# Azure Mobile Apps: Javascript Client SDK
With Microsoft Azure Mobile Apps you can add a scalable backend to your connected client applications in minutes. To learn more about Azure Mobile Apps, visit the [Mobile Apps documentation](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/learning-paths/appservice-mobileapps/).
This repository contains code for the [azure-mobile-apps-client](https://www.npmjs.com/package/azure-mobile-apps-client) npm package and the [cordova-plugin-ms-azure-mobile-apps](https://www.npmjs.com/package/cordova-plugin-ms-azure-mobile-apps) Cordova plugin.
The Cordova plugin is published from the [Azure/azure-mobile-apps-cordova-client](https://github.com/Azure/azure-mobile-apps-cordova-client) repository by bundling source code in this repository. Refer [Azure/azure-mobile-apps-cordova-client](https://github.com/Azure/azure-mobile-apps-cordova-client) for more details about the Cordova plugin.
The following sections explain how to use the [Javascript client SDK](https://www.npmjs.com/package/azure-mobile-apps-client). You can also refer [How to Use the JavaScript Client Library for Azure Mobile Apps](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/app-service-mobile-html-how-to-use-client-library/) for more details.
## Support
The JavaScript client is primarily suited to Apache Cordova uses. Offline Sync is only supported in Apache Cordova situations.
We test on the following platforms for Apache Cordova v6.0.0:
* Android API 19-24 (KitKat through Nougat)
* iOS versions 8.0 and later.
* Windows Phone 8.1
* Universal Windows Platform
The JavaScript client is also usable for data access in web clients. We support any platform that supports ECMAScript 5.1.
## Usage instructions
You can consume the SDK in one of the following ways.
1. Reference the SDK bundle in HTML's script tag
2. Use the SDK bundle as a CommonJS module
3. Use the SDK bundle as an AMD module
4. Use the SDK as an npm package
The _latest_ SDK bundle is available at https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.js and https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.min.js.
To use a specific version of the SDK (recommended), use the bundle at https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.__VERSION__.js or https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.__VERSION__.min.js, where \__VERSION\__ represents a valid version.
### Sample usage
Here are a few examples of how you can use the SDK.
#### Use the SDK as a Javascript bundle
```
```
#### Use the SDK as an npm package
Install the SDK from npm: `npm install azure-mobile-apps-client`
OR
Install the SDK from github: `npm install azure/azure-mobile-apps-js-client`
You can now use it in your Javascript code as follows:
```
var WindowsAzure = require('azure-mobile-apps-client');
// Create a reference to the Azure App Service
var clientRef = new WindowsAzure.MobileServiceClient('https://YOUR-SITE-NAME.azurewebsites.net');
```
You can bundle your Javascript code using either [WebPack](https://webpack.github.io/) or [Browserify](http://browserify.org/).
## Offline data sync
[This page](./offline-sync.md) explains the offline data sync feature in detail.
## API reference
Refer https://azure.github.io/azure-mobile-apps-js-client for detailed API reference.
## SDK downloads
- latest [unminified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.js) and [minified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.min.js)
- version 2.0.0 [unminified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.2.0.0.js) and [minified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.2.0.0.min.js)
- version 2.0.0-rc1 [unminified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.2.0.0-rc1.js) and [minified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.2.0.0-rc1.min.js)
- version 2.0.0-beta5 [unminified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.2.0.0-beta5.js) and [minified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.2.0.0-beta5.min.js)
- version 2.0.0-beta4 [unminified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.2.0.0-beta4.js) and [minified](https://zumo.blob.core.windows.net/sdk/azure-mobile-apps-client.2.0.0-beta4.min.js)
## Build instructions
To build the SDK bundle yourself, follow these steps:
```
git clone https://github.com/Azure/azure-mobile-apps-js-client.git
cd azure-mobile-apps-js-client
npm install
npm run build
```
The built files will be copied to the `/dist` directory. The bundles for use by a web app in a browser are _azure-mobile-apps-client.js_ and _azure-mobile-apps-client.min.js_. The bundle for use by the [azure/azure-mobile-apps-cordova-client](https://github.com/Azure/azure-mobile-apps-cordova-client) repository is _azure-mobile-apps-client-cordova.js_.
## Running Unit Tests
To run unit tests for the browser, run:
```
npm run browserut
```
## Future work
Brief list of work planned in the future:
- ability to cancel push and pull operations
- triggering a push automatically when a pull is performed
- support for math and date/time functions while querying for records
- callback to allow changing how records are sent to the server during a push
- configurable ID column. Currently ID column has to be named 'id'.
All these will be added over a series of updates in the next few days. Stay tuned!
## Useful Resources
* [Getting Started with Azure Mobile Apps](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/learning-paths/appservice-mobileapps/)
* [Quickstart](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/app-service-mobile-html-how-to-use-client-library/)
* [Azure Mobile Apps Cordova plugin](https://github.com/Azure/azure-mobile-apps-cordova-client)
* Tutorials and product overview are available at [Microsoft Azure Mobile Apps Developer Center](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/develop/mobile).
* Our product team actively monitors the [Mobile Services Developer Forum](http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/azuremobile/) to assist you with any troubles.
## Contribute Code or Provide Feedback
This project has adopted the [Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct](https://opensource.microsoft.com/codeofconduct/). For more information see the [Code of Conduct FAQ](https://opensource.microsoft.com/codeofconduct/faq/) or contact [opencode@microsoft.com](mailto:opencode@microsoft.com) with any additional questions or comments.
If you would like to become an active contributor to this project please follow the instructions provided in [Microsoft Azure Projects Contribution Guidelines](http://azure.github.com/guidelines.html).
If you encounter any bugs with the library please file an issue in the [Issues](https://github.com/Azure/azure-mobile-apps-js-client/issues) section of the project.