Step 3: Set Up the Categories Recipe

II: Configure your Feed

STEP 1:
Load Media Feed

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STEP 2:
Recipe Config Overview

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STEP 3:
Set Up the Categories Recipe

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STEP 4:
Categories Recipe: Query Parameters

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STEP 5:
Categories Recipe: Matchlist Parameters

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STEP 6:
Set Up the Contents Recipe

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STEP 7:
Contents Recipe: Query Parameters

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STEP 8:
Contents Recipe: Matchlist Parameters

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STEP 9:
Configure Navigator

In this step, you will start configuring the category recipe for your feed. Categories group your media into different collections or channels. Categories are a way of organizing your media so that all your video isn't in one long list. For a general overview of recipe configuration, see Recipe Configuration Overview.

Configure the Categories Recipe
Feeds without Categories
Next Steps

Configure the Categories Recipe

If you didn't already duplicate and rename the LightCast recipe files, see Customize the Recipe Files in the previous topic.

Note: In the previous topic, you customized the "LightCast" name in the files to something unique, such as "AcmeMedia". In these instructions, <project name> represents this customization.

Open the <project name>CategoriesRecipe.json file (located in app > assets > recipes).

The default categories recipe configuration looks like this:

{
  "cooker": "DynamicParser",
  "format": "json",
  "model": "com.amazon.android.model.content.ContentContainer",
  "translator": "ContentContainerTranslator",
  "modelType": "array",
  "query": "$..categories[*]",
  "queryResultType": "[]$",
  "matchList": [
    "StringKey@mName"
  ],
  "keyDataType": "StringKey@keyDataPath"
}

Configure the file's values as explained in the following table.

Note: Because the query and matchList are more complex, their configurations are explained in the topics that follow — Categories Recipe: Query Parameters and Categories Recipe: Matchlist Parameters.

Key Description

Key	Description
`cooker`	Defines which utility will take the parameters defined in the recipe and run the logic. In other words, the cooker "cooks" the recipe. Leave it at the default value: `DynamicParser`.
`format`	Specifies the data format for the incoming data feed. Options are `json` or `xml`.
`model`	Specifies the content model for the data. The content model provides the structure for your content and maps it into the Fire App Builder UI. Leave it at the default: `com.amazon.android.model.content.ContentContainer`.
`translator`	Specifies whether translation or reflection is used when converting your feed's objects to the Fire App Builder content model. Translation is faster and recommended. To use translation, simply leave the value at the default: `ContentContainerTranslator`. If you want to use reflection instead, remove the `translator` parameter altogether from the recipe.
`modelType`	Specifies whether the feed is an array or a single object. Available options are `array` or `single`. Almost all feeds are `array`. For example, if your JSON feed is enclosed within square brackets, or your XML feed has nested angle brackets, choose `array`. If your feed is structured as a single object, choose `single`.
`query`	A query used to return categories from your media feed. The syntax of the query depends on the structure of your feed. You will need to construct the right query to get your categories. For JSON feeds, use Jayway JsonPath syntax for the query syntax. For XML feeds, use XPath expressions for the query syntax. Leave this field's value as is for now. You will configure it in the next step: Categories Recipe: query Parameter.
`queryResultType`	If the result from `query` parameter returns a list of strings, include this `queryResultType` parameter and set it equal to `[]$`. If the query's result is an object (a map), omit this parameter. (Fire App Builder needs to know the result type because it will needs to push an object into a Java hashmap.) Leave this field's value as is for now. You will configure it in the next step: Categories Recipe: Query Parameters.
`matchList`	The query that you defined in the `query` parameter returns a result. This result needs to be mapped from your feed's names to the names Fire App Builder uses in its content model. The `matchList` parameter maps the results from the query to the name for media categories in Fire App Builder. Leave this field's value as is for now. You will configure it in an upcoming step: Categories Recipe: Matchlist Parameters.
`keyDataType`	The media objects that are related to the category. It's essential to identify which media should be grouped into which category. Similar to `matchList`, you target the items on the left followed by `@` and then `keyDataPath` to map and identify these media objects to the category. For example: `StringKey@keyDataPath`. Leave this field's value as is for now. You will configure it an upcoming step: Categories Recipe: matchlist Parameter.

cooker

Defines which utility will take the parameters defined in the recipe and run the logic. In other words, the cooker "cooks" the recipe. Leave it at the default value: DynamicParser.

format

Specifies the data format for the incoming data feed. Options are json or xml.

model

Specifies the content model for the data. The content model provides the structure for your content and maps it into the Fire App Builder UI. Leave it at the default: com.amazon.android.model.content.ContentContainer.

translator

Specifies whether translation or reflection is used when converting your feed's objects to the Fire App Builder content model. Translation is faster and recommended. To use translation, simply leave the value at the default: ContentContainerTranslator. If you want to use reflection instead, remove the translator parameter altogether from the recipe.

modelType

Specifies whether the feed is an array or a single object. Available options are array or single. Almost all feeds are array. For example, if your JSON feed is enclosed within square brackets, or your XML feed has nested angle brackets, choose array. If your feed is structured as a single object, choose single.

query

A query used to return categories from your media feed. The syntax of the query depends on the structure of your feed. You will need to construct the right query to get your categories. For JSON feeds, use Jayway JsonPath syntax for the query syntax. For XML feeds, use XPath expressions for the query syntax. Leave this field's value as is for now. You will configure it in the next step: Categories Recipe: query Parameter.

queryResultType

If the result from query parameter returns a list of strings, include this queryResultType parameter and set it equal to []$. If the query's result is an object (a map), omit this parameter. (Fire App Builder needs to know the result type because it will needs to push an object into a Java hashmap.) Leave this field's value as is for now. You will configure it in the next step: Categories Recipe: Query Parameters.

matchList

The query that you defined in the query parameter returns a result. This result needs to be mapped from your feed's names to the names Fire App Builder uses in its content model. The matchList parameter maps the results from the query to the name for media categories in Fire App Builder. Leave this field's value as is for now. You will configure it in an upcoming step: Categories Recipe: Matchlist Parameters.

keyDataType

The media objects that are related to the category. It's essential to identify which media should be grouped into which category. Similar to matchList, you target the items on the left followed by @ and then keyDataPath to map and identify these media objects to the category. For example: StringKey@keyDataPath. Leave this field's value as is for now. You will configure it an upcoming step: Categories Recipe: matchlist Parameter.

Feeds without Categories

If your feed lacks categories but you have separate feeds for each category, you can hard-code the category names when you configure Navigator.json. This will group all the videos in a particular feed with a particular category. More detail for this approach is provided in the "Hardcoding Your Categories."

Next Steps

Now that you've configured the basic properties in the category recipe, let's dig into the query parameters. Continue to the next step: Categories Recipe: query Parameter.

Last updated: Apr 06, 2017