dgiunta-flickr 1.0.6

data/History.txt

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+== 1.0.7 2008-11-26
+* 1 major enhancement
+ * When a collection of photos is fetched (e.g. by Flickr#search), a PhotoCollection object is now returned, a type of array, which allows easy access to the pagination information returned by Flickr (e.g. total items, pages, etc). Previously this info was lost
+* Minor enhancements:
+ * Refactored parsing of response when getting info about photo (public API is not changed). 
+ * All returned info is now parsed and stored (previously only some attributes were)
+ * A record is kept of whether info has been previously fetched from Flickr (avoids unnecessary extra calls)
+ * Improved User#getInfo. No longer makes API call for pretty_url (which was in addition to main getInfo call) or photos_url
+* Bugfixes
+ * Fixed Photo#source not to make unnecessary API call
+ * Fixed User#url not to make unnecessary API call
+
+== 1.0.6 2008-07-30
+* Bugfixes:
+  * fixed Flickr#photos when used for searching
+  * fixed Flickr::Photo#url to not use usernames (if the user changes their username, the url will wrong)
+  * fixed Flickr#related_tags
+  * Flickr::Photo#to_s was making unnecessary API calls
+  * fixed 'test' Rake task
+  * fixed 'gem' Rake task
+* Minor enhancements:
+  * added Flickr#search as an alias for Flickr#photos in its search mode
+  * added Flickr#recent as an alias for Flickr#photos for recent photos
+  * added Flickr::Photo#pretty_url for the URL that includes a username if present
+  * added Flickr::Photo#size_url which is like url except 'Medium' works the same as other sizes
+  * allow lowercase ('medium') and symbol (:medium) forms for sizes
+  * internal code cleanup
+
+== 1.0.5 2008-05-12
+
+* 1 major change:
+  * Updated and refactored Flickr::Group class and Flickr#groups method to work with current Flickr API. Flickr#groups now searches for given group, rather than groups.getActiveList (which no longer exists as Flickr API call)
+* Minor enhancements:
+  * Tweaked internals so new client instance isn't created each time new object (e.g. photo, user) is created
+  * Improved test coverage
+  
+== 1.0.4 2008-05-11
+
+* 1 major enhancement:
+  * Added authentication facility as per current Flickr API
+* 3 minor enhancements:
+  * Improved test suite
+  * Improved API for creating Flickr objects (old one still works)
+  * Protected methods that are only used internally (e.g. request, request_url)
+
+== 1.0.3 2008-04-18
+
+* Various bugfixes:
+  * User instantiation was broken (wrong number of params passed)
+  * Instantiating photos failed in several places if single photo returned
+  * Photosets#getInfo would always fail as the parameter name should be photoset_id, not photosets_id
+  * Removed call to flickr.people.getOnlineList in Flickr#users as that call is no longer in the Flickr API
+* Performance improvements:
+  * Url and image source uri now generated without a call to the Flickr API, as per the Flickr API docs

data/LICENSE

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+Copyright (c) 2007 Scott Raymond, Patrick Plattes, Chris Taggart
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+"Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
+included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
+EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
+NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
+LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
+OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
+WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

data/README.txt

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+= flickr
+
+http://github.com/ctagg/flickr
+
+== DESCRIPTION:
+
+An insanely easy interface to the Flickr photo-sharing service. By Scott Raymond. (& updated May 08 by Chris Taggart, http://pushrod.wordpress.com)
+
+== FEATURES/PROBLEMS:
+
+The flickr gem (famously featured in a RubyonRails screencast) had broken with Flickr's new authentication scheme and updated API.
+This has now been largely corrected, though not all current API calls are supported yet.
+
+== SYNOPSIS:
+
+require 'flickr'
+flickr = Flickr.new('some_flickr_api_key')    # create a flickr client (get an API key from http://www.flickr.com/services/api/)
+user = flickr.users('sco@scottraymond.net')   # lookup a user
+user.name                                     # get the user's name
+user.location                                 # and location
+user.photos                                   # grab their collection of Photo objects...
+user.groups                                   # ...the groups they're in...
+user.contacts                                 # ...their contacts...
+user.favorites                                # ...favorite photos...
