IAM Identity Store People APIs - Overview --- DRAFT ---

DRAFT * DRAFT * DRAFT

This documentation is a work in progress and should not be use for production applications.

In this Section

Overview

These APIs provide search capability for People data that is published from the IAM Identity Store. These APIs will return general information about people, including names, system ids, affiliations, primary user accounts, and contact info.

Audience

This documentation is intended for developers who wish to perform a basic search on the public data within the IAM system from within their application via the REST with JSON interface.

This is currently the only interface available for this API. If you would like to see an XML interface please email middleware-api@ucdavis.edu.

Summary of People APIs

People API

The centerpiece of the Identity Store People APIs is backed by a de-normalized view of people information as described by the images below:

(TODO:: Insert image of CV_PEOPLE)

The data from this view is exposed through the People API, and is accessible at: https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/search

Accessing this data is as easy as passing your search parameters as query parameters in the url. For example, the following curl command would return information about the user, Gary Sharpe.

curl -i -H "Accept: application/json" https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/search?firstName=Gary&lastName=Sharpe&key=myKeyv&v=1.0

The specifics of the content returned are described in more detail below.

Supporting People APIs

Additional, supporting APIs are available to provide access to a subset of the data available in the de-normalized view, as well as other information about a person not available in the de-normalized view.

Official Name
Display Name
System Ids
Affiliations
Contact Info
Primary Kerberos Account
Primary HSAD Account

If you need assistance with this APIs, please email middleware-api@ucdavis.edu.

Application requirements

Each request must provide a valid application key. You may sign up for your own application key here <INSERT LINK>.

Using the JSON interface

The easiest way to start learning about this interface is to try it out. This section shows how to use the curl command line tool to execute sample queries.

Sample JSON Requests

 Attach this curl command to the beginning of any of the below sample requests:

curl -i -H "Accept: application/json"



People API

[https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/search?firstName=Gary&lastName=Sharpe&key=myKeyv&v=1.0]


DisplayName API

[https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/displayname/]{iamid}?key=myKeyv&v=1.0


SystemIds API

[https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/systemids/]{iamid}?key=myKeyv&v=1.0
[https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/systemids/search?mothraId=1111111&key=myKeyv&v=1.0]


Affiliations API

[https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/affiliations/]{iamid}?key=myKeyv&v=1.0
[https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/affiliations/isfaculty?key=myKeyv&v=1.0]



PriKerberosAccount

[https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/prikerbacct/]{iamid}&key=myKeyv&v=1.0

The response to all of the above requests have a Content-Type of text/javascript. An example response for the the following request is shown below:

curl -i -H "Accept: application/json" https://iet-ws-test.ucdavis.edu/api/iam/people/search?firstName=Gary&lastName=Sharpe&key=myKeyv&v=1.0

Sample JSON Response

{
  "responseData" : {
    "results" : [
{
"IAMId": "",
"mothraId": "",
"PPSId" : "",
"studentId": "",
"bannerPIdM": "",
"externalId": "",
"offFirstName" : "",
"offMiddleName": "",
"offLastName": "",
"offSuffix" : "",
"offFullName": "",
"disFirstName" : "",
"disMiddleName": "",
"disLastName": "",
"disSuffix" : "",
"disFullName": "",
"isFaculty": "",
"isStudent": "",
"isStaff": ""
"privacyCode": "",
"modifyDate": "",


},
{ ...<More results>.... }
 ],
  "responseDetails" : null,
  "responseStatus" : 0
}

JSON reference

Unlike the core JavaScript interface, the JSON interface is exposed through a uniform URL that contains CGI arguments. Your application can use an HTTP stack of its choosing. In order to use the JSON interface:

You must construct a properly formatted URL with all necessary CGI arguments.
You must send an HTTP referer header that accurately identifies your application.
You must process the JSON-encoded response.

Request format

URL base address

The standard URLs for the IAM Identity Store People APIs varies based on exactly which API is invoked. The details are provided in documentation about each individual API.

URL arguments

This section provides examples of the kinds of arguments that can be used with the People APIs

The value of a CGI argument must always be properly escaped. This can be done via the functional equivalent of JavaScript's encodeURIComponent() method.

Required URL arguments

The following table lists the required URL arguments.

Argument	Example	Description
key	key=your-key	This argument supplies the application's key. You can sign up for an API key <INSERT LINK HERE>. It must be a valid key associated with your application. The key is required for this API to implement quality of service rules for this API. If your application is making too many requests it will be throttled to ensure resources are not overloaded during times of peak usage. Also, by supplying a key we can identify and contact you should something go wrong with your application.
v	v=1.0	This argument supplies protocol version number. The only valid value at this point in time is 1.0.

Search URL arguments

The following table lists the possible search query URL arguments. At least one argument should be provided to perform a search. If multiple search criteria are provided an 'AND' search will be performed to match on all arguments.

Wildcard Searches: Any argument may use a wildcard within the query value. You may use multiple wildcards in any position in the search criteria. See examples below.*

Example search arguments:

Search for anyone with last name of 'Bray'

/api/directory/search?sn=Bray&key=myKeyv&v=1.0

Search for anyone with first name of 'Curtis' and last name starting with 'B'

/api/directory/search?givenName=Curtis&sn=B*&key=myKeyv&v=1.0

Search for anyone with a displayName that starts with 'J' and ends with 'Jones'

/api/directory/search?displayName=J*Jones&key=myKey&v=1.0

Response format

Each response follow this general format:

{
  "responseData" : {
    "results" : []
  },
  "responseDetails" : null | string-on-error,
  "responseStatus" : 0 | error-code
}

In the JSON fragment above, note that the responseData property contains a results array and an optional cursor.

Trouble shooting

If you encounter problems with your code:

Make sure your API key is valid.
Look for typos. Remember that JavaScript is a case-sensitive language.
Use a JavaScript debugger. In Firefox, you can use the JavaScript console or the Firebug. In IE, you can use the Microsoft Script Debugger.
If you need to examine the JSON string returned from the server, you can use JSON Lint to make a single, long string human readable.
Email middleware-api@ucdavis.edu with a description of your problem and a trace of the request and response.