data_science_toolkit_php_api_client

A simple PHP API Client for the Data Science Toolkit project.

API Client Usage

Getting Started

• include the client class and instantiate it
• set the base url using set_base_url()
  • not specifying a url will default to the open api address
  • you must specify your server's base url when running your own DST server

Getting Started Example

require_once( PATH_TO_THIS_CLIENT . '/dst_api_client.php' );
$Dst = new Dst_api_client();
$Dst->set_base_url();
try {
	$address = '2820 Clark Ave. Saint Louis, MO 63103';
	$response = json_decode( $Dst->street2coordinates( $address ), TRUE );
	if( is_null( $response ) )
		throw new Exception( 'Data Science Toolkit returned malformed JSON as a response.' );
} catch ( Exception $e ) {
	die( $e->getMessage() );
}

Available Methods

• street2coordinates( $address )
• google_style_geocoder( $address )
• coordinates2politics( $lat, $lon )

Additional Endpoints

• see developer docs for additional rest endpoints
• http://www.datasciencetoolkit.org/developerdocs

Running Your Own DST Server

Launch an AWS Machine Image of the DST

• doesn't work from the web interface ( generally won't find the AMI ID )
• prob want to check documentation for the most recent AMI ID
• from the CLI: ec2-run-instances ami-7b9df412 -t m1.small -z us-east-1b --aws-access-key <ACCESS-KEY> -W <SECRET-KEY> -k <KEY-FILE> -v

Important Notes

• PO BOX and STREET problems
  • The DST doesn't deal well with addresses that contain PO Boxes. It will often return the wrong information, or no information at all. Therefore, this client removes PO BOXES from addresses you pass to the street2coordinates() endpoint. This results in the DST generally returning good data. This client then does it's own processing to extract the PO BOX and return it as the street.
  • Sometimes the DST fails to extract the street. It's not apparent why. This client will attempt to extract it and clean it to propper standards on it's own.
  • None of the changes this api client make will affect data coming out of the DST. It only augments that data.