+user.photosets                                # ...their photo sets...
+user.tags                                     # ...their tags...
+user.popular_tags							  # ...and their popular tags
+recentphotos = flickr.photos                  # get the 100 most recent public photos
+photo = recentphotos.first                    # or very most recent one
+photo.url                                     # see its URL,
+photo.title                                   # title,
+photo.description                             # and description,
+photo.owner                                   # and its owner.
+File.open(photo.filename, 'w') do |file|
+  file.puts p.file                            # save the photo to a local file
+end
+flickr.photos.each do |p|                     # get the last 100 public photos...
+  File.open(p.filename, 'w') do |f|
+    f.puts p.file('Square')                   # ...and save a local copy of their square thumbnail
+  end
+end
+
+== REQUIREMENTS:
+
+* Xmlsimple gem
+
+== INSTALL:
+
+* sudo gem install flickr
+
+== LICENSE:
+
+(The MIT License)
+
+Copyright (c) 2008 Scott Raymond, Patrick Plattes, Chris Taggart
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
+included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
+EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
+IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
+CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
+TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
+SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

data/TODO

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+TODO:
+Complete test suite for untested methods
+Bring outdated methods up-to-date
+Write documentation
+Add missing Flickr API call
+Convert dates to ruby dates

data/lib/flickr.rb

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+# = Flickr
+#   An insanely easy interface to the Flickr photo-sharing service. By Scott Raymond.
+#   
+# Author::    Scott Raymond <sco@redgreenblu.com>
+# Copyright:: Copyright (c) 2005 Scott Raymond <sco@redgreenblu.com>. Additional content by Patrick Plattes and Chris Taggart (http://pushrod.wordpress.com)
+# License::   MIT <http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php>
+#
+# BASIC USAGE:
+#  require 'flickr'
+#  flickr = Flickr.new('some_flickr_api_key')    # create a flickr client (get an API key from http://www.flickr.com/services/api/)
+#  user = flickr.users('sco@scottraymond.net')   # lookup a user
+#  user.name                                     # get the user's name
+#  user.location                                 # and location
+#  user.photos                                   # grab their collection of Photo objects...
+#  user.groups                                   # ...the groups they're in...
+#  user.contacts                                 # ...their contacts...
+#  user.favorites                                # ...favorite photos...
+#  user.photosets                                # ...their photo sets...
+#  user.tags                                     # ...and their tags
+#  recentphotos = flickr.photos                  # get the 100 most recent public photos
+#  photo = recentphotos.first                    # or very most recent one
+#  photo.url                                     # see its URL,
+#  photo.title                                   # title,
+#  photo.description                             # and description,
+#  photo.owner                                   # and its owner.
+#  File.open(photo.filename, 'w') do |file|
+#    file.puts p.file                            # save the photo to a local file
+#  end
+#  flickr.photos.each do |p|                     # get the last 100 public photos...
+#    File.open(p.filename, 'w') do |f|
+#      f.puts p.file('Square')                   # ...and save a local copy of their square thumbnail
+#    end
+#  end
+
+
+require 'cgi'
+require 'net/http'
+require 'xmlsimple'
+require 'digest/md5'
+
+# Flickr client class. Requires an API key
+class Flickr
+  attr_reader :api_key, :auth_token
+  attr_accessor :user
+  
+  HOST_URL = 'http://flickr.com'
+  API_PATH = '/services/rest'
+
+  # Flickr, annoyingly, uses a number of representations to specify the size 
+  # of a photo, depending on the context. It gives a label such a "Small" or
+  # "Medium" to a size of photo, when returning all possible sizes. However, 
+  # when generating the uri for the page that features that size of photo, or
+  # the source url for the image itself it uses a single letter. Bizarrely, 
+  # these letters are different depending on whether you want the Flickr page
+  # for the photo or the source uri -- e.g. a "Small" photo (240 pixels on its
+  # longest side) may be viewed at 
+  # "http://www.flickr.com/photos/sco/2397458775/sizes/s/"
+  # but its source is at 
+  # "http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/2397458775_2ec2ddc324_m.jpg". 
