ISBN 10:  0-9823061-6-4 ISBN 13: 978-0-9823061-6-1 Library of Congress Number: 2010927532 275 pages Perfect Bind- 9x7 PD 0611 Shelving:  Computer  IT In-Focus Series #6

Facebook Unlocked The Key to Developing Custom Applications Timothy J. Stevens Retail Price $27.95 /  £16.95   Order now at 30% off and get access to the code depot! Only $19.95 (30% off)         Key Features About the Author Reader Comments Table of Contents Index Topics Errata

Facebook Unlocked  is intended to act as a ground-up guidebook for developers, whether they be looking to write the next Scrabulous and get famous or to tap into the massive amounts of information contained within the social network for their PhD studies. Regardless of ultimate intent, developers like this tend to want to get up to speed quickly and have something real working before the end of their first coding session; a foundation they can then build an application upon. This book is focused for those developers. Its goal is to provide the basics up-front, then to explore specific aspects of the API in more detail later. It acts as a quick-start guide for some aspects of the API that don’t require much detail, like authentication and API wrappers, while also featuring specific chapters on aspects that need more explanation, like FBML; Facebook’s spin on HTML. Unlocked is structured so that key features all developers need to learn are covered up-front, with pointed examples demonstrating the exact functionality of those aspects of the API. Later the book moves to the optional information, like a chapter on FQL, a query language that not all developers will need to learn.

Updated               to cover the                2.0 Profile                  layout! Working example apps covering every major feature of the Facebook Platform enable developers to get up to speed quickly. Discussion of common pitfalls and over-saturated applications help developers avoid unsuccessful apps and frustrated users. References covering areas like FBML, FBJS, and FQL discuss not only how to use them but the specific benefits that can be found by using them effectively.

About the Author:

Tim Stevens

Tim Stevens is a software consultant and a Contributing Editor at Engadget. He has written hundreds of articles on a variety of topics for a variety of outlets on a freelance basis. This includes over a dozen articles on application programmer interfaces ranging from Google to Orb for outlets like DevSource and Informit. He has composed dozens of articles on various other engineering-related topics, including a piece on developer productivity for CIO and a series of technology-focused pieces for Inc. He has also produced hundreds of pieces related to digital entertainment for outlets like Yahoo! Videogames, G4TV, The Escapist, metro.pop Magazine, Phuze Magazine, and Co-Ed Magazine. He is also an active blogger for Engadget.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1:  Introduction to Facebook Platform    Development Introduction Key Concepts Profiles Registering Your Application with Facebook Basic Application Vitals Choosing a Platform Client First Example:  Authentication and Saying “Hello” Summary   Chapter 2:  Finding and Examining Friends Key Concepts Users Friends Retrieving Friend Identifiers Retrieving User Information with Retrieving User Information via the Graph API Retrieving User Information with FQL Summary   Chapter 3:  Getting Viral: Running Inside of Facebook Introduction Key Concepts Profile Page FBML Dissecting the Profile Additional Options for Installable Applications Installation Options Example Using the PHP API wrapper Summary   Chapter 4:  Feeds and Messaging Key Concepts Feed Wall Notifications Message Delivery and Spamminess Hiding Notifications Requesting Extended Permissions Sending Messages Example Using the PHP API Wrapper Summary   Chapter 5:  Viewing and Displaying Photos Key Concepts Albums Album Privacy Working with Albums Creating an Album with photos.createAlbum Retrieving Albums with photos.getAlbums Working with Photos Retrieving the Profile Picture from users.getInfo Retrieving Photos with photos.get Retrieving Photos Through the Graph API Uploading Photos Example:  Favorite Photos Summary   Chapter 6:  Finding, Hosting and Joining Events Key Concepts Events Retrieving Events with events.get Retrieving Events with the Graph API Creating Events with events.create Creating Events with the Graph API Other Event-related Operations Example:  Birthday Events Summary   Chapter 7:  FQL:  The Facebook Query Language Key Concepts SQL, the Structured Query Language FQL, the Facebook Query Language Why Use It? Data Efficiency Operational Efficiency Comparison to SQL Similarities Differences Usage The fql.query Operation The fql.multiquery Operation FQL Tables Preloading FQL The Concept The Execution Summary

Chapter 8:  FBML:  The Facebook Markup Language Key Concepts HTML, the Hypertext Markup Language FBML, the Facebook Markup Language XFBML, FBML for Facebook Connect Important Elements fb:18-plus fb:action fb:captcha fb:comments fb:create-button fb:dashboard fb:date fb:dialog fb:editor fb:else fb:error fb:eventlink fb:explanation fb:fbml fb:fbml-attribute fb:feed fb:flv fb:google-analytics fb:header fb:if fb:iframe fb:intl and fb:intl-token fb:js-string fb:mp3 fb:multi-friend-input fb:name fb:narrow fb:photo fb:profile-pic fb:prompt-permission fb:pronoun fb:random and fb:random-option fb:ref fb:request-form, fb:request-form-submit, and fb:req-choice fb:restricted-to fb:share fb:silverlight fb:success fb:swf fb:tabs and fb:tab-item fb:time fb:title fb:typeahead-input and fb:typeahead-option fb:user fb:user-agent fb:user-status fb:visible-to-app-users, fb:visible-to-connection, fb:visible-to-friends, fb:visible-to-owner, fb:visible-to-user fb:wall, fb:wallpost, and fb:wallpost-action fb:wide Custom Tags Creating Custom Tags with fbml.registerCustomTags Using Custom Tags with the fb:fbml Tag Using fb:ref  to Update Static FBML Creating FBML Reference Handles with fbml.setRefHandle Creating FBML References via URL Summary   Chapter 9:  FBJS:  Facebook’s Take on Javascript Key Concepts JavaScript AJAX FBJS Key Differences between FBJS and JavaScript Inability to Add Elements to the Document Changes with CSS and setStyle innerHTML Method is Disabled Custom Dialogs Constructor and Dialog Types Working with Multiple Buttons AJAX Working with the Ajax Object Putting It Together Summary   Chapter 10:  Extended Permissions in Detail Key Concept With a Submitted Form Using the promptpermission Attribute Through the Login URL Detecting Granted Permissions The user.hasAppPermission Operation The permissions FQL Table The fb_sig_ext_perms post variable Revoking Extended Permissions Summary   Appendix A:  Important Links and Locations Appendix A Appendix B:  User Profile Fields Appendix B Appendix C:  Graph API Profile Fields Appendix C

Index: