format and content of the sample apps.  The sample apps section has samples for OAuth implementation, MVC 3 for QuickBooks API V3, .NET Web Forms, Webhooks in addition to the CRUD code samples for the entities available in QuickBooks Online.

SDKs

George also gave us a tour of the updated SDK docs which had a lot of new content for PHP: new auth, new Composer package, updated synchronous calls and batch processing in, new docs versioning for 2.6 vs. 3.x SDKs, new links to CRUD samples, much more.  The new 3.X PHP SDK now uses a nice array in which the JSON to the request goes into.  Check out the Invoice create snippet below to see how easy it is to see what the elements of your call looks like:

$myInvoiceObj = Invoice::create([
  "DocNumber" => "1070",
  "LinkedTxn" => [],
  "Line" => [[
      "Id" => "1",
      "LineNum" => 1,
      "Amount" => 150.0,
      "DetailType" => "SalesItemLineDetail",
      "SalesItemLineDetail" => [
          "ItemRef" => [
              "value" => "1",
              "name" => "Services"
          ],
          "TaxCodeRef" => [
              "value" => "NON"
          ]
      ]
  ], [
      "Amount" => 150.0,
      "DetailType" => "SubTotalLineDetail",
      "SubTotalLineDetail" => []
  ]],
  "CustomerRef" => [
      "value" => "1",
      "name" => "Amy's Bird Sanctuary"
  ]
]);
$resultingInvoiceObj = $dataService->Add($myInvoiceObj);

Developer Guides

Next, Patty gave us a nice demo of the new Dev Guide templates. Each Dev Guide has a uniform look and feel.  Once you get used to using one, you will feel right at home when you read another one.  From the top they now include a synopsis of the guide, including links to the workflows for each guide. Beneath that are the Concepts, Prerequisites, Resources, and Learn More sections that provide the reader with an idea about what will be learned, what knowledge is suggested prior to delving into the guide, and links for more information.  Here is the top part of the Create an Invoice Dev Guide with the aforementioned sections.

Then Patty showed us the new decision matrix for application publishing, which is a great way to decide which single sign-on and OAuth requirements you app needs to comply with, based on the type of publishing model you will pursue.

Essentials

Shawn followed Patty, where he demoed the new Essentials IA (information architecture) flow.  The new Essentials IA flow (similar to the other new flows in the API documentation) now has a very linear flow to its various sections.  Note, not all sections will be required, depending upon the use case of the reader, but it mostly follows a nice progression from top to bottom.  It is up to the reader to understand which sections are required based on the requirements of the application being built.

Webhooks

Next, Shawn showed us the new Webhooks IA updates. There is now a table depicting entities and operations supported.  Here is a clip from it:

There is now an in-depth description of the Webhooks notifications themselves with a sample payload.  In the Webhooks verification section, you’ll find sample headers and a sample Java code snippet for signature verification.

If you missed it or want to watch the Hangout again, here it is in its entirety.