+  # The VALID_SIZES hash associates the correct letter with a label
+  VALID_SIZES = { "Square" => ["s", "sq"],
+                  "Thumbnail" => ["t", "t"],
+                  "Small" => ["m", "s"],
+                  "Medium" => [nil, "m"],
+                  "Large" => ["b", "l"]
+                }
+
+  # To use the Flickr API you need an api key 
+  # (see http://www.flickr.com/services/api/misc.api_keys.html), and the flickr 
+  # client object shuld be initialized with this. You'll also need a shared
+  # secret code if you want to use authentication (e.g. to get a user's
+  # private photos)
+  # There are two ways to initialize the Flickr client. The preferred way is with
+  # a hash of params, e.g. 'api_key' => 'your_api_key', 'shared_secret' => 
+  # 'shared_secret_code'. The older (deprecated) way is to pass an ordered series of 
+  # arguments. This is provided for continuity only, as several of the arguments
+  # are no longer usable ('email', 'password')
+  def initialize(api_key_or_params=nil, email=nil, password=nil, shared_secret=nil)
+    @host = HOST_URL
+    @api = API_PATH
+    if api_key_or_params.is_a?(Hash)
+      @api_key = api_key_or_params['api_key']
+      @shared_secret = api_key_or_params['shared_secret']
+      @auth_token = api_key_or_params['auth_token']
+    else
+      @api_key = api_key_or_params
+      @shared_secret = shared_secret
+      login(email, password) if email and password
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Gets authentication token given a Flickr frob, which is returned when user
+  # allows access to their account for the application with the api_key which
+  # made the request
+  def get_token_from(frob)
+    auth_response = request("auth.getToken", :frob => frob)['auth']
+    @auth_token = auth_response['token']
+    @user = User.new( 'id' => auth_response['user']['nsid'], 
+                      'username' => auth_response['user']['username'],
+                      'name' => auth_response['user']['fullname'],
+                      'client' => self)
+    @auth_token
+  end
+  
+  # Stores authentication credentials to use on all subsequent calls.
+  # If authentication succeeds, returns a User object.
+  # NB This call is no longer in API and will result in an error if called
+  def login(email='', password='')
+    @email = email
+    @password = password
+    user = request('test.login')['user'] rescue fail
+    @user = User.new(user['id'], nil, nil, nil, @api_key)
+  end
+  
+  # Implements flickr.urls.lookupGroup and flickr.urls.lookupUser
+  def find_by_url(url)
+    response = urls_lookupUser('url'=>url) rescue urls_lookupGroup('url'=>url) rescue nil
+    (response['user']) ? User.new(response['user']['id'], nil, nil, nil, @api_key) : Group.new(response['group']['id'], @api_key) unless response.nil?
+  end
+
+  # Implements flickr.photos.getRecent and flickr.photos.search
+  def photos(*criteria)
+    criteria ? photos_search(*criteria) : recent
+  end
+
+  # flickr.photos.getRecent
+  # 100 newest photos from everyone
+  def recent
+    photos_request('photos.getRecent')
+  end
+  
+  def photos_search(params={})
+    photos_request('photos.search', params)
+  end
+  alias_method :search, :photos_search
+  
+  # Gets public photos with a given tag
+  def tag(tag)
+    photos('tags'=>tag)
+  end
+  
+  # Implements flickr.people.findByEmail and flickr.people.findByUsername. 
+  # 
+  # Updated by Dave Giunta, Giunta Creative on 01/09/2009
+  #
+  # <b>Description:</b> The original flickr library provided only flickr.people.findByEmail, 
+  # which rescued from UserNotFound errors by checking flickr.people.findByUsername.
