Edit Asset Properties

This webservice is used for modifying properties of assets.

Service Protocol: REST

This web service uses a REST or RESTful style protocol. This is an HTTP resource-oriented architecture that uses standard HTTP actions (e.g. GET, POST, DELETE) to manipulate resources exposed as URLs. Standard HTTP Status Codes are used for success and error codes.

More information on REST can be found at the following resources:

Service Authentication

The HTTP request must have Basic Authentication credentials included. We strongly recommend that all web service requests be made over SSL (HTTPS).

More information on HTTP Basic Authentication can be found at the following resources:

TrackAbout will provide you with a dedicated user account to use when making web service requests.

Troubleshooting Service Authentication/Authorization Issues

  1. When calling a web service, TrackAbout will return a "403 Access Denied" error if there are any issues authenticating the request. These errors can occur under one or more of the following circumstances:

  2. The authentication header is missing or not formatted correctly. To correct this, review the links on HTTP Basic Authentication above and ensure that the application you are using to call the web service is building the authorization header correctly.

  • The username and/or password specified in the authentication header is incorrect or the user does not have the permissions needed invoke web services. If you have both a production and test instance of TrackAbout it's important to remember that they each have a distinct set of users and login credentials; a username and password that works in the production environment will not necessarily work in the client test environment and vice-versa. To verify and/or correct this:

  • Login to the TrackAbout website for the environment against which you are trying to invoke the web service and go to the "Internal Users" page. Verify that the username you are using exists.

  • If the username does not yet exist in the environment that you are trying to use, contact TrackAbout support to have a new web service user created for that environment.

  • If the username does exist in that environment, verify that it has 'Web Service' (or something similar) listed in its Roles. The TrackAbout support team can assist in verifying whether or not the user in question has the needed web service permissions.

  • If the username exists in that environment and the it has the needed web service permissions, then it's likely that the password being provided is not correct. You can use the Internal Users page to edit the user in question and set a new password for it.

NOTE

If you change the password for a web service user, you could end up causing issues for other automated processes you're using to make web service calls using that same user. If you're storing the credentials for that user in any external applications that make automated calls into TrackAbout web services you'll need to update the password that those applications are using accordingly.

Service Metadata

TrackAbout creates Web Application Description Language (WADL) documents for all web services that make use of REST architecture. The WADL for a service is accessible via the web service's URL with the word 'meta' appended as a query string parameter. For example, to access the WADL for the simple 'Echo' web service, you would use the following URL: https://www.trackabout.com/ws/Echo.asmx?meta

You can also specify a particular version of a web service to retrieve metadata for by including the major, minor, and revision numbers of the desired version in the query string. For example, to get the WADL for version 2.0.0 of the 'Echo' service, the URL becomes: https://www.trackabout.com/ws/Echo.asmx?v2.0.0&meta

More information on WADL can be found at the following resources:

Web Application Description Language

Standard Service Parameters

The following standard web service parameters are available for this RESTful web service. These parameters are optionally provided via the querystring of the URL used to access the service.

Friendly Name Query String Name Description
Retrieve Metadata meta When this parameter is provided, the service will return its WADL document instead of doing the normal processing.
Use Encryption e The presence of this parameter enables request and response payload encryption using public/private X.509 certificates. Certificates must be exchanged and configured in advance of using this parameter. This encryption is separate from standard HTTPS/SSL encryption. Both can be used together.
Use Specific Version vX.X.X Specifies the version of the service being called. For example, the parameter value 'v2.2.5' specifies that Version 2.2.5 should be used.
Use Gzip Compression gz Indicates that gzip compression should be used for the response.
Use Zip Compression zip Indicates that zip compression should be used for the response.
Use Bz2 Compression bz2 Indicates that bz2 compression should be used for the response.

Validations and Restrictions

The following validations are applicable to the data and parameters provided to this service. If one or more of these validations fail, the web service will return a response status code and error message that indicates the source of the failure.

  • The username and password provided must be valid.

  • The XML submitted must conform to the expected schema as outlined in the service metadata.

Processing Rules

The web service uses the standard asset resolution process when trying to locate assets for a provided bar code and serial number. These are the same rules that are applied when an asset is scanned via a hand held device or a record is created by entering bar codes and serial numbers manually through the website. The details of the standard asset resolution process are outside the scope of this article, but it's important to note that this approach can lead to three potential outcomes:

  • A single asset is found, and that asset is attached to the 'Edit Asset' record that is created by the web service.

  • No matching asset is found, and the creation of the 'Edit Asset' record results in a new asset being created using the provided bar code and serial number.

  • One or more partially matching assets are found and the 'Edit Asset' record is created with an asset collision. This collision will need to be resolved manually via the website.

Request Output

When all provided data is processed without any errors, the service returns a HTTP status code of 200. When one or more processing errors are encountered, the HTTP status will be set to an HTTP error code. The body of the response will contain text describing the error that occurred.

Usage

Production Environment

Test Environment