Utilities: Other: SOAP API
The SOAP API in Aurea List Manager works by fetching URLs in the Aurea List Manager web interface from within your program.
For example, if you use your web browser to go to http://localhost/utilities/other/api/test and click
Submit you see the phrase Test succeeded!.
Instead of using a web browser, you can use small programming scripts to fetch URLs that do actions you desire.
Running programming scripts in various programming languages
Below is source code for fetching the test URL in the Aurea List Manager interface. These examples show how easy it is to have Aurea List Manager perform an action for you.
Linux Command Line
curl -u admin:lyris http://localhost/utilities/other/api/test_door
GET http://admin:listmanager@localhost/utilities/other/api/test_doMicrosoft ASP
<% Response.Buffer = True
Dim objXMLHTTP, xml
Set xml = Server.CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")
xml.Open "GET", "http://admin:listmanager@localhost/utilities/other/api/test_do",
False
xml.Send "
Response.Write xml.responseText
Set xml = Nothing %>PHP
<?php
function urlget ($url) {
$f_page = @fopen ($url, "r");
if ($f_page) {
$page_contents = fread ($f_page, 10240);
fclose ($f_page);
return ($page_contents);
};
return ";
};
print urlget("http://admin:listmanager@localhost/utilities/other/api/test_do");
?>
Python
import urllib
f = urllib.urlopen("http://admin:listmanager@localhost/utilities/other/api/test_do")
print f.read()The table below explains some other API functions:
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
|
How to find API functions |
To make it easy for you to find and understand every Programming API function in Aurea List Manager, we have organized all the functions into menus, and each function has a very simple HTML form demonstrating what kind of information the function needs, and how the function works. |
|
Passing Parameters |
API functions can all be passed parameters in the URL, with the standard GET format (that is , setting=value on the URL) or alternatively, for larger amounts of data, all functions accept their parameters through the HTTP-POST standard (that is, as form POST variables) |
| Return Values |
Most Programming API functions return just one value. In those cases the value is returned as raw text, as the HTML results of the URL If an error occurs and the API function cannot work, a text message is returned in this format: <ERROR>sorry, an error occurred</ERROR> Some API functions need to return a list of value, such as the function for If an API function needs to return a key/value array, such as the function for "Get all attributes of a member", then the results are returned in this format: |
|
Security |
The same security which the web interface enforces applies to the programming API as well. Thus, as a list administrator, you are allowed to access to all the member functions that you normally have access to in the GUI. If you try to work on a member from a list you don't have access to, an error occurs. Some API sections, such as the Server Config, SQL and List sections, require Server Administrator security rights. All API functions are protected by an HTTP login. Whatever program you use to fetch URLs needs to pass a valid name and password when fetching the API URL (all the examples above do so). For example,
in Perl this is accomplished with the command: In many other languages this is simply accomplished by adding
|
| Performance |
The speed of most API functions is fast enough for most applications. However, if you have bulk operations you need to accomplish, such as importing a member list, you should work directly with the SQL database that Aurea List Manager is using. |