+  # 
+  # This works great, except that Flickr also has
+  #
+  # <b>Arguments:</b> 
+  #
+  # <b>Returns:</b> 
+  #
+  # <em>Syntax: </em>
+  def users(lookup=nil)
+    user = find_by_url("flickr.com/people/#{lookup}") || people_findByEmail('find_email'=>lookup)['user'] rescue people_findByUsername('username'=>lookup)['user']
+    
+    return case user.class.to_s
+    when "Flickr::User"
+      user
+    when "Hash"
+      User.new("id" => user["nsid"], "username" => user["username"], "client" => self)
+    else
+      raise UserNotFound
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Implements flickr.groups.search
+  def groups(group_name, options={})
+    collection = groups_search({"text" => group_name}.merge(options))['groups']['group']
+    collection = [collection] if collection.is_a? Hash
+    
+    collection.collect { |group| Group.new( "id" => group['nsid'], 
+                                            "name" => group['name'], 
+                                            "eighteenplus" => group['eighteenplus'],
+                                            "client" => self) }
+  end
+  
+  def photoset(photoset_id)
+    Photoset.new(photoset_id, @api_key)
+  end
+  
+  # Implements flickr.tags.getRelated
+  def related_tags(tag)
+    tags_getRelated('tag'=>tag)['tags']['tag']
+  end
+  
+  # Implements flickr.photos.licenses.getInfo
+  def licenses
+    photos_licenses_getInfo['licenses']['license']
+  end
+  
+  # Returns url for user to login in to Flickr to authenticate app for a user
+  def login_url(perms)
+    "http://flickr.com/services/auth/?api_key=#{@api_key}&perms=#{perms}&api_sig=#{signature_from('api_key'=>@api_key, 'perms' => perms)}"
+  end
+    
+  # Implements everything else.
+  # Any method not defined explicitly will be passed on to the Flickr API,
+  # and return an XmlSimple document. For example, Flickr#test_echo is not 
+  # defined, so it will pass the call to the flickr.test.echo method.
+  def method_missing(method_id, params={})
+    request(method_id.id2name.gsub(/_/, '.'), params)
+  end
+
+  # Does an HTTP GET on a given URL and returns the response body
+  def http_get(url)
+    Net::HTTP.get_response(URI.parse(url)).body.to_s
+  end
+
+  # Takes a Flickr API method name and set of parameters; returns an XmlSimple object with the response
+  def request(method, params={})
+    url = request_url(method, params)
+    response = XmlSimple.xml_in(http_get(url), { 'ForceArray' => false })
+    raise response['err']['msg'] if response['stat'] != 'ok'
+    response
+  end
+
+  # acts like request but returns a PhotoCollection (a list of Photo objects)
+  def photos_request(method, params={})
+    photos = request(method, params)
+    PhotoCollection.new(photos, @api_key)
+  end
+  
+  # Builds url for Flickr API REST request from given the flickr method name 
+  # (exclusing the 'flickr.' that begins each method call) and params (where
+  # applicable) which should be supplied as a Hash (e.g 'user_id' => "foo123")
+  def request_url(method, params={})
+    method = 'flickr.' + method
+    url = "#{@host}#{@api}/?api_key=#{@api_key}&method=#{method}"
+    params.merge!('api_key' => @api_key, 'method' => method, 'auth_token' => @auth_token)
+    signature = signature_from(params) 
+    
+    url = "#{@host}#{@api}/?" + params.merge('api_sig' => signature).collect { |k,v| "#{k}=" + CGI::escape(v.to_s) unless v.nil? }.compact.join("&")
+  end
+  
+  def signature_from(params={})
+    return unless @shared_secret # don't both getting signature if no shared_secret
+    request_str = params.reject {|k,v| v.nil?}.collect {|p| "#{p[0].to_s}#{p[1]}"}.sort.join # build key value pairs, sort in alpha order then join them, ignoring those with nil value
+    return Digest::MD5.hexdigest("#{@shared_secret}#{request_str}")
+  end
+  
+  # A collection of photos is returned as a PhotoCollection, a subclass of Array.
+  # This allows us to retain the pagination info returned by Flickr and make it
+  # accessible in a friendly way
+  class PhotoCollection < Array
+    attr_reader :page, :pages, :perpage, :total
+    
+    # builds a PhotoCollection from given params, such as those returned from 
+    # photos.search API call
+    def initialize(photos_api_response={}, api_key=nil)
+      [ "page", "pages", "perpage", "total" ].each { |i| instance_variable_set("@#{i}", photos_api_response["photos"][i])} 
+      collection = photos_api_response['photos']['photo'] || []
+      collection = [collection] if collection.is_a? Hash
+      collection.each { |photo| self << Photo.new(photo.delete('id'), api_key, photo) }
+    end
+  end
+  
+  # Todo:
+  # logged_in?
