LilxAPI

LilxAPI

LilxAPI is a simpler, flat version of an xAPI statement. Each statement is required to have only three properties: actor, verb, and object. Each property is limited to a single value. Statements may be represented either as a JSON object with name-value pairs or as an array of values.

LilxAPI (or Lil' xAPI) is a simpler, flat version of an xAPI statement that allows it to be easily stored in a finite data structure, such as a spreadsheet or single table of a SQL database. In this simplified approach, each statement is required to have only three properties: actor, verb, and object. Each property is limited to a single value. Statements may be represented either as a JSON object with name-value pairs or as an array of values (using the numeric array keys provided in Table 1).

Table 1

Overview of the LilxAPI structure

name	description	value format	default	example	array key
actor	The identity of the actor.	string	required	"janedoe@fake.com, Jane Doe" "janedoe@fake.com" "Jane Doe" or "janedoe1234" or "1234"	0
verb	The action performed by the actor.	human-readable term	required	"completed", "clicked", "interacted", "viewed", "answered", etc.	1
object	The target of the statement or what the actor interacted with.	url	required	"https://edtechbooks.org/education_research/research"	2
result	The outcome of the action.	float boolean string	null	.75 true "success"	3
context	Contextual information about the action.	string	null	"web" "app"	4
language_id	The language of the schema.	ISO 639-1 Format	en	"en" or "fr" or "sp"	5
timestamp	The time of the interaction.	ISO 8601 format	current time	"2023-11-10T12:34:56Z"	6
xapi	The fully rendered xAPI statement.	json	null	-	7

Example Statements

An Actor Viewed a Page

Object format

{
"actor": "janedoe@fake.com",
"verb": "viewed",
"object": "https://edtechbooks.org/education_research/research"
}

Array format

["janedoe@fake.com", "viewed", "https://edtechbooks.org/education_research/research"]

An Actor Correctly Answered a Question

Object Format

{
"actor": "janedoe@fake.com",
"verb": "viewed",
"object": "https://edtechbooks.org/education_research/research#question1", "result": true
}

Array Format

["janedoe@fake.com", "answered", "https://edtechbooks.org/education_research/research#question1", true]

EdTech Books as LRS Example

You can create an ETB API key for your project by logging in and going to the Developer dashboard in the top-right menu. This requires developer access, which you can request by contacting a site admin.

screenshot of lilxapi statements stored in ETB

Google Sheets Automation

You can build charts and graphs in Google Sheets for dashboards and reports and then automate the download of LilxAPI statements using the ImportData function and appending the &format=csv value to your endpoint. An example endpoint for this purpose follows:

https://edtechbooks.org/api.v2.php?action=lilxapi_get&format=csv&api_key=YOURAPIKEY

Excel Automation

You can build charts and graphs in Excel for dashboards and reports and then automate the download of LilxAPI statements. Here is an example automation script that can be included in Excel to pull data directly from ETB:

const apiKey = "YOURAPIKEYHERE";

interface ExcelRow {

statement_id: number;

author_id: number;

actor: string;

verb: string;

object: string;

result: string;

context: string;

language_id: string;

timestamp: string;

xapi: string

}

async function main(workbook: ExcelScript.Workbook) {

const data = await fetchData();

console.log(JSON.parse(data.json));

const json: ExcelRow[] = JSON.parse(data.json);

const newWorksheet = workbook.getActiveWorksheet();

newWorksheet.activate();

const headingRange = newWorksheet.getRangeByIndexes(

0,

1,

Object.keys(json[0]).length);

console.log(Object.keys(json[0]));

headingRange.setValues([Object.keys(json[0])]);

const dataRange = newWorksheet.getRangeByIndexes(

1,

0,

json.length,

Object.keys(json[0]).length);

dataRange.setValues(json.map(row => Object.values(row)));

}

async function fetchData(): Promise<string[][]> {

const apiUrl = "https://edtechbooks.org/api.v2.php?action=lilxapi_get&api_key=" + apiKey;

const response = await fetch(apiUrl);

if (!response.ok) {

throw new Error(`Failed to fetch data. Status: ${response.status}`);

}

const jsonData: ExcelRow[] = await response.json();

return jsonData;

}

This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.

Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/elearning_hacker/lilxapi.