alfresco tech talk live public api episode 64

Tech Talk Live: Alfresco Public API Update April 3, 2013 Peter Monks, pmonks@alfresco.com Greg Melahn, greg.melahn@alfresco.com

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/pmonks@alfresco.com

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/fred.bloggs@example.com/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/fred.bloggs@example.com/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/fred.bloggs@example.com/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/fred.bloggs@example.com/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/fred.bloggs@example.com/

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/fred.bloggs@example.com/

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/fred.bloggs@example.com/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/fred.bloggs@example.com/

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?