+  # if logged in:
+  # flickr.blogs.getList
+  # flickr.favorites.add
+  # flickr.favorites.remove
+  # flickr.groups.browse
+  # flickr.photos.getCounts
+  # flickr.photos.getNotInSet
+  # flickr.photos.getUntagged
+  # flickr.photosets.create
+  # flickr.photosets.orderSets
+  # flickr.test.login
+  # uploading
+  class User
+    
+    attr_reader :client, :id, :name, :location, :photos_url, :url, :count, :firstdate, :firstdatetaken
+
+    # A Flickr::User can be instantiated in two ways. The old (deprecated) 
+    # method is with an ordered series of values. The new method is with a 
+    # params Hash, which is easier when a variable number of params are 
+    # supplied, which is the case here, and also avoids having to constantly
+    # supply nil values for the email and password, which are now irrelevant
+    # as authentication is no longer done this way. 
+    # An associated flickr client will also be generated if an api key is 
+    # passed among the arguments or in the params hash. Alternatively, and
+    # most likely, an existing client object may be passed in the params hash 
+    # (e.g. 'client' => some_existing_flickr_client_object), and this is
+    # what happends when users are initlialized as the result of a method 
+    # called on the flickr client (e.g. flickr.users)
+    def initialize(id_or_params_hash=nil, username=nil, email=nil, password=nil, api_key=nil)
+      if id_or_params_hash.is_a?(Hash)
+        id_or_params_hash.each { |k,v| self.instance_variable_set("@#{k}", v) } # convert extra_params into instance variables
+      else
+        @id = id_or_params_hash
+        @username = username
+        @email = email
+        @password = password
+        @api_key = api_key
+      end
+      @client ||= Flickr.new('api_key' => @api_key, 'shared_secret' => @shared_secret, 'auth_token' => @auth_token) if @api_key
+      @client.login(@email, @password) if @email and @password # this is now irrelevant as Flickr API no longer supports authentication this way
+    end
+
+    def username
+      @username.nil? ? getInfo.username : @username
+    end
+    def name
+      @name.nil? ? getInfo.name : @name
+    end
+    def location
+      @location.nil? ? getInfo.location : @location
+    end
+    def count
+      @count.nil? ? getInfo.count : @count
+    end
+    def firstdate
+      @firstdate.nil? ? getInfo.firstdate : @firstdate
+    end
+    def firstdatetaken
+      @firstdatetaken.nil? ? getInfo.firstdatetaken : @firstdatetaken
+    end
+    
+    # Builds url for user's photos page as per 
+    # http://www.flickr.com/services/api/misc.urls.html
+    def photos_url
+      "http://www.flickr.com/photos/#{id}/"
+    end
+        
+    # Builds url for user's profile page as per 
+    # http://www.flickr.com/services/api/misc.urls.html
+    def url
+      "http://www.flickr.com/people/#{id}/"
+    end
+    
+    def pretty_url
+      @pretty_url ||= @client.urls_getUserProfile('user_id'=>@id)['user']['url']
+    end
+    
+    # Implements flickr.people.getPublicGroups
+    def groups
+      collection = @client.people_getPublicGroups('user_id'=>@id)['groups']['group']
+      collection = [collection] if collection.is_a? Hash
+      collection.collect { |group| Group.new( "id" => group['nsid'], 
+                                           "name" => group['name'],
+                                           "eighteenplus" => group['eighteenplus'],
+                                           "client" => @client) }
+    end
+    
+    # Implements flickr.people.getPublicPhotos. Options hash allows you to add
+    # extra restrictions as per flickr.people.getPublicPhotos docs, e.g. 
+    # user.photos('per_page' => '25', 'extras' => 'date_taken')
+    def photos(options={})
+      @client.photos_request('people.getPublicPhotos', {'user_id' => @id}.merge(options))
+      # what about non-public photos?
