alfresco tech talk live public api episode 64
DESCRIPTION
Slide deck to accompany episode 64 of Tech Talk Live on Alfresco's public APITRANSCRIPT
Tech Talk Live: Alfresco Public API Update April 3, 2013 Peter Monks, [email protected] Greg Melahn, [email protected]
Agenda
• Overview • What’s New • Demo of the API in Action • Roadmap • Questions and Answers
Overview
Folder, file, content and metadata manipulation and search
Networks, sites, people, comments, tags, activities, …
Overview
Overview
• API URLs are structured: – Tenant – API scope – API name – API version – Entity type
https://api.alfresco.com/
* The notion of entity types doesn’t apply to CMIS.
*
public/ acme.com/ sites alfresco/ versions/1/
Overview
• The entity type URL represents a collection of all instances of that entity – The collection may or may not be retrievable
via a GET • Each instance of an entity can be
accessed via the collection URL with an Id appended
.../acme.com/public/alfresco/versions/1/sites/mullet-gallery
Overview
• Entity types may also be nested
• The same rule about retrieving instances by Id applies
.../acme.com/public/alfresco/versions/1/sites/mullet-gallery/members
.../acme.com/public/alfresco/versions/1/sites/mullet-gallery/members/[email protected]
Overview
• Creating a new entity instance: – POST to the collection URL
• Updating an entity instance: – PUT to the instance URL
• Deleting an entity instance: – DELETE against the instance URL
• These rules apply regardless of whether it’s a top-level or nested collection
Overview
As of today: • Only the “public” API scope is exposed • API names are:
– alfresco – CMIS
• Alfresco top-level entity types are: – sites – people – tags – nodes
Overview
• Over time the API will grow simply by adding new entity types
• All new entity types will follow the same rules
• The APIs (tenants, API scopes, API names, API versions, entity types, etc.) are fully discoverable – No more relying on Alfresco version numbers!
What’s New
• oAuth Key Improvements • Favorites API • Site Membership Request API
oAuth Key Improvements
• Refresh keys last longer – now 28 Days • Still secure, but more convenient! • Users returning from leave won’t need to
re-authenticate { "access_token":"ad299019-c308-4588-84e6-fc76ee73fb35", "token_type":"Bearer", "expires_in":3600, "refresh_token":" ", "scope":"public_api" }
Favorites API
• Favorites ( ) or Favourites ( ) ? • A new Entity Type • A new Collection under Person
– people/<personId>/favorites!• Sites, Folders and Files can be made
Favorites • Introduction of the WHERE parameter for
filtering of the favorites result set
Entity Type Property Type JSON Type Description
targetGuid id string The guid of the entity that is a favorite
createdAt date time string The date and time the object was made a favorite
target object object The object that is a favorite. This can be site, a folder or a file
API Patterns
• Getting favorites – HTTP GET people/<personId>/favorites!
• Getting a favorite – HTTP GET people/<personId>/favorites/<targetGuid>!
• Adding a favorite – HTTP POST people/<personId>/favorites!
• Removing a favorite • HTTP DELETE people/<personId>/favorites/
<targetGuid>!
• No PUT needed because the Favorite entity has no properties that can be modified by the client.
Example – Getting Favorites Request
HTTP GET people/[email protected]/favorites
Paging parameters (skipCount and maxItems) can be used to control response size.
Example – Getting Favorites Response
HTTP 200 OK ! { ! ! !"list" : {! ! ! ! "pagination" : {! ! ! ! !"count" : 3,! ! ! ! !"hasMoreItems" : false,! ! ! ! !"skipCount" : 0,! ! ! ! !"maxItems" : 100! },! ! ! ! "entries" : [!
! ! ! {! "entry" : { "targetGuid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f", "createdAt" : "2012-07-20T21:46:09.659+0000", "target": { "site" : {! "id" : "foo",! "guid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f",! ! ! ! ! "title" : "The Foo Site",!
"visibility" : "PRIVATE",!! ! ! ! "description" : "The Foo Site",!! ! ! ! ! "role" : "SiteManager”!! ! ! }!! ! ! }!! ! ! } ! ! }, … more entries (one per favorite)
Example – Getting a Favorite Request
HTTP GET people/[email protected]/favorites/8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f!! ! !
Example – Getting a Favorite Response
HTTP 200 OK!! ! !{!
"entry" : { "targetGuid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f", "createdAt" : "2012-07-20T21:46:09.659+0000", "target": { "site" : {! "id" : "foo",! "guid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f",! ! ! ! "title" : "The Foo Site",! "visibility" : "PRIVATE",!
! ! ! ! "description" : "The Foo Site",!! ! ! ! !"role" : "SiteManager”!! ! ! ! }!
! ! ! }!! ! ! } ! ! }
Notice we return the role as a convenience to reduce the need for more requests later
Example – Adding a Favorite Request
HTTP POST people/[email protected]/favorites!{! "target": { "site" : { ! "guid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f"! } ! } }
Example – Adding a Favorite Response
HTTP 201 Created !! ! !{!
"entry" : { "targetGuid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f", "createdAt" : "2012-07-20T21:46:09.659+0000", "target": { "site" : {! "id" : "foo",! "guid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f",! ! ! ! "title" : "The Foo Site",!
"visibility" : "PRIVATE",!! ! ! ! "description" : "The Foo Site",!! ! ! ! "role" : "SiteManager”!! ! ! ! }!! ! }!! ! } ! ! }
Example – Removing a Favorite Request
HTTP DELETE people/[email protected]/favorites/8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f!!Response
HTTP 204 No Content! !
Introducing the where parameter
• Used to limit the response to only those favorites meeting certain criteria
• Uses an SQL like predicate, EXISTS • JSON pointer syntax used as values
– target/file – target/folder – target/site
• e.g. where=(EXISTS(target/file) OR EXISTS(target/folder)) !
Site Membership Request API • A new Entity Type • A new Collection under Person
– people/<personId>/site-membership-requests!
• Requests to join moderated sites go into the approval workflow just as in the Share app
• Requests to join public sites are implicitly granted • Requests to join private sites are just ignored
– and a 404 hides the existence of the private site • You can only request to join a site in your own
network
Entity Type Property Type JSON
Type Description
id id string The id of the site
site object object The site for which this is a request
message string string A message from the requester explaining why membership in the site is being requested (optional)
createdAt date time string The date and time the site membership request was made
modifiedAt date time string The date and time the site membership request was changed
API Patterns
• Getting a list of site membership requests – HTTP GET people/<personId>/site-membership-requests!
• Requesting to join a site – HTTP POST people/<personId>/site-membership-requests!
• Changing a request – HTTP PUT people/<personId>/site-membership-requests/<siteId>!
• Withdrawing a request • HTTP DELETE people/<personId>/site-membership-
requests/<siteId>
Example – Getting a List of Site Membership Requests
Request HTTP GET people/[email protected]/
site-membership-requests!
Example – Getting a List of Site Membership Requests
Response HTTP 200 OK !
{ ! ! !"list" : {! ! ! ! "pagination" : {! ! ! ! !"count" : 3,! ! ! ! !"hasMoreItems" : false,! ! ! ! !"skipCount" : 0,! ! ! ! !"maxItems" : 100! ! ! },! "entries" : [!
{ ! ! ! "entry": { "id" : "the-secret-site", "createdAt" : "2012-07-20T21:46:09.659+0000", "modifiedAt" : "2012-07-20T21:46:09.659+0000", "message" : "I am working on the secret project too!", ! "site" : {! "id" : "the-secret-site",! "guid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f",! "title" : "The Company’s Secret Site",! "visibility" : "MODERATED",! "description" : "The Company’s Secret Site" ! }!
}! }, … more entries (one per request)
Example – Requesting to Join a Site
Request HTTP POST people/[email protected]/
site-membership-requests!!
{ "id" : "the-secret-site", "message" : "I am working on the secret project too!" } !
Example – Requesting to Join a Site
Response HTTP 201 Created !
{ ! ! ! "entry": { "id" : "the-secret-site", "createdAt" : "2012-07-20T21:46:09.659+0000", "modifiedAt" : "2012-07-20T21:46:09.659+0000", "message" : "I am working on the secret project”, ! "site" : {!
"id" : "the-secret-site",! "guid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f",! "title" : "The Company’s Secret Site",! "visibility" : "MODERATED",! "description" : "The Company’s Secret Site" ! }!
} } !
Example – Changing a Request to Join a Site
Request HTTP PUT people/[email protected]/site-
membership-requests/the-secret-site!!
{ "id" : "the-secret-site", "message" : "I really need access!" } !
Example – Changing a Request to Join a Site
Response HTTP 200 OK!
{ ! ! ! "entry": { "id" : "the-secret-site", "createdAt" : "2012-07-20T21:46:09.659+0000", "modifiedAt" : "2013-04-03T16:41:11.659+0000", "message" : “I really need access!", ! "site" : {!
"id" : "the-secret-site",! "guid" : "8ac18731-601b-4bb4-be1a-cd5d252cce3f",! "title" : "The Company’s Secret Site",! "visibility" : "MODERATED",! "description" : "The Company’s Secret Site" ! }!
} } !
Example – Withdrawing a Request to Join a Site
Request HTTP DELETE people/[email protected]/
site-membership-requests/the-secret-site!!Request
HTTP 204 No Content!
The API in Action
• Demo
Roadmap • Merge APIs into Alfresco Enterprise v4.2 • New API types:
– User Provisioning (SCIM) – Workflow (Activiti)
• New API versions: – CMIS v1.1 – Alfresco v2 (?)
• New Alfresco API entity types: – renditions – bulk-imports (?)
Roadmap
• Binary property support • Projection & transclusion improvements
(“SELECT”) • Restriction improvements (“WHERE”) • Discoverability improvements
– In support of “executable documentation”
Try It Yourself
• Register for a Developer Key – http://www.alfresco.com/develop
• Read the Documentation – https://www.alfresco.com/cmis/browser?
id=workspace%3A//SpacesStore/b09d212a-00c6-4ec3-9764-0eca67bb8529
Questions?