Fedora Access and Management Web Services - API Documentation
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The Fedora Access service defines an open interface for
accessing digital objects. The access operations include methods to do
reflection on a digital object (i.e., to discover the kinds of
disseminations that are available on the object), and to request
disseminations. The major function of the Fedora Access service is
to fulfill a client's request for dissemination. To support disseminations,
the underlying repository system must evaluate the behavior associations
specified in a digital object, and figure out how to dispatch a service
request to a supporting service with which the digital object associates.
The supporting service may be internal to the repository system, or it may
be an external web service that the repository must call upon. The
underlying repostitory system facilitates all external service bindings
on behalf of the client, simply returning a dissemination result via the
Access service layer.
This is a simple URI-oriented service definition for the Access service
of a Fedora repository. It is intended to support a REST-like style of access to the
Fedora Access web service (in contrast to a traditional SOAP web service definition).
This means that we define a simple URL syntax that can be used to issue service requests.
API-A-Lite does not provide service bindings for all of the operations defined in Fedora's full
Access service (API-A). API-A-Lite only provides bindings for getDissemination, getObjectProfile,
findObjects, and resumeFindObjects.
The result of the getDissemination request is a MIME-typed stream. The result of the getObjectProfile
request is either HTML or XML, whichever the client requested. The result of the search methods
is also either HTML or XML. When URL syntax is shown below, green indicates required parts and red indicates optional
parts.
The Fedora Management service defines an open interface for
administering the repository, including creating, modifying, and deleting
digital objects, or components within digital objects. The Management
service interacts with the underlying repository system to read content from
and write content to the digital object and datastream storage areas. The
Management service exposes a set of operations that enable a client to view
and manipulate digital objects from an abstract perspective, meaning that
a client does not need to know anything about underlying storage formats,
storage media, or storage management schemes for objects. Also, the
underlying repository system handles the details of storing datastream
content within the repository, as well as mediating connectivity for
datastreams that reference external content.
This is a simple URI-oriented service definition for the Management service of a Fedora repository. It is intended to support a REST-like style of access to the Fedora Management web service (in contrast to a traditional SOAP web service definition). This means that we define a simple URL syntax that can be used to issue service requests. API-M-LITE does not provide service bindings for all of the operations defined in Fedora's full Management service (API-M). API-M-LITE currently only provides bindings for getNextPID. The result of the getNextPID request is either HTML or XML, whichever the client requested. When URL syntax is shown below, green indicates required parts and red indicates optional parts.