What is Gravatar? Gravatar is explained on the Gravatar website as:

The Gravatar explanation above is directed more towards end-users. However as a developer you may be wondering, how can i use this within my own application?

The Gravatar API is documented online but it is rather easy if all you want to do is simply grab the image associated with a specific email address.

The following method can be used for obtaining a Gravatar image from the web:

// GRAVATAR_GET_IMAGE //* C_TEXT($1) := Email address to show gravatar for //* C_TEXT($2) := Rating of Gravatar(G, PG, R, X) //* C_BOOLEAN($3) := Secure/SSL. True to use https, False or omitted to not //* C_PICTURE($0) := picture var for image found */ C_TEXT($1;$email;$2;$rating;$md5;$grav_base_url;$grav_image_url) C_BOOLEAN($3;$secure) C_PICTURE($0;$image_out) If (Count parameters>0)    $email:=Replace string(Lowercase($1);char(SP ASCII code);"")    If (Count parameters>1)       $rating:=$2 // pass the rating specified (valid ratings are; G, PG, R, X)    Else       $rating:="G" // param 2 doesnt exist, set the rating to G rated images    End if    If (Count parameters>2)       $secure:=$3    Else       $secure:=False    End if     // get md5 hash of email    $md5:=Generate digest($email;MD5 digest)     // build gravatar base url    If ($secure)       $grav_base_url:="https://secure.gravatar.com"    Else       $grav_base_url:="http://www.gravatar.com"    End if     // build gravatar image url    $grav_image_url:=$grav_base_url+"/avatar/"+$md5+"?r="+$rating     // download image to 4D picture var    HTTP Get($grav_image_url;$image_out)     // return image    $0:=$image_out End if

If the method above is saved as GRAVATAR_GET_IMAGE then it can be used in the following manner:

C_PICTURE(test) test:=GRAVATAR_GET_IMAGE ("tpenner@4d.com";"G";True)

If a Gravatar image is associated with the email address that image will be returned. Otherwise, if no image is associated with the email address the default Gravatar icon is return.

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Further Customization
The URL built can be further customized based on numerous variables found here.

For example;

• You can specify a default image to use if no image is found to be associated with the specified email address.
• You can instruct the server to return a unique icon based on the email address if no image is found
• You can specify a size in pixels for the image (the image is always square)