Object API Basics

When you publish an Object, Liferay automatically generates REST APIs for it. These APIs differ for Company and Site scoped Objects, but they all use the c/[pluralobjectlabel] naming pattern (e.g., c/timeoffrequests). You can use these APIs to create, access, update, and remove Object entries.

Here you’ll use cURL commands to perform basic CRUD operations for a custom Object. Before proceeding, set up a new Liferay DXP/Portal 7.4 instance and prepare the provided tutorial code.

tip

For a complete list of APIs generated for both Site and Company Objects, see Object’s Headless Framework Integration. You can view and test custom Object APIs via the Liferay API Explorer at [server]:[port]/o/api (e.g., localhost:8080/o/api). They are listed under REST Applications.

Setting Up a Liferay Instance

Start a new Liferay instance by running

docker run -it -m 8g -p 8080:8080 liferay/portal:7.4.3.112-ga112

Sign in to Liferay at http://localhost:8080. Use the email address [e-mail] and the password test. When prompted, change the password to learn.

Then, follow these steps to create a basic Object for this tutorial:

1. Open the Global Menu (), go to the Control Panel tab, and click Objects.

2. Click the Add button () and enter these values:

   Field	Value
   Label	Able
   Plural Label	Ables
   Name	Able

3. Select the new Object draft, go to the Fields tab, and add a single text field:

   Label	Field Name	Type	Required
   Name	name	Text	✔

4. Go to the Details tab and click Publish.

   important

   For this tutorial, you must use the above values.

Publishing an Object creates and activates a new application for receiving and storing data. You can now access it via Headless APIs.

Preparing the Sample Code

Run the following commands to download and unzip the provided sample code:

curl https://resources.learn.liferay.com/dxp/latest/en/building-applications/objects/understanding-object-integrations/using-custom-object-apis/liferay-v1s4.zip -O

unzip liferay-v1s4.zip

These scripts include the following APIs:

HTTP Method	HTTP Endpoint	Description
GET	/	Returns a complete list of Object entries in a Liferay instance; results can be paginated, filtered, searched, and sorted
POST	/	Creates a new Object entry using the details provided in the API call
DELETE	/{objectNameId}	Deletes the specified Object entry and returns a 204 if the operation succeeds
GET	/{objectNameId}	Returns details for the specified Object entry
PUT	/{objectNameId}	Replaces the specified Object entry’s details with those provided in the API call

Calling the Custom Object’s APIs

1. After downloading the sample code, navigate to the curl folder in the liferay-v1s4 project.

   cd liferay-v1s4/curl
   

2. Execute Able_POST_ToCompany. This creates three entries.

   ./Able_POST_ToCompany.sh
   

   The terminal displays the complete schema for the newly created entries. Copy the first entry’s ID for use with the following methods.

   {
     "id" : 41969,
     ...
     "name" : "Able 1"
   }
   
   {
     "id" : 41971,
     ...
     "name" : "Able 2"
   }
   
   {
     "id" : 41973,
     ...
     "name" : "Able 3"
   }
   

3. Execute Ables_GET_FromCompany. This returns a list of the Object’s entries.

   ./Ables_GET_FromCompany.sh
   

4. Execute Able_PUT_ById with the first entