Navigating through API Explorer

Introduction

By default, all the APIs/OData services are exposed through OAuth2 authenticated endpoints. You can read up on connecting using OAuth here.

In instances where it's not possible to use OAuth, the last option is for a client to use HTTP Basic authentication in order to access the system. This should be done after careful consideration of the network security situation.

Developers can use OpenAPI v2, OpenAPI v3, and OData Service Document commands respectively to view Open API specification version 2, Open API specification version 3, and OData specification of the selected projection/OData service.

Given below are the details on some of the attributes present in API Explorer.

1. API Class - Indicates the level of responsibility IFS intends to take for an API over time. Applicable to APIs in core level only. APIs categorized with Premium API Class will have comprehensive documentation on the appropriate usage of the API and it will be maintained over time. In addition, the changes to the API will be done whilst maintaining compatibility and we will provide guidance and warnings to the customer when moving to newer versions of the API.

   For standard APIs, we intend to provide an overview of API changes in conjunction with service updates and new releases in IFS Cloud.

   Please refer to the API Usage Policy for more details.

2. Layer - Shows if a projection belongs to Core, Customization, or Configuration.

3. Deprecated - Indicates if the API would be deprecated in the future. It’s either true or false. True indicates that the API would be deprecated and false indicates that the API would not be deprecated.

Steps

The IFS Rest API Documentation tool helps to visualize the OData Service Document in a developer friendly manner.

1. Navigate to the Documentation section of the command group and select API Doc.

   

2. REST API Documentation will open up in the new window.

     

Entity Service Administration

Entity Services will be listed in the API explorer.

Entity Services are inactive by default. Admin users can activate/deactivate these services. Clicking on the Activate button will activate the service. Only active services can be used to perform CRUD operations. The API specifications and documentation of all Entity Services can be viewed regardless of its state.

Clicking on the button, View Activation Log will navigate the user to the Entity Service Activation Log page. This page contains the Activation log of the entity services, which can only be viewed by admin users.

Entity Services which belong to inactive IFS modules will not be listed in the API explorer.