Get Cover Photo using Facebook API

Question

In my Android application, I am trying to get the cover photo of the user from his Facebook account.

I can get the profile picture by using the below code.

profilePicUrl = new URL("http://graph.facebook.com/" + userId + "/picture?type=large");

profilePicBmp = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(profilePicUrl.openConnection().getInputStream());

The documentation specifies the following for retrieving the cover photo.

The user's cover photo (must be explicitly requested using fields=cover parameter)

Requires access_token

Returns : array of fields id, source, and offset_y

So, the structure of the JSON response would be something like this.

{
   "cover": {
      "cover_id": "10151008748223553",
      "source": "http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/391237_10151008748223553_422785532_n.jpg",
      "offset_y": 0
   },
   "id": "19292868552"
}

I am pretty new to Facebook Graph API and hence do not have much knowledge on how to go about this.

I tried this coverPicUrl = new URL("http://graph.facebook.com/" + userId + "/cover?type=large");

and also this coverPicUrl = new URL("http://graph.facebook.com/" + userId + "/fields=cover");

But I have not been able to get the cover picture of the user profile.

Searching online also did not yield any fruitful results.

Any help would indeed be appreciated.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The "source" tag (JSONObject) is nested inside another JSONObject, the "cover" tag. To parse this result, you will have to use something like this:

JSONObject JOSource = JOCover.optJSONObject("cover");
String coverPhoto = JOSource.getString("source");

The JOCover used in the example assumes that you already have a JSONOBject (JOCover) to parse the root. You can substitute your own JSONObject in its place.

The "source" tag cannot be accessed directly as it is nested in the "cover" tag. You will have to use ".optJSONObject("cover")". I have seen people use .getString instead of the .optJSONObject but I have never used it. Choose what works for you.

EDIT

As per your request for a solution using Graph API, I am editing the earlier solution and replacing it with the Graph API solution.

Preferably, in an AsyncTask, use this code in the doInBackground:

String URL = "https://graph.facebook.com/" + THE_USER_ID + "?fields=cover&access_token=" + Utility.mFacebook.getAccessToken();

String finalCoverPhoto;

try {

    HttpClient hc = new DefaultHttpClient();
    HttpGet get = new HttpGet(URL);
    HttpResponse rp = hc.execute(get);

    if (rp.getStatusLine().getStatusCode() == HttpStatus.SC_OK) {
        String result = EntityUtils.toString(rp.getEntity());

        JSONObject JODetails = new JSONObject(result);

        if (JODetails.has("cover")) {
            String getInitialCover = JODetails.getString("cover");

            if (getInitialCover.equals("null")) {
                finalCoverPhoto = null;
        } else {
            JSONObject JOCover = JODetails.optJSONObject("cover");

            if (JOCover.has("source"))  {
                finalCoverPhoto = JOCover.getString("source");
            } else {
                finalCoverPhoto = null;
            }
        }
    } else {
        finalCoverPhoto = null;
    }
} catch (Exception e) {
    // TODO: handle exception
}

I have tested this solution and works perfectly. You will have to add any addition fields to the base URL that are required for your activity. For the sake of testing, I used just the fields=cover

And in the onPostExecute, do your thing to display the cover picture. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Note: Fetching Cover Photo using Facebook API and endpoint https://graph.facebook.com/me?fields=cover no longer works as on 20th Dec 2014.

It was supposed to give following response:

{
   "cover": {
   "cover_id": "10151008748223553",
   "source": "http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/391237_10151008748223553_422785532_n.jpg",
   "offset_y": 0
   },
   "id": "19292868552"
}

But now it just gives User's id:

{
  "id": "19292868552"
}

Verified this using Graph Tool explorer 2.2 using me?fields=cover.