[SalesForce] How to post to Chatter from Visualforce using Javascript

Hi I'm creating a Visualforce intented for mobile devices, and I would like to know if it is possible to use the javascript canvas api to post to Chatter.

I've seen one example in here (https://github.com/forcedotcom/Delivery-Tracker-Java-App/blob/master/src/main/webapp/scripts/shipment.js), but I can't make it work inside my Visualforce .

Does anyone know how to do this?

Update: I would like to know a solution that works inside a PE org.

Best Answer

Given the limitations of Professional Edition (no Apex Classes or Salesforce API) I can think of a few:

1. Remote Objects (coming in Spring '14)

Remoting without the need for Apex Code: Andy Fawcett has a great introduction to Remote Objects.

<apex:page>
  <apex:remoteObjects>
    <apex:remoteObjectModel name="FeedItem__c" jsShorthand="Post" fields="Body, ParentId">
      <apex:remoteObjectField name="Body" jsShorthand="body"/>
    </apex:remoteObjectModel>
  </apex:remoteObjects>
  <script>

    //create the record
    var post = new SObjectModel.Post({
      Body = 'Herp derp chatter post here!',
      ParentId = '{!$User.Id}'
    });

    //go postal
    post.create();

  </script>
</apex:page>

2. Use SFORCE javascript tool after installing some API-enabled app

The sforce 'AJAX toolkit' may be suitable if you can get API access enabled for the PE organization.

<apex:page>
  <apex:includeScript value="/soap/ajax/29.0/connection.js" />
  <script>

    //create the record
    var post = new sforce.SObject('FeedItem');
    post.Body = 'Herp derp chatter post here!';
    post.ParentId = '{!$User.Id}';

    //go postal
    sforce.connection.create([post]);

  </script>
</apex:page>

Related Solutions

[SalesForce] Attaching image to chatter post using Chatter rest API

I was able to copy and execute your code as standalone java project, here is the code it works like charm and creates the chatter post with image and text. Seems this is because of the way HTTP request is composed by SalesforceRestClient. Try sending the post request using HTTP Client lib directly i.e. without SalesforceRestClient, it might work

import java.io.File;
import java.nio.charset.Charset;

import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
import org.apache.http.entity.mime.HttpMultipartMode;
import org.apache.http.entity.mime.MultipartEntity;
import org.apache.http.entity.mime.content.FileBody;
import org.apache.http.entity.mime.content.StringBody;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
import org.apache.http.util.EntityUtils;

public class Test {
    // TODO:change node from ap1 to your node
    private static final String RES_URL = "https://ap1.salesforce.com/services/data/v25.0/chatter/feeds/news/me/feed-items";
    // TODO:change this before run
    private static final String OAUTH_TOKEN = "OAuth <YOUR OATUH TOKEN GOES HERE>";

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
        HttpPost httppost;
        MultipartEntity reqEntity;
        httppost = new HttpPost(RES_URL);
        reqEntity = new MultipartEntity(HttpMultipartMode.BROWSER_COMPATIBLE);
        File imageFile = new File(
                "/Users/abhinav/Downloads/chatter-rest-test.jpeg");
        FileBody bin = new FileBody(imageFile);
        reqEntity.addPart("feedItemFileUpload", bin);
        String fileName = "chatter-rest-test.jpeg";
        // file name can be text plain only, though using text/html doesn't breaks
        reqEntity.addPart("fileName", new StringBody(fileName, "text/plain",
                Charset.defaultCharset()));
        // Sending text/html doesn't helps as HTML will be printed, though using text/html doesn't breaks
        reqEntity.addPart("text", new StringBody("Hellow World", "text/plain",
                Charset.defaultCharset()));
        reqEntity.addPart("feedItemFileUpload", new FileBody(imageFile,
                fileName, "application/octet-stream", Charset.defaultCharset()
                        .toString()));
        httppost.setEntity(reqEntity);

        httppost.setHeader("Authorization", OAUTH_TOKEN);

        String response = EntityUtils.toString(httpclient.execute(httppost)
                .getEntity(), "UTF-8");

        System.out.println(response);
        // Time to see the glorious post in web browser
    }
}

[SalesForce] Chatter post Owner

There is no owner for FeedItem records. Several of the other answers here are mixing up some of the relevant fields:

CreatedById is the user that authored this post. This is probably the closest analog for 'Owner'. This field is writable at insert time, e.g. for use in data loads that copy chatter feeds.
InsertedById is the user that inserted this post into the system; generally the same as CreatedById but not always (e.g. in the case of a data load). This field is never writable.
ParentId is the object on which the post was made. This will always be a feed-enabled object, like User or Account. This field is writable at insert time.