Tags: explanation, administrator

AbstractProperty Specification#

Note

This page has been migrated from the old documentation, and has not yet been fully revised. There might be inconsistencies or errors when using with current LinkAhead versions.

Introduction#

An AbstractProperty is one of the base objects of LinkAhead. An AbstractProperty MUST have the following qualities (shortcut in brackets):

  • a persistent id (id)

  • an unique name (name)

  • a description (description)

  • a type (type)

  • a generator generator)

  • a creator (creator)

  • a timestamp of it’s date of creation (created)

  • a set of owners and owning groups (owner)

  • a set rules which controls the access to that AbstractProperty (permission)

Depending on the AbstractProperty's type it MUST have one of the following qualities:

  • a unit (unit)

  • a RecordType which is referenced by any instantiating ConcreteProperty. (reference)

This is described below.

Property Types#

An AbstractProperty MUST have one of the following 7 types:

  • text

  • integer

  • double

  • datetime

  • reference

  • file

An AbstractProperty of type text, datetime, or file MUST NOT have any unit or referenced RecordType. A double, integer AbstractProperty MUST have a unit but MUST NOT have a referenced RecordType. A reference AbstractProperty MUST have referenced RecordType und MUST NOT have a unit.

XML Representation of AbstractProperty Objects#

An AbstractProperty is represented in xml by a <Property/> tag. It’s qualities except for owner and permission are represented by an xml attribute of the same name. For example <Property name="length"/> denotes an AbstractProperty whose name is length.

GET AbstractProperty#

Any xml representation of an AbstractProperty that is retrieved from the LinkAhead Server MUST have exactly ONE of the following forms, depending on the AbstractProperty's type:

text#

    <Property id="$id" name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" creator="$creator" created="$created" type="text" />

integer#

    <Property id="$id" name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" creator="$creator" created="$created" type="integer" unit="$unit" />

double#

    <Property id="$id" name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" creator="$creator" created="$created" type="double" unit="$unit" />

datetime#

    <Property id="$id" name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" creator="$creator" created="$created" type="datetime" />

reference#

    <Property id="$id" name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" creator="$creator" created="$created" type="reference" reference="$reference" />

file#

    <Property id="$id" name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" creator="$creator" created="$created" type="file" />

‘’’General Notes:

  • If the called Property does not exist or if the Property called without permission, the LinkAhead Server will return an Error.

POST AbstractProperty#

Any xml representation of an AbstractProperty that is to be posted to the LinkAhead server MUST have exactly ONE of the following forms, depending on the AbstractProperty's type:

text#

    <Property name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" type="text" />

integer#

    <Property name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" type="integer" unit="$unit" />

double#

    <Property name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" type="double" unit="$unit" />

datetime#

    <Property name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" type="datetime" />

reference#

    <Property name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" type="reference" reference="$reference" />

file#

    <Property name="$name" description="$description" generator="$generator" type="file" />

General Notes:

  • The AbstractProperty's id and timestamp (created) will be generated by the LinkAhead Server.

  • The AbstractProperty's creator will be determined by the LinkAhead Server depending on it’s policy configuration.

  • Any given attribute beyond these will be ignored.

  • If the <Property/> tag isn’t compliant with these the LinkAhead Server will return an Error.

Examples#

GET Requests#

Single-Get#

Request:

    GET http://localhost:8122/mpidsserver/AbstractProperty/1

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property id="1" name="explanation" type="text" description="explains the thing" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Response>

Request:

    GET http://localhost:8122/mpidsserver/AbstractProperty/explanation

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property id="1" name="explanation" type="text" description="explains the thing" />
    </Response>

Multi-Get#

Request:

    GET http://localhost:8122/mpidsserver/AbstractProperty/explanation&2&3

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property id="1" name="explanation" type="text" description="explains the thing" />
      <Property id="2" name="comment" type="text" description="A comment" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
      <Property id="3" name="name" type="text" description="Name" generator="Timm (manually)" />
    </Response>

Get all#

Request:

    GET http://localhost:8122/server/AbstractProperty/
    GET http://localhost:8122/server/AbstractProperty

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response />

Erroneous Requests#

Non-existing#

Request:

    GET http://localhost:8122/mpidsserver/AbstractProperty/123456

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property id="123456">
        <Error code="201" description="Property does not exist. " />
      </Property>
    </Response>

POST Requests#

Request is to be sent to:

    POST http://localhost:8122/mpidsserver/AbstractProperty/
    POST http://localhost:8122/mpidsserver/AbstractProperty

Single-Post#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty1" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty1" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property id="39" name="TimmsIntegerProperty1" type="integer" unit="kg" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty1" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Response>

Request body (with a reference to Property 12345):

    <Post>
      <Property name="Timms reference property 1" type="reference" reference="12345" description="This is Timms reference property 1"/>
    </Post>

Multi-Post#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty7" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty7" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty8" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty8" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty9" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty9" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      ...
      <Property id="41" name="TimmsIntegerProperty9" type="integer" unit="kg" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty9" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Response>

Erroneous Requests#

No Description#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty3" type="integer" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty3" type="integer" unit="kg">
        <Error code="202" description="Property has no Description. " />
      </Property>
    </Response>
No generator#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty3" type="integer" unit="kg" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty4" />
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty3" type="integer" unit="kg" >
        <Error code="202" description="Property has no generator. " />
      </Property>
    </Response>
No Type#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty4" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty4" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty4" unit="kg" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty4" generator="Timm (manually)" >
        <Error code="252" description="Property has no PropertyType" />
      </Property>
    </Response>
No Unit#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty5" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty5" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty5" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty5" generator="Timm (manually)">
        <Error code="202" description="Property has no Unit. " />
      </Property>
    </Response>
No Name#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty6" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property type="integer" unit="kg" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty6" generator="Timm (manually)">
        <Error code="202" description="Property has no Name. " />
      </Property>
    </Response>
Invalid Name#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property id="39" name="TimmsIntegerProperty7" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty7" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property id="39" name="TimmsIntegerProperty7" type="integer" unit="kg" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty7" generator="Timm (manually)">
        <Error code="204" description="Property has an invalid Name. " />
      </Property>
    </Response>
Mixed#

Request body:

    <Post>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty2" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty2" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty3" type="integer" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty4" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty4" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
      <Property name="TimmsIntegerProperty5" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty5" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
      <Property type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty6" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
      <Property id="39" name="TimmsIntegerProperty7" type="integer" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty7" unit="kg" generator="Timm (manually)"/>
    </Post>

Response:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <Response>
      <Property type="integer" unit="kg" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty6" generator="Timm (manually)">
        <Error code="202" description="Property has no Name. " />
      </Property>
      <Property id="39" name="TimmsIntegerProperty7" type="integer" unit="kg" description="This is TimmsIntegerProperty7" generator="Timm (manually)">
        <Error code="204" description="Property has an invalid Name. " />
      </Property>
    ...
    </Response>

= DELETE AbstractProperties =

HTTP-DELETE-requests are to be sent to http://${host}:${port}/mpidsserver/AbstractProperty/.... Default port is 8123.

Example DELETE http://${host}:${port}/mpidsserver/AbstractProperty/1&2&3&4