Documentation Center

Changes to the class Folder 2.5

The Folder Class was completely redesigned in release 2.5 of the API.

Changes in behavior

Retrieving the root folders using the keyword BaseFolder

To retrieve a folder in Content Manager, a unique identifier, called the Folder Reference, needs to be provided to the API.

In release 2.0 of the API, it was possible to retrieve the root folder General by providing the value 0 as the Folder Reference. The three other root folders, i.e System, Favorites and Editor template were not accessible by the API.

In release 2.5 of the Web Services API, all root folders can be accessed using the keyword Basefolder. The value 0 is no longer accepted as a "shortcut" to retrieve the root folder General. This also means that the Folder Reference must be valid.

Retrieving a folder using its path

In release 2.5 of the API, it is possible to retrieve a folder by providing its full path (the name alone is not sufficient as this is not unique). The full folder path is a combination of (1) a BaseFolder and (2) a string array with the folder names of the parent folders (except the base folder) .

The following example specifies the folder R&D > Topics > WS API > Functions > Common:
  • The root folder General (= BaseFolder.Data)
  • The FolderPath with: R&D, Topics, WS API, Functions, Common

Changes in methods

GetSubFolders

The GetSubFolders method only return one level and will always contain the metadata of the current folder (= parent folder).

The subfolders are returned in a Folder List XML structure with the following hard-coded metadata:
  • Folder name
  • Creation date
  • Modification date
  • Folder query (empty when no query folder)
  • Owner
  • Read access
GetMetadata

The GetMetaData method have no longer hard-coded output parameters with the metadata. An input parameter with the requested metadata indicates which metadata is requested and the metadata is returned in a Folder Metadata XML structure.

GetContents

Starting from Web Services 2.5 only minimal ishobjects with the information of the logical objects in the folder is returned.

The only information which is returned are the attributes on the ObjectList XML:
  • ishref
  • ishlogicalref
  • ishtype

This information can be used to call (depending on the release type) DocumentObj.RetrieveMetadata or PublicationOutput.RetrieveMetadata.

Changes in XML signatures

Changes in the ISHFolderList XML
  • The attribute name is removed. In order to get the name of the folder the field FNAME must be requested.
  • The attribute ishownedbydept is removed. In order to get the owner of the folder the field FUSERGROUP must be requested.
  • The attribute ishwriteaccess is removed.
  • The attribute ishtype is renamed to ishfoldertype, because the values are different from the ishtype on the ishobject elements (see Folder Types).
  • An extra element ishfields with the metadata of the folder is added.
  • The root element ishfolders is removed. Because the GetSubFolders function always returns the metadata of the parent folder, there is always a root element. So, the extra root element ishfolders is removed.