Reporting ServicesΒΆ

The Reporting Service allows data to be requested from the warehouse in any form using a pre-prepared query composed in the report file format The basic principles of the Reporting Service are as follows:

  • The service is accessed via the URL of site root + /index.php/services/report/requestReport, for example http://www.mywarehouse.org/index.php/services/report/requestReport

  • Requests for data need read authentication tokens attached as GET or POST parameters. These tell the warehouse that the request for data is authentic and which website is requesting data, so that it can filter the response to return appropriate records.

  • The filepath to the required report must be provided in a report parameter e.g. report=library/occurrences/list_taxon_meanings.xml. The path is relative to the root of the reports folder on the warehouse.

  • Another parameter, reportSource=local is required. This makes provision for reports to be located other than on the warehouse but no such alternative is currently available.

  • Calls to the URLs normally return a formatted JSON document describing the results. Provide a GET or POST parameter called mode with one of the following values to override the output format:

    • json - for JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format

    • csv - for Comma Separated Values file format

    • nbn - for a tab delimited file compatible with the NBN Exchange format

    • xml - for an XML document format.

  • Further parameters named in the report file may be supplied with values.