How to generate a file after a created command? - api

Question

I have an e-commerce customer who uses Shopify APIs to create an order (a customer who purchased an item).
From a created command (which can contain different items), I must generate a file with some attributes like weight or the destination address.
I was drowning in their public documentation and honestly can't get over it (I don't have much programming experience).
I would like to know which APIs (or services...) I have to request in your opinion please?
Given what I'm being asked, I don't know if I can find all this info with a single API or I have to call several methods to build my file little by little...
For example, I have no idea, really no idea to know if a given command is fragile or not. I don't even know if they communicate such information by their API.
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

If you want realtime (as soon as the order is created, the file is created) : You need to register a webhook.
A Shopify webhook is simply a script that, on a certain event, send the event's data to a link.
Example : An order placed webhook (predefined Shopify webhook) will send the order's data to an URL in JSON format as soon as the order is placed.
So you will need a server running 24/7 (get a VPS for less than 5 bucks a month). The server will listen at an ip at a certain port.
You will setup Shopify's webhook to send data to that ip / port.
Step 1: Create your server
You will need any backend framework for this. I choose NodeJs + Express framework, because it is so easy to do with it.
Here is a sample code :
const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const app = express();
const port = 3000;
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.post('/', function (req, res) {
let body = req.body;
console.log(body);
});
let server = app.listen(port, function () {
let host = server.address().address;
console.log('Example app listening at http://%s:%s', host, port); //Copy this to your clipboard, you will need it in step 2
});
Step 2: Register Shopify Webhook
Go to your client's store, add /admin/settings/notifications to the url.
Scroll to the bottom of the page, click Create Webhook, chose Order creation as an event, JSON format, Lastest as API version. Paste the IP / Port you copied earlier into URL.
Step 3: Check the data sent by Shopify
From here, you can check the data Shopify sent you. It will be printed by your NodeJs server.
It is in JSON format, so you can do all kinds of stuff with it. Filter important info, and output to file for example.
If you want to check everytime your script starts and not realtime : you need to create a custom app in your client's store, and use GraphQL
Shopify won't let you check for certain orders by order number, and the limit of their API is 250. Using GraphQL, you can do this, but you need to know GraphQL (a little more advanced).
You can check their docs at shopify.dev