Answer
This page defines the Answer resource.
Answers are responses a person gave to a question defined by the Question resource. For example, a Question might ask, “Do you support John Doe For City Council?” and an answer might be “Yes”, indicating the person’s resonse to the questio.
Sections
Endpoints and URL structures
OSDI does not specify specific endpoints and link structures for compliant systems to use. Rather, because OSDI is a HAL+JSON API, endpoints and structures are defined in the links section of each returned resource, starting with the API Entry Point link.
HAL’s link structure lets an API consumer move through API levels, resources, and collections by parsing and following links. While most systems will not change the value of their links often and obey RESTful design principles, the value of each link when that resource is retrieved is the only canonical value, and it can change at any time.
The link relation label for an Answer resource is osdi:answer for a single Answer resource or osdi:answers for a collection of Answer resources.
Fields
The field names for this resource, with standard names, punctuation and capitalization, and values where appropriate.
Note: As with the entire OSDI specification, the specific fields a compliant system implements will vary between each system, as will the fields each system requires when creating or updating resources, which fields are writeable, and the operations you are allowed to perform on each resource.
Common Fields
A set of common fields that appear on all resources is included first, for reference.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| identifiers | strings[] | A unique string array of identifiers in the format [system name]:[id]. See the general concepts document for more information about identifiers. |
| created_date | datetime | A read-only property representing the date and time the resource was created on the local system. |
| modified_date | datetime | A read-only property representing the date and time the resource was last modified on the local system. |
Control Headers
An “osdi:control” JSON object may contain common OSDI control headers which can be used on an OSDI POST, PUT, PATCH, Helper or other function calls to modify server behavior. Read More
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| return_response | boolean | Defaults to true, if specified as false, the operation does not need to return the resource representation in the response |
Answer Fields
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| origin_system | string | A human readable identifier of the system where this answer was created. (ex: “OSDI System”) |
| action_date | string | The date and time the answer was given by the person. |
| value | string | The response the person gave, if the question type is “Paragraph” or if otherwise appropriate (e.g., if the question response was “Other”) |
| responses | string[] | An array of strings corresponding to the question response key(s) chosen by the Person who answered the Question |
Links
The links associated with this resource, available in the links section of the resource. Links that are part of the OSDI spec are typically prefixed with the osdi: namespace to aid in curie matching and readability.
Note: As with the entire OSDI specification, the specific links a compliant system supplies will vary between each system. In addition, systems may choose to embed a linked resource directly in the response in addition to linking to it in the links section, using the standard _embedded syntax described in the general overview documentation.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| self | Answer* | A self-referential link to the answer. |
| person | Person* | A link to a single Person resource representing the person to whom this answer belongs. |
| question | Question* | A link to the associated Question resource that the person answered. |
Related Resources
Scenarios
The scenarios below show some common Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD) operations that can be performed on this resource, as well as any resource-specific behaviors worth highlighting. The following examples are for informational purposes. The authoritative resource definitions are above in the Fields tables and should be followed in the event of a conflict with the examples.
Scenario: Retrieving a collection of Answer resources (GET)
Answer resources are sometimes presented as collections of answers. For example, calling the answer endpoint on a particular question will return a collection of all the answers for that question.
Request
GET https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers
Header:
OSDI-API-Token:[your api key here]
Response
200 OK
Content-Type: application/hal+json
Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate
{
"total_pages": 10,
"per_page": 25,
"page": 1,
"total_records": 250,
"_links": {
"next": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers?page=2"
},
"osdi:answers": [
{
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
},
{
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e"
},
//(truncated for brevity)
],
"curies": [
{
"name": "osdi",
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/docs/v1/{rel}",
"templated": true
}
],
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers"
}
},
"_embedded": {
"osdi:answers": [
{
"identifiers": [
"osdi_sample_system:d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3",
"foreign_system:1"
],
"origin_system": "OSDI Sample System",
"created_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
"modified_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
"action_date": "2014-03-18T11:02:15Z",
"value": "He's not sure",
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
},
"osdi:question": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
},
"osdi:person": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
},
}
},
{
"identifiers": [
"osdi_sample_system:1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e"
],
"origin_system": "OSDI Sample System",
"created_date": "2014-03-20T20:44:13Z",
"modified_date": "2014-03-20T20:44:13Z",
"action_date": "2014-03-12T01:45:34Z",
"responses": [
"Y"
],
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e"
},
"osdi:question": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
},
"osdi:person": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/adb951cb-51f9-420e-b7e6-de953195ec86"
}
}
},
//(truncated for brevity)
]
}
}
Scenario: Scenario: Retrieving an individual Answer resource (GET)
Calling an individual Answer resource will return the resource directly, along with all associated fields and appropriate links to additional information about the answer.
Request
GET https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3
Header:
OSDI-API-Token:[your api key here]
Response
200 OK
Content-Type: application/hal+json
Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate
{
"identifiers": [
"osdi_sample_system:d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3",
"foreign_system:1"
],
"origin_system": "OSDI Sample System",
"created_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
"modified_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
"action_date": "2014-03-18T11:02:15Z",
"responses": [
"hc",
"env"
],
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
},
"osdi:question": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
},
"osdi:person": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
}
}
}
Scenario: Creating a new answer (POST)
Posting to the answers collection endpoint and including a link to an existing Person resource will allow you to create a new answer associated with that question and person. The response is the new answer that was created. While each implementing system will require different fields, any optional fields not included in a post operation should not be set at all by the receiving system, or should be set to default values.
Request
POST https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/
Header:
OSDI-API-Token:[your api key here]
{
"identifiers": [
"foreign_system:1"
],
"origin_system": "OpenSupporter",
"action_date": "2014-03-18T11:02:15Z",
"responses": [
"hc",
"env"
],
"_links" : {
"osdi:person" : {
"href" : "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
}
}
}
Response
200 OK
Content-Type: application/hal+json
Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate
{
"identifiers": [
"osdi_sample_system:d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse",
"foreign_system:1"
],
"created_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
"modified_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
"action_date": "2014-03-18T11:02:15Z",
"responses": [
"hc",
"env"
],
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse"
},
"osdi:question": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
},
"osdi:person": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
}
}
}
Scenario: Modifying an answer (PUT)
You can update an answer by calling a PUT operation on that answer’s endpoint. Your PUT should contain fields that you want to update. Missing fields will be ignored by the receiving system. Systems may also ignore PUT values, depending on whether fields you are trying to modify are read-only or not. You may set an attribute to nil by including the attribute using nil for value.
Note: Modifying members of an array separately is not supported. To change the contents of an array, first GET the current contents and then PUT back only those you wish to keep.
Request
PUT https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse/
Header:
OSDI-API-Token:[your api key here]
{
"responses": [
"hc"
]
}
Response
200 OK
Content-Type: application/hal+json
Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate
{
"identifiers": [
"osdi_sample_system:d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse",
"foreign_system:1"
],
"created_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
"modified_date": "2014-03-20T22:04:31Z",
"action_date": "2014-03-17T11:02:15Z",
"responses": [
"hc"
]
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse"
},
"osdi:question": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
},
"osdi:person": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
}
}
}
Scenario: Deleting an answer (DELETE)
You may delete an answer by calling the DELETE command on the answer’s endpoint.
Request
DELETE https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/answers/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse
Header:
OSDI-API-Token:[your api key here]
Response
200 OK
Content-Type: application/hal+json
Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate
{
"notice": "This answer was successfully deleted."
}