+    end
+
+    # Gets photos with a given tag
+    def tag(tag)
+      @client.photos('user_id'=>@id, 'tags'=>tag)
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.contacts.getPublicList and flickr.contacts.getList
+    def contacts
+      @client.contacts_getPublicList('user_id'=>@id)['contacts']['contact'].collect { |contact| User.new(contact['nsid'], contact['username'], nil, nil, @api_key) }
+      #or
+    end
+    
+    # Implements flickr.favorites.getPublicList
+    def favorites
+      @client.photos_request('favorites.getPublicList', 'user_id' => @id)
+    end
+    
+    # Implements flickr.photosets.getList
+    def photosets
+      @client.photosets_getList('user_id'=>@id)['photosets']['photoset'].collect { |photoset| Photoset.new(photoset['id'], @api_key) }
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.tags.getListUser
+    def tags
+      @client.tags_getListUser('user_id'=>@id)['who']['tags']['tag'].collect { |tag| tag }
+    end
+
+		# Implements flickr.tags.getListUserPopular
+		def popular_tags(count = 10)
+			@client.tags_getListUserPopular('user_id'=>@id, 'count'=> count)['who']['tags']['tag'].each { |tag_score| tag_score["tag"] = tag_score.delete("content") }
+		end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.getContactsPublicPhotos and flickr.photos.getContactsPhotos
+    def contactsPhotos
+      @client.photos_request('photos.getContactsPublicPhotos', 'user_id' => @id)
+    end
+    
+    def to_s
+      @name
+    end
+
+    private
+
+      # Implements flickr.people.getInfo, flickr.urls.getUserPhotos, and flickr.urls.getUserProfile
+      def getInfo
+        info = @client.people_getInfo('user_id'=>@id)['person']
+        @username = info['username']
+        @name = info['realname']
+        @location = info['location']
+        @count = info['photos']['count']
+        @firstdate = info['photos']['firstdate']
+        @firstdatetaken = info['photos']['firstdatetaken']
+        self
+      end
+
+  end
+
+  class Photo
+
+    attr_reader :id, :client, :title
+
+    def initialize(id=nil, api_key=nil, extra_params={})
+      @id = id
+      @api_key = api_key
+      extra_params.each { |k,v| self.instance_variable_set("@#{k}", v) } # convert extra_params into instance variables
+      @client = Flickr.new @api_key
+    end
+    
+    # Allows access to all photos instance variables through hash like 
+    # interface, e.g. photo["datetaken"] returns @datetaken instance 
+    # variable. Useful for accessing any weird and wonderful parameter
+    # that may have been returned by Flickr when finding the photo,
+    # e.g. those returned by the extras argument in 
+    # flickr.people.getPublicPhotos
+    def [](param_name)
+      instance_variable_get("@#{param_name}")
+    end
+    
+    def title
+      @title.nil? ? getInfo("title") : @title
+    end
+    
+    # Returns the owner of the photo as a Flickr::User. If we have no info 
+    # about the owner, we make an API call to get it. If we already have
+    # the owner's id, create a user based on that. Either way, we cache the
+    # result so we don't need to check again
+    def owner
+      case @owner
+      when Flickr::User
+        @owner
+      when String
+        @owner = Flickr::User.new(@owner, nil, nil, nil, @api_key)
+      else
+        getInfo("owner")
+      end
+    end
+
+    def server
+      @server.nil? ? getInfo("server") : @server
+    end
+
+    def isfavorite
+      @isfavorite.nil? ? getInfo("isfavorite") : @isfavorite
+    end
+
+    def license
+      @license.nil? ? getInfo("license") : @license
+    end
+
+    def rotation
+      @rotation.nil? ? getInfo("rotation") : @rotation
+    end
+
+    def description
+      @description || getInfo("description")
+    end
+
+    def notes
+      @notes.nil? ? getInfo("notes") : @notes
+    end
+
+    # Returns the URL for the photo size page
+    # defaults to 'Medium'
+    # other valid sizes are in the VALID_SIZES hash
+    def size_url(size='Medium')
+      uri_for_photo_from_self(size) || sizes(size)['url']
+    end
+
+    # converts string or symbol size to a capitalized string
+    def normalize_size(size)
+      size ? size.to_s.capitalize : size
+    end
+
+    # the URL for the main photo page
+    # if getInfo has already been called, this will return the pretty url
+    #
+    # for historical reasons, an optional size can be given
+    # 'Medium' returns the regular url; any other size returns a size page
+    # use size_url instead
+    def url(size = nil)
+      if normalize_size(size) != 'Medium'
+        size_url(size)
+      else
+        @url || uri_for_photo_from_self
+      end
+    end
+
+    # the 'pretty' url for a photo
+    # (if the user has set up a custom name)
+    # eg, http://flickr.com/photos/granth/2584402507/ instead of
+    #     http://flickr.com/photos/23386158@N00/2584402507/
+    def pretty_url
+      @url || getInfo("pretty_url")
+    end
+
+    # Returns the URL for the image (default or any specified size)
+    def source(size='Medium')
+      image_source_uri_from_self(size) || sizes(size)['source']
+    end
+
+    # Returns the photo file data itself, in any specified size. Example: File.open(photo.title, 'w') { |f| f.puts photo.file }
+    def file(size='Medium')
+      Net::HTTP.get_response(URI.parse(source(size))).body
+    end
+
+    # Unique filename for the image, based on the Flickr NSID
+    def filename
+      "#{@id}.jpg"
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.getContext
+    def context
+      context = @client.photos_getContext('photo_id'=>@id)
+      @previousPhoto = Photo.new(context['prevphoto'].delete('id'), @api_key, context['prevphoto']) if context['prevphoto']['id']!='0'
+      @nextPhoto = Photo.new(context['nextphoto'].delete('id'), @api_key, context['nextphoto']) if context['nextphoto']['id']!='0'
+      return [@previousPhoto, @nextPhoto]
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.getExif
+    def exif
+      @client.photos_getExif('photo_id'=>@id)['photo']
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.getPerms
+    def permissions
+      @client.photos_getPerms('photo_id'=>@id)['perms']
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.getSizes
+    def sizes(size=nil)
+      size = normalize_size(size)
+      sizes = @client.photos_getSizes('photo_id'=>@id)['sizes']['size']
+      sizes = sizes.find{|asize| asize['label']==size} if size
+      return sizes
+    end
+
+    # flickr.tags.getListPhoto
+    def tags
+      @client.tags_getListPhoto('photo_id'=>@id)['photo']['tags']
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.notes.add
+    def add_note(note)
+    end
+    
+    # Implements flickr.photos.setDates
+    def dates=(dates)
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.setPerms
+    def perms=(perms)
+    end
+    
+    # Implements flickr.photos.setTags
+    def tags=(tags)
+    end
+    
+    # Implements flickr.photos.setMeta
+    def title=(title)
+    end
+    def description=(title)
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.addTags
+    def add_tag(tag)
+    end
+    
+    # Implements flickr.photos.removeTag
+    def remove_tag(tag)
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.transform.rotate
+    def rotate
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.blogs.postPhoto
+    def postToBlog(blog_id, title='', description='')
+      @client.blogs_postPhoto('photo_id'=>@id, 'title'=>title, 'description'=>description)
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.notes.delete
+    def deleteNote(note_id)
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photos.notes.edit
+    def editNote(note_id)
+    end
+        
+    # Converts the Photo to a string by returning its title
+    def to_s
+      title
+    end
+    
+    private
+
+      # Implements flickr.photos.getInfo
+      def getInfo(attrib="")
+        return instance_variable_get("@#{attrib}") if @got_info
+        info = @client.photos_getInfo('photo_id'=>@id)['photo']
+        @got_info = true
+        info.each { |k,v| instance_variable_set("@#{k}", v)}
+        @owner = User.new(info['owner']['nsid'], info['owner']['username'], nil, nil, @api_key)
+        @tags = info['tags']['tag']
+        @notes = info['notes']['note']#.collect { |note| Note.new(note.id) }
+        @url = info['urls']['url']['content'] # assumes only one url
+        instance_variable_get("@#{attrib}")
+      end
+      
+      # Builds source uri of image from params (often returned from other 
+      # methods, e.g. User#photos). As specified at: 
+      # http://www.flickr.com/services/api/misc.urls.html. If size is given 
+      # should be one the keys in the VALID_SIZES hash, i.e.
