Webhooks / Callbacks?

[Bernd Welter]

Hi there,

here comes a generic question I'd like to answer in the context of different API versions:

Does PTV API have webhooks support?
Case: if we want to send a lot of request that we need to wait to be processed it would be good to receive responses when they are completed back to our system (our API)?
Currently we could achieve that by sending asynchronous requests to PTV and then periodically check if response is ready to be fetched.
But it would require lots of redundant requests to check, when we don't know if request is done yet or not.
It would be more convenient to get response via webhook.

I did some research and here's my anser - let's start with some theory besides PTV:

Feature	Webhook	Callback
Definition	A webhook is an HTTP-based mechanism that allows one application to automatically send a notification (usually via an HTTP POST request) to another application when a specific event occurs.	A callback is a function that is passed as an argument to another function and executed once a specific task is completed.
Trigger	Event in an external application	A function within a program
Communication	Over HTTP (REST API)	Within a code or application
Execution Type	Asynchronous, over the internet	Usually synchronous or within a code
Example	A payment service sends a notification about a successful payment	JavaScript setTimeout(() => console.log("Done!"), 1000);
Wikipedia (en)	Wikipedia: Webhook	Wikipedia: Callback

Shame on me - I didn't care much about these in the past, probably because we simply do not support webhooks (except for Drive & Arrive!) in xServer1, xServer2 and Developer.

From my understanding

• the support of webhooks would require dedicated features on "server side" - which we did not implement so far in our APIs.
• Callbacks should be possible but they rely on the client programming approach

Now let me get back to the customers requirement: an optimal consumption of dta which requires several seconds, minutes or even hours...

Some of our API calls support asynchronous methods (start... watchprogress... fetch) as alternatives to (start..........remain blindfolded for an unknown period.... tadaaa: first feedback ever is the result). Check this article about Bulk Operations

Important to know:

• Though we do not suport webhooks natively, some of the methods allow you to create a feedback/progress statement
• Example: Batch Geocoding in PTV Developer

If you need more info get back to me 1:1 or respond to this post.