List
This document defines the List resource.
Lists represent an arbitrary collection of objects. Lists can represent either arbitrary lists generated by users or the result of server processes such as query snapshots. For example, a list can represent people who are subscribed to receive a certain type of message. Lists have items which represent the individual resources that are part of the list’s resulting collection.
A list must fit a set of criteria:
- List results are arbitrary – a resource’s inclusion in the collection is based on having been put there by hand or by some kind of process and saved. For lists of resources that are created as a result of a computed process in real time, use the Query resource instead.
- Lists may only be static – a list will return the resources it contains when the list was last modified or saved. To implement a dynamic list, which contains the resources which matched some criteria at this very moment, the Query resource should be used instead.
- Lists are unique collections of resources – a resource may match a list only once.
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 a List resource is osdi:list for a single List resource or osdi:lists for a collection of List 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 |
List Fields
A list of fields specific to the List resource.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| origin_system | string | Human readable identifier of the system where this list was created |
| name | string | The name of the list. Intended for administrative display rather than a public title, though may be shown to a user. |
| title | string | The title of the list. Intended for public display rather than administrative purposes. |
| description | string | A description of the list, usually displayed publicly. May contain text and/or HTML. |
| summary | string | A text-only single paragraph summarizing the list. Shown on listing pages that have more than titles, but not enough room for full description. |
| browser_url | string | A URL string pointing to the publicly available list page on the web. |
| administrative_url | string | A URL string pointing to the list’s administrative page on the web. |
| total_items | integer | A read-only computed property representing the current count of the total number of items in the list. |
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 | List* | A self-referential link to the list. |
| creator | Person* | A link to a single Person resource representing the creator of the list. |
| modified_by | Person* | A link to a Person resource representing the last editor of this list. |
| taggings | Taggings[]* | A link to the collection of Tagging resources for this list. |
| items | Items[]* | A link to the collection of Item resources for this list. |
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 List resources (GET)
List resources are sometimes presented as collections of lists. For example, calling the lists endpoint will return a collection of all the lists stored in the system’s database associated with your api key.
Request
GET https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/
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/lists?page=2"
},
"osdi:lists": [
{
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
},
{
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/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/lists"
}
},
"_embedded": {
"osdi:lists": [
{
"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",
"name": "Main Email List Subscribers",
"summary": "The main email list.",
"browser_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/main-email-list",
"administrative_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/main-email-list/manage",
"total_items": 1748920,
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
},
"osdi:items": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3/items"
},
"osdi:creator": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
},
"osdi:taggings": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e/taggings"
},
"osdi:modified_by": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
}
}
},
{
"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",
"title": "Membership List",
"browser_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/members",
"administrative_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/members/manage",
"total_items": 108273,
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e"
},
"osdi:items": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e/items"
},
"osdi:creator": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
},
"osdi:taggings": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e/taggings"
},
"osdi:modified_by": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
}
}
},
//(truncated for brevity)
]
}
}
Scenario: Scenario: Retrieving an individual List resource (GET)
Calling an individual List resource will return the resource directly, along with all associated fields and appropriate links to additional information about the list.
Request
GET https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d32fcdd6-7366-466d-a3b8-7e0d87c3cd8b
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",
"name": "Main Email List Subscribers",
"summary": "The main email list.",
"browser_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/main-email-list",
"administrative_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/main-email-list/manage",
"total_items": 1748920,
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
},
"osdi:items": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3/items"
},
"osdi:taggings": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e/taggings"
},
"osdi:creator": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
},
"osdi:modified_by": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
}
}
}
Scenario: Creating a new list (POST)
Posting to the list collection endpoint will allow you to create a new list. The response is the new list 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/lists
Header:
OSDI-API-Token:[your api key here]
{
"identifiers": [
"foreign_system:1"
],
"name": "Volunteers",
"summary": "A list containing all of our volunteers",
"origin_system": "OpenSupporter"
}
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",
"name": "Volunteers",
"summary": "A list containing all of our volunteers",
"browser_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/volunteers",
"administrative_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/volunteers/manage",
"total_items": 0,
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
},
"osdi:items": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3/items"
},
"osdi:taggings": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e/taggings"
},
"osdi:creator": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
},
"osdi:modified_by": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
}
}
}
Scenario: Modifying a list (PUT)
You can update a list by calling a PUT operation on that list’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/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse
Header:
OSDI-API-Token:[your api key here]
{
"name": "December Volunteers"
}
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": "2014-03-20T22:04:31Z",
"name": "December Volunteers",
"summary": "A list containing all of our volunteers",
"browser_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/volunteers",
"administrative_url": "http://osdi-sample-system.org/lists/volunteers/manage",
"total_items": 0,
"_links": {
"self": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
},
"osdi:items": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3/items"
},
"osdi:taggings": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e/taggings"
},
"osdi:creator": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/65345d7d-cd24-466a-a698-4a7686ef684f"
},
"osdi:taggings": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/1efc3644-af25-4253-90b8-a0baf12dbd1e/taggings"
},
"osdi:modified_by": {
"href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
}
}
}
Scenario: Deleting a list (DELETE)
You may delete a list by calling the DELETE command on the list’s endpoint.
Request
DELETE https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d32fcdd6-7366-466d-a3b8-7e0d87c3cd8b
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 list was successfully deleted."
}