Getting a Custom Field Value on a Contact with Javascript API

Question

I have a custom field for contacts that I would like to retrieve the value for using JavaScript.

Using the API explorer I have generated the code that does this. It works PERFECTLY from the API explorer (which uses PHP).

However, when I run the Javascript code in my extension I get an error. Here is the code:

CRM.api3('Contact', 'getvalue', {
  "sequential": 1,
  "return": ["custom_102"], //custom_fieldId
   "id": 2 // contact id
 }).done(function(result) {
   // do something
 });

Here is the error:

Object {
    invalid_field: Array[1],
    is_error: 1, 
    error_message: "field Array unset or not existing" } 
    error_message : "field Array unset or not existing"
    invalid_field : Array[1] 
         0 : "custom_102"

I am at a complete loss here... and would really appreciate some help!

Answer 1

The syntax is incorrect - and I just confirmed that the syntax generated by the API Explorer for Getvalue is incorrect, so you're not to blame!

The culprit is this line:

"return": ["custom_102"],

In JSON, the square brackets indicate an array. "return" expects an array for a Get action, but Getvalue accepts only a single value (for the obvious reason). If you remove the brackets:

CRM.api3('Contact', 'getvalue', {
  "sequential": 1,
  "return": "custom_102", //custom_fieldId
   "id": 2 // contact id
 }).done(function(result) {
   // do something
 });

You should be in business!