Back to the definition of the workspaceitems endpoint
The section data represent the metadata collected for a specific submissionform. It is a json object with the following structure:
{
"dc.contributor.author": [
{
"value": "Bollini, Andrea",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00001",
"confidence": 600
}
],
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Sample Submission Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1
}
],
"dc.date.issued": [
{
"value": "test",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1
}
]
}The attribute name is the metadata key using the '.' dot separator (i.e. dc.title, dc.contributor.author, etc.) the value is an array, sorted by the metadatavalue.place column, containing
- value: the textual value of the metadata
- authority: the authority key if any associated
- confidence: the level of confidence for the authority if any, -1 otherwise
- language: the iso code associated with the textual value if any
Note: The metadata of archived items is modeled in the same way described here -- as a map of metadata keys to an ordered array of values. The primary difference is where the metadata is located within the JSON representation. The documentation and examples below apply to items during submission, whereas the Modifying Metadata via PATCH document describes how they can be modified after they have been archived.
The PATCH method expects a JSON body according to the JSON Patch specification RFC6902
To add a new value to an existent metadata the client must send a JSON Patch ADD operation as follow
curl -X PATCH '{dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/<:id>' -H "Authorization: Bearer ..." -H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data '[{"op":"add","path":"/sections/<:name-of-the-form>/<:metadata>/-","value":{"value":"...","language":"...","authority":"...","confidence":-1}}]'
it is also possible to insert the new metadata in a specific position
curl -X PATCH '{dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/<:id>' -H "Authorization: Bearer ..." -H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data '[{"op":"add","path":"/sections/<:name-of-the-form>/<:metadata>/<:idx-zero-based>","value":{"value":"...","language":"...","authority":"...","confidence":-1}}]'
for example (note that from now authentication bearer will be omitted), starting with the following document
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Sample Submission Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.contributor.author": [
{
"value": "Bollini, Andrea",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00001",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 0
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
} the following request
curl --data '[{ "op": "add", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.contributor.author/-", "value": {"value": "Another, Author"}}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
will result in
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Sample Submission Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.contributor.author": [
{
"value": "Bollini, Andrea",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00001",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 0
},
{
"value": "Another, Author",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 1
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
}and an additional call as follow
curl --data '[{ "op": "add", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.contributor.author/1", "value": {"value": "Insert, Test", "authority": "rp00002", "confidence": 600}}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
will get the final document
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Sample Submission Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.contributor.author": [
{
"value": "Bollini, Andrea",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00001",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 0
},
{
"value": "Insert, Test",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00002",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 1
},
{
"value": "Another, Author",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 2
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
}Please note that according to the JSON Patch specification RFC6902 to initialize a new metadata in the section the add operation must receive an array of values and it is not possible to add a single value to the not yet initialized "/sections/<:name-of-the-form>/<:metadata>/-" path.
For example the following call initialize dc.subject metadata to our previous example
curl --data '[{ "op": "add", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.subject", "value": [{"value": "keyword1"}]}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
will get the final document
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.subject": [
{
"value": "keyword1",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Sample Submission Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.contributor.author": [
{
"value": "Bollini, Andrea",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00001",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 0
},
{
"value": "Insert, Test",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00002",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 1
},
{
"value": "Another, Author",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 2
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
} it is also possible to initialize or replace the whole metadata values sending multiple objectvalue in the call
curl --data '[{ "op": "add", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.subject", "value": [{"value": "keyword1"},{"value": "keyword2"}]}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.subject": [
{
"value": "keyword1",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
},
{
"value": "keyword2",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 1
}
],
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Sample Submission Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.contributor.author": [
{
"value": "Bollini, Andrea",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00001",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 0
},
{
"value": "Insert, Test",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00002",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 1
},
{
"value": "Another, Author",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 2
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
} This use of the add operation to replace the list of values of a metadata could be counter intuitive but it is done according to the RFC section 4.1
If the target location specifies an object member that does exist, that member's value is replaced.
the specification explicitly say that trying to send the request against the - array position index will create a sub-array element, see the specification Appendix A.16
It is possible to remove a specific metadatavalue
curl --data '[{ "op": "remove", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.subject/0"}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
trasforming above json example in
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.subject": [
{
"value": "keyword2",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Sample Submission Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.contributor.author": [
{
"value": "Bollini, Andrea",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00001",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 0
},
{
"value": "Insert, Test",
"language": null,
"authority": "rp00002",
"confidence": 600,
"place": 1
},
{
"value": "Another, Author",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 2
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
} or removing all the metadata values for a specific metadata key
curl --data '[{ "op": "remove", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.contributor.author"}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.subject": [
{
"value": "keyword2",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Sample Submission Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
} The replace operation allows to replace existent information with new one. Attempt to use the replace operation to set not yet initialized information must return an error. See general errors on PATCH requests
To change the title of the previous example
curl --data '[{ "op": "replace", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.title/0", "value": {"value": "Modified title", "language":"it_IT"}}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.subject": [
{
"value": "keyword2",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Modified Item",
"language": "it_IT",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
} It is also possible to change only the language of the existent title
curl --data '[{ "op": "replace", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.title/0/language", "value": "en_US"}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
{
id: 1,
type: "workspaceitem",
sections:
{
"traditionalpageone": {
"dc.subject": [
{
"value": "keyword2",
"language": null,
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
],
"dc.title": [
{
"value": "Modified Item",
"language": "en_US",
"authority": null,
"confidence": -1,
"place": 0
}
]
...
},
...
},
...
} It is possible to rearrange place of the metadata values using the move operation. For instance to put the 3rd author in the first position run:
curl --data '[{ "op": "move", "from": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.contributor.author/2", "path": "/sections/traditionalpageone/dc.contributor.author/0"}]' -X PATCH ${dspace7-url}/api/submission/workspaceitems/1
No plan to implement the test and copy operation at the current stage