Introduction to the BarTender Cloud REST API

You can use the BarTender Cloud REST API to access BarTender Cloud so that you can integrate BarTender Cloud activities with your business applications, including automation. For sending scripts and receiving responses, the API supports data payloads in JSON and YAML formats, and in an existing legacy BTXML script . For more information, see Available Actions in the Actions API.

You can use your web-based client application, console application, or service to send scripts to the API server after you register it in BarTender Cloud.

Access to the BarTender Cloud REST API is included with the Automation subscription plan. Automation of BarTender Cloud by using the BarTender Cloud REST API should be performed by programmers who are familiar with REST APIs.

What Is an API?

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules that enables software applications to communicate and share data seamlessly. An API serves as an intermediary layer between the client and server. The API defines the rules and formats for how the API client and API server should communicate and exchange data. The way it works is: the API client (web or console app) sends a request, following the rules set down by the API; the API server (web server) processes the request, then generates and sends a response according to the API's specifications; and lastly, the API client receives and handles the response.

BarTender Cloud's APIs are REST (Representational State Transfer) APIs. REST APIs use HTTP functions to send and receive requests, such as the GET, PUT, and POST methods, and are much easier to work with than other API protocols. With the REST API, BarTender Cloud has set up a series of standard ways that an external data source can send information to the BarTender engine to execute BarTender tasks such as integrations and printing. The REST API supports all of the standard data structures (e.g., YAML, JSON, XML, CSV) as well as the classic BarTender XML (BTXML) script structures.

A REST API interacts that same way any website does with a browser. A program uses HTTP calls (a standard web service request) to request specific data or actions from another progam (these two programs do not need to be on the same platform or use the same software systems). Data is transmitted from one program to the other using the HTTP protocol.

BarTender Cloud REST API uses the , , and methods.

Print Gateway (BarTender Cloud) and Print Portal (BarTender on-prem) are needed to print using the API. If you can complete an action through direct integration, you can complete it through the API.

The BarTender Cloud REST API is a subset of the on-prem BarTender REST API, which means that the integrations you create can be run against either BarTender on-prem or BarTender Cloud printing simply by changing the address the URL is pointing to. The REST API is a true cloud-premise hybrid solution.

Video: How to Automate Actions in BarTender Cloud

More Information

A YAML reference document is available that provides complete details about the specific properties for each action and describes how to combine actions into groups and create arrays of actions to be sent as one script to the server. The YAML actions reference is provided online at https://help.seagullscientific.com/BarTenderCloud/Actions_YAML_reference/.