Searching

This section describes how to search for concept and terms via TermWeb API.

Selecting dictionary, section and domain

Searching via the API is similar to searching in TermWeb directly. You need to select a dictionary, one or more sections, and optionally a set of domains. The selections are saved when the user's session is closed (i.e. by logging out), and applied again when the same user logs in.

Selecting dictionary

Selecting which dictionary to search in is done by the generic method setSelected.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
   <methodName>termwebapi2.setSelected</methodName>
   <params>
     <param><value><string>123456789abc</string></value></param>
	 <param><value><string>dictionary</string></value></param>
     <param><value><string>312</string></value></param>
   </params>
</methodCall>

Response:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<methodResponse>
  <params>
    <param><value><i4>0</i4></value></param>
  </params>
</methodResponse>

The ID for the dictionary can be retrieved from the Dictionary data object retrieved from getAll or getSelected methods. It is also possible to find an object by its name, using the getObjectByName method. Only readable dictionaries for the user are returned, and the API will give authorization error (1100) if a non-readable dictionary is selected.

Selecting sections or domains

By default, all readable sections are selected in a dictionary. A single section, or a list of sections, can be selected with setSelected, and all sections are selected by calling setAllSelected.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
   <methodName>termwebapi2.setSelected</methodName>
   <params>
     <param><value><string>123456789abc</string></value></param>
	 <param><value><string>section</string></value></param>
     <param><value><array><data>
  	   <value><string>7522308</string></value>
  	   <value><string>1184008</string></value>
       <value><string>244004</string></value>
	 </data></array></value></param>
   </params>
</methodCall>

Same methods apply for selecting domains. When retrieving a domain via getObjectByName method, the domain tree is searched top-down, and the first domain with matching name is returned.

Selecting language

Selecting the source language can also be done with setting the language's ID in setSelected, but an easier way is to use setSourceLanguage and the language code. The currently selected language code can be retrieved with getSourceLanguage.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
   <methodName>termwebapi2.setSourceLanguage</methodName>
   <params>
     <param><value><string>123456789abc</string></value></param>
	 <param><value><string>eng</string></value></param>
   </params>
</methodCall>

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
   <methodName>termwebapi2.getSourceLanguage</methodName>
   <params>
     <param><value><string>123456789abc</string></value></param>
   </params>
</methodCall>

Response:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<methodResponse>
  <params>
    <param><value>eng</value></param>
  </params>
</methodResponse>

Searching terms

With the method getIndexTerms you can retrieve a list of IndexTerm objects, corresponding to the items in the termlist in the GUI. From the index terms you can then retrieve the full concept or term objects. To getIndexTerms you can specify a search expression which filters the result. An empty search expression returns the full list.

At most 1000 entries are returned by a call to getIndexTerms. To retrieve more, do subsequent calls to getIndexTerms and set the fromPos parameter in the Search condition struct.

Example: Search for the term "fish"

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
   <methodName>termwebapi2.getIndexTerms</methodName>
   <params>
     <param><value><string>123456789abc</string></value></param>
	 <param><value><string>fish</string></value></param>
   </params>
</methodCall>

Response:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<methodResponse>
  <params>
    <param><value><array><data><value>
		<struct>
		<member><name>__objtype</name><value>IndexTerm</value></member>
		<member><name>term</name><value>fish</value></member>
		<member><name>conceptEntryID</name><value>436</value></member>
		<member><name>termEntryID</name><value>437</value></member>
		</struct>
	</value></data></array></value></param>
  </params>
</methodResponse>

You can also use wildcards (asterisk for any string, question mark for any single character) in the search expression.

Search condition struct

You can also pass a struct as argument to getIndexTerms. The struct consists of the search expression and an integer specifying from which index in the termlist the returned result should start.

Example: Search for all terms containg "fish" but skip the five first results

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
   <methodName>termwebapi2.getIndexTerms</methodName>
   <params>
     <param><value><string>123456789abc</string></value></param>
	 <param><value><struct>
  		<member><name>searchExp</name><value><string>*fish*</string></value></member>
  		<member><name>fromPos</name><value><int>5</int></value></member>
	 </struct></value></param>
   </params>
</methodCall>

Translating results

It is also possible to return the index terms in a target language. By specifying a target language code after the search condition struct, the result contains all terms in the target language, from the concepts corresponding to the found index terms in the source language.

Example: Search for the term "fish" and return result in French

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
   <methodName>termwebapi2.getIndexTerms</methodName>
   <params>
     <param><value><string>123456789abc</string></value></param>
	 <param><value><struct>
  		<member><name>searchExp</name><value><string>fish</string></value></member>
  		<member><name>fromPos</name><value><int>0</int></value></member>
	 </struct></value></param>
     <param><value><string>fra</string></value></param>
   </params>
</methodCall>

Response:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<methodResponse>
  <params>
    <param><value><array><data><value>
		<struct>
		<member><name>__objtype</name><value>IndexTerm</value></member>
		<member><name>term</name><value>poisson</value></member>
		<member><name>conceptEntryID</name><value>436</value></member>
		<member><name>termEntryID</name><value>440</value></member>
		</struct>
	</value></data></array></value></param>
  </params>
</methodResponse>

Getting concept and term entries

For retrieving concepts and terms the following custom methods exist:

Method	Returns	Return type	Description
`getConceptEntry(sessionID, objID)`	A concept entry	`struct`	Returns the concept entry with specified oid from current dictionary. Same as generic method call `getObject(sessionID, 'conceptentry', objID)`
`getConceptEntryByCID(sessionID, conceptID)`	A concept entry	`struct`	Returns the concept entry with specified concept ID from current dictionary.
`getTermEntry(sessionID, objID)`	A term entry	`struct`	Returns the term entry with specified oid from current dictionary. Same as generic method call `getObject(sessionID, 'termentry', objID)`
`getTermEntryByTID(sessionID, termID)`	A term entry	`struct`	Returns the term entry with specified term ID from current dictionary.
`getTermEntries(sessionID, searchCondition, targetLang)`	List of term entries	array	Returns the matching term entries for the specified search condition and translated into the specified target language.

Filters

For more advanced search functionality you can use search filters. With the generic methods getAll, getObject, getObjectByName, getSelected and setSelected you can retrieve existing filters and set a filter to be applied when searching.

Creating and updating filters

To create a new filter for search, you construct a data object for filter, including the filter criteria for the fields you wish to include, and then call the create method. No value is needed for id fields in Filter or FilterCriteria.

To update, you modify the filter criteria in an existing method, and then call the update method.

To find the IDs for dictionary and fields to include in the data objects you retrieve the Dictionary data object.

Remember to call setSelected to apply the new or updated filter.