Working with Query Parameters and Filters

Query Parameter

GET and PATCH List endpoints require query parameters.

This section describes the syntax and options used for the query parameter. This is a mandatory parameter for List documents.

The standard format for a “query” parameter is to add the parameter as query={} to the end of a GET request for a List document after the parameter delimiter (“?”), where the value of query= is a JSON object:

http://{APIbase_url}/documentList?query={key: value}

Such as:

http://{APIbase_url}/jmJobList?query={"job_no": "12345"}

Note: The query parameter is supported with GET and PATCH requests of List type documents and is not supported by GET requests for Setup or Maintenance documents.

In the simplest form, the value is a single piece of information, such as a string or integer. In more complex forms, the value is a JSON object containing specific formats as described below.

See section regarding URL encoding requirements: URL encoding of special characters

Query Filters

String or Number

To return items that match a specified string. The string can either be letters or numbers. Wildcard ‘%’ can be used. Remember to URL encode the % sign.

Description	Parameter values
Syntax	query= {"field":"value"}
Examples	query={"job_desc":"Big Apple Live"} query={"job_desc":"%Big%"} query={"job_no":101101}|
Multiple key/value pairs	To specify multiple key/value pairs, separate each key/value pair with a comma query={"cust_id":"123","job_type_no":"4"} query={"cust_id":"123","job_type_no":"4","active":"Y"}
	Note: When specifying multiple key/value pairs, the API will return only items that match ALL specified criteria.

Range

To return items that fall between a specified minimum and maximum numeric value.

Description	Parameter values
Syntax	query="field":{"$range":[lower_limit, upper_limit]}
Examples	query={"job_no":{"range":[100, 199]}} query={"wo_begin_dt":{"range":"2023-12-01","2023-12-31"}} query={"wo_begin_dt":{"$range":"2023-06-01T09:00","2023-06-01T17:00"}}

In

To return items that match one of the values provided in a given set of values.
See section below on wildcards Searching for multiple wildcard values

Description	Parameter values
Syntax	query={“field”:{"$in":[“value_1”,”value_2”, … ”value_n”]}}
Examples	query={“job_no”:{"$in":[100, 105, 110, 119]}}

Null (empty)

To return items that have NULL values.
Note: Put pipe characters around NULL to differentiate it from the literal string “NULL”.

Description	Parameter Values
Syntax	query={"field”: “|NULL|”}
Examples	query={“phone_number”:{"|NULL|"}}

NE (not equal)

To return items that do not match the specified number, string, or NULL.

Description	Parameter Values
Syntax	query={“field”:{"$ne":”value”}}
Examples:
Not string	query={"job_desc ":{"$ne":"Big Apple Live"}}
Not number	query={"cust_id":{"$ne":1001}}
Not null	query={"jm_phase_external_key":{"$ne":"|NULL|"}}
Not like	query={"wo_desc":{"$ne":"Test%"},"wo_type_no": 83}

Greater than and less than new query parameters

To return items where values are greater than or less than a given value.

Description	Abv	Parameter values
Syntax		query={"field":{"option": "value"}}
Examples:
Greater Than	$gt	query={"title_no":{"$gt": 106438}}
Greater Than Or Equal	$gte	query={"date_added":{"$gte":"2022-07-26T00:00:00"}}
Less Than	$lt	query={"date_added":{"$lt":"2022-07-26T00:00:00"}}
Less Than Or Equal	$lte	query={"date_added":{"$lte":"2022-07-26T00:00:00"}}
Values can be numeric or dates.

Full GET example for greater than

curl --location --globoff 'http://{APIbaseURL}/LibMasterList?resultcolumns={"L": ["master_no", "master_desc", "date_added","desc_3"]}&query={"title_no":{"$gt": 1102}}' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Basic ******' \
--data ''

NOTIN (Not in)

(11.1)
Ability to query where a field's value does not match an array of supplied values.
Usage example: {{server}}/PmProjectList?query={"project_desc":{"$notin":["test", "Sarah"]}}
Applies to GET queries.

LIKEAND (Like and)

(11.1)
Ability to define an array of matching values that all have to match regardless of the order defined.
{{server}}/LibMasterList?{"master_desc":{"$LIKEAND":["%Genesis%","%XHD%"]}
Applies to GET queries.

Query Filter Tips

NULL Values

The Null parameter returns any record that has a null value for the specified key, which indicates that no value has ever been set. This differentiates it from an empty string for text-based or date-based properties, a 0 value for numbers, and true or false values for Boolean properties.

Note: Not all fields support null values. If possible, check the OpenAPI definition whether the field allows nulls.

Values
- String values are not case-sensitive.
- DateTime values should be provided in a valid ISO date format.

URL encoding of special characters

When using HTML special characters as part of the query value, they must be URL encoded.

Example:  to use a wildcard query such as "%dave%", the % needs substituting with %25.  Once URL encoded will look like this %25dave%25

Example GET query with URL encoded wildcard :

{{server}}/MoMediaOrderList?query={"wo_desc":"%25dave%25"}&resultcolumns={"L": ["wo_no", "wo_desc"]}

(Specifically the reason why %dave% fails to return valid results it that %da is the encoding for the Ú character)

This also applies to datetime values that use the offset attribute with the + sign.

To include a value of "2023-06-01T09:00+5:00" in a URL query parameter, substitute + with %2b

Example:
query={"wo_begin_dt":{"$range":["2023-06-01T09:00%2b5:00","2023-06-01T17:00%2b5:00"]}}

Searching for multiple wildcard values

If you wanted to search for multiple wildcard values contained within a single field that all need to exist, then you can include a list of wildcard values.

For example, if you wanted to search for media assets that have "Tale" AND "Dark" in their "master_desc" field, you can use the following query parameter:

{"master_desc":{$in:["%Tale%Dark%","%Tale%Dark%"]}}

Note you may need to use encode the % symbol (for instance if using Postman) you will need:

{"master_desc":{$in:["%25Tale%25Dark%25","%25Tale%25Dark%25"]}}

Result Columns Parameter

Used by the GET method on List and Maintenance endpoints.

resultColumns parameter is used to define the fields you wish to return in the response.
Without this parameter, the response will contain all document fields which is not recommended for performance reasons.

For example:
{APIbaseurl}/JmJobList?Query={"job_no":2}&resultColumns={"L":["job_no","job_desc"]}

Job No. and Job Description fields will be included in the response.
Important to include the “L” as the top-level element.

Sub-Table columns

Many endpoints include related sub-tables in their responses. Example syntax to include specific sub-table columns.

Below example fetches a transmission order description and all it's service row numbers:

{APIbase_url}/XmTransmissionOrder/wo_no_seq=7655-1?resultColumns={"jm_work_order":["wo_desc"],"mo_service_row":["service_row_no"]}

Response:

{
    "jm_work_order": [
        {
            "mo_service_row": [
                {
                    "service_row_no": {
                        "external_key": null,
                        "service_row_no": 9933
                    }
                },
                {
                    "service_row_no": {
                        "external_key": null,
                        "service_row_no": 9934
                    }
                }
            ],
            "wo_desc": "WS Transmission Test"
        }
    ]
}

Performance recommendation.
Always use the resultColumns parameter otherwise responses will return large numbers of fields most of which will not be required and only adds to the system performance overhead. In the future API v3, this will become a mandatory parameter.

Pagination and Sort Parameters

API Pagination is available for the GET Query on List endpoints.

Parameter	Type	Description
pageSize	Integer	is the number of records returned per page
page	Integer	is the page number to return
sort	String	is the field to sort followed by ascending or descending option

Sort parameters:
Syntax: sort=[field1 sort, field2 sort]
Example: sort=["job_desc desc", "job_no desc"]

Note:
If you don’t specify pageSize, the ‘page’ and ‘sort’ options are ignored.
If you do specify a pageSize and do not pass a page, page will default to 1.

Example:
To return the first 10 records on page 1 sorted by product_no:

GET {APIbaseURL}}/JmOrgProductList?query="active":"Y"}&resultColumns="L":"product_no","product_desc"]}&sort="product_no_desc"]&pageSize=10&page=1

Full example:

{APIbaseURL}/JmJobList?query={"job_no":{"$range":[1,67982]}}&resultcolumns={"L": ["job_no", "job_desc"]}&pageSize=5&page=7&sort=["job_desc desc", "job_no desc"]

The above example queries for jobs that have job numbers in the range of 1 to 67982, returns job number and job description fields but only the 7th page with 5 jobs sorted first by description (descending) then by job number (descending).

The response header will include a parameter called 'Pagination-Count' which is the count of all records as a result of the query.

This will allows you to call for data in manageable payloads without exceeding memory limitations.

Null Value Handling Parameter

This optional parameter suppresses all null value fields from the response payload. Using this parameter reduces the payload size dramatically, especially for larger queries. (v10.6+)

Applicable for all GET calls with List, Maintenance & Report endpoints.
Values are ‘ignore’ or ‘include’ (default).
'include' means that all null values are included in the response.

Examples:
URL Parameter:- nullvaluehandling=include (default) 

{
    "L": [
        {
            "barcode": "MM915",
            "company_name": null,
            "cust_id": null,
            "master_desc": null,
            "master_no": {
                "barcode": "MM915",
                "external_key": "VX-90",
                "master_no": 915,
                "umid": null
...

URL Parameter:- nullvaluehandling=ignore (recommended)

{
    "L": [
        {
            "barcode": "MM915",
            "master_no": {
                "barcode": "MM915",
                "external_key": "VX-90",
                "master_no": 915
...

Notice how all null value fields are omitted.

Performance Recommendation
It's recommended to always include this parameter with the value 'ignore', unless visibility of null values is required.

Alternate Key Handling Parameter

This optional parameter suppresses additional key fields from the responses. If you do not need to work with key fields other than the primary key, use this parameter to keep the API call performant and reduce the processing overhead when not working with alternate key fields. (v10.6+)

Applicable for all GET calls with List, Maintenance endpoints.

Values are ‘ignore’ or ‘include’ (default).
‘include’ includes alternate keys in the response.

Example:
URL Parameter:- alternatekeyhandling=include (default)

{
    "L": [
        {
            "barcode": "MM915",
            "company_name": null,
            "cust_id": null,
            "master_desc": null,
            "master_no": {
                "barcode": "MM915",
                "external_key": "VX-90",
                "master_no": 915,
                "umid": null
...

URL Parameter:- alternatekeyhandling=ignore (recomended)

{
    "L": [
        {
            "barcode": "MM915",
            "company_name": null,
            "cust_id": null,
            "master_desc": null,
            "master_no": {
                "master_no": 915
...

Notice how the additional key fields barcode, external_key & umid are omitted.

Performance Recommendation
It's recommended to always include this parameter with the value 'ignore', unless you are working with alternate keys.

Source Time Zone Name Header

The REST API uses Date time formats in ISO format with an optional offset value.

e.g. 2014-11-03T22:20:00+00:00

If you omit the offset value when using POST to create a record, you can use a header parameter to set the time zone your dates are using.
The advantage of using this header approach, is that it will respect any daylight savings offset applicable to the date given.

Header Key	Header Value
Source-Time-Zone-Name	{Windows Time Zone name}
e.g. header: Source-Time-Zone-Name: Pacific Standard Time

This example will will create records in the time zone of Pacific Standard Time.
Remember to omit the offset values in your time formats.
See link for list of Windows Time Zones

Division

(11.1)
REST API GET calls support the ability to pass the Division as an override to the API API user's default Division.

An optional header called "Division-Code" exists where you can include the Division code. This will ensure the correct results are returned for the API users when using Divisions.
The API user account must have been given user access to the division to be able to successfully pass it in the API call. If not, you will receive an error message.

e.g.
Division-Code : GS

In postman: