# Utils

Utility functions
-----------------
Following are some utility functions for generic usage by the application


### Communication functions ###

- **`request_local_server(method, url, **kwargs)`**

  This method is used to send a signed request to another application. If
an application want to use another application's APIs, it should do so using
this method. Instead of this method, if the application sends HTTP requests
directly to the application, it will be treated as an anonymous request.

  *Parameters*
> - `method`: The HTTP method.
> - `url`: The path of the URL.
> - `kwargs`: kwargs for [python-requests][] request method. 

  This method returned a [python-requests][] response object.

[python-requests]: http://docs.python-requests.org/


### Alerts ###

- **`Alerts.put(from_, receiver, fe_url, content, index=None, be_url=None, private_data=None)`**

  When an app wants to post an alert to the user about an event, this API can
be used. This will deliver it to the users's device in real time.

  A detailed description of the parameters are in [here](https://apps.aalam.cloud/provider/aalam/app/base/doc/latest/alerts.html#new-message)


### AppCache ###

- **`AppCache.get(app_class=None,
                  provider_code=None, app_code=None,
                  detail=False)`**

  This utility functions helps any application to get the details of any other
application that is running internal.

  *Parameters*
> - `app_class`: App class is the combination of provider code and app code in the format
    `"provider-code/app-code"`. For example the app_class for the base application will be
    `"aalam/base"`
> - `provider_code`: The provider code of the application
> - `app_code`: The app code of the application
> - `detail`: If `True`, the following detailed information is returned

     {
         "app_name": "Application's name",
         "version": "Application version",
         "id": "Integer identifier for the application"
     }

  If the detail is `False`, only the id value is returned.

  If `app_class` is None, both `provider_code` and `app_code` should be valid
  values. If `app_class` is valid, `provider_code` and `app_code` is not needed.