+      # "Square", "Thumbnail", "Medium", "Large", "Original", "Small" (These
+      # are the values returned by flickr.photos.getSizes).
+      # If no size is given the uri for "Medium"-size image, i.e. with width
+      # of 500 is returned
+      # TODO: Handle "Original" size
+      def image_source_uri_from_self(size=nil)
+        return unless @farm&&@server&&@id&&@secret
+        s_size = VALID_SIZES[normalize_size(size)] # get the short letters array corresponding to the size
+        s_size = s_size&&s_size[0] # the first element of this array is used to build the source uri
+        if s_size.nil?
+          "http://farm#{@farm}.static.flickr.com/#{@server}/#{@id}_#{@secret}.jpg"
+        else
+          "http://farm#{@farm}.static.flickr.com/#{@server}/#{@id}_#{@secret}_#{s_size}.jpg"
+        end
+      end
+      
+      # Builds uri of Flickr page for photo. By default returns the main 
+      # page for the photo, but if passed a size will return the simplified
+      # flickr page featuring the given size of the photo
+      # TODO: Handle "Original" size
+      def uri_for_photo_from_self(size=nil)
+        return unless @owner&&@id
+        size = normalize_size(size)
+        s_size = VALID_SIZES[size] # get the short letters array corresponding to the size
+        s_size = s_size&&s_size[1] # the second element of this array is used to build the uri of the flickr page for this size
+        "http://www.flickr.com/photos/#{owner.id}/#{@id}" + (s_size ? "/sizes/#{s_size}/" : "")
+      end
+  end
+
+  # Todo:
+  # flickr.groups.pools.add
+  # flickr.groups.pools.getContext
+  # flickr.groups.pools.getGroups
+  # flickr.groups.pools.getPhotos
+  # flickr.groups.pools.remove
+  class Group
+    attr_reader :id, :client, :description, :name, :eighteenplus, :members, :online, :privacy, :url#, :chatid, :chatcount
+    
+    def initialize(id_or_params_hash=nil, api_key=nil)
+      if id_or_params_hash.is_a?(Hash)
+        id_or_params_hash.each { |k,v| self.instance_variable_set("@#{k}", v) } # convert extra_params into instance variables
+      else
+        @id = id_or_params_hash
+        @api_key = api_key      
+        @client = Flickr.new @api_key
+      end
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.groups.getInfo and flickr.urls.getGroup
+    # private, once we can call it as needed
+    def getInfo
+      info = @client.groups_getInfo('group_id'=>@id)['group']
+      @name = info['name']
+      @members = info['members']
+      @online = info['online']
+      @privacy = info['privacy']
+      # @chatid = info['chatid']
+      # @chatcount = info['chatcount']
+      @url = @client.urls_getGroup('group_id'=>@id)['group']['url']
+      self
+    end
+
+  end
+
+  # Todo:
+  # flickr.photosets.delete
+  # flickr.photosets.editMeta
+  # flickr.photosets.editPhotos
+  # flickr.photosets.getContext
+  # flickr.photosets.getInfo
+  # flickr.photosets.getPhotos
+  class Photoset
+
+    attr_reader :id, :client, :owner, :primary, :photos, :title, :description, :url
+
+    def initialize(id=nil, api_key=nil)
+      @id = id
+      @api_key = api_key
+      @client = Flickr.new @api_key
+    end
+
+    # Implements flickr.photosets.getInfo
+    # private, once we can call it as needed
+    def getInfo
+      info = @client.photosets_getInfo('photoset_id'=>@id)['photoset']
+      @owner = User.new(info['owner'], nil, nil, nil, @api_key)
+      @primary = info['primary']
+      @photos = info['photos']
+      @title = info['title']
+      @description = info['description']
+      @url = "http://www.flickr.com/photos/#{@owner.getInfo.username}/sets/#{@id}/"
+      self
+    end
+    
+    def getPhotos
+      photosetPhotos = @client.request('photosets.getPhotos', {'photoset_id' => @id})
+      
+      collection = []
+      photosetPhotos['photoset']['photo'].each { |photo| collection << Photo.new(photo, @api_key) }
+      collection
+    end
+
+  end
+  
+end