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IDigBio API: Difference between revisions
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add generic blurb about iDigBio project in general →iDigBio API Overview
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== iDigBio API Overview == | == iDigBio API Overview == | ||
This document serves as the official documentation for the iDigBio Application Programming Interface (API). | This document serves as the starting page of official documentation for the iDigBio Application Programming Interface (API). | ||
The iDigBio API is an abstraction layer for retrieving data from the iDigBio back-end data systems | [https://www.idigbio.org/ Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio)] is the National Resource for Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) funded by the National Science Foundation. Through ADBC, data and images for millions of biological specimens are being made available in electronic format for the research community, government agencies, students, educators, and the general public. iDigBio is a data aggregator. This means that data is provided to iDigBio through various publishing mechanisms. Many users of the iDigBio aggregated data will choose to use the [https://www.idigbio.org/portal iDigBio Portal web site]. Additionally, to facilitate integration of iDigBio data with other web sites or services, iDigBio provides an API. | ||
The iDigBio API is an abstraction layer for retrieving data from the iDigBio back-end data systems. This abstraction allows reuse and mashup of aggregated data without needing to understand the complex underlying details of the back-end data storage. Currently, the public API supports GET requests for data read operations only. | |||
The iDigBio API tries to follow the REST paradigm's HATEOAS (Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State) model, which basically means that within each API endpoint a list of relevant links to further API actions is included. Successful responses from the API deliver data primarily as JSON documents. The list of relevant links to further API actions is typically stored in "idigbio:links". | |||
Programmatic Search is a special case. See the section [[#Searching iDigBio]] below for more information. | Programmatic Search is a special case. See the section [[#Searching iDigBio]] below for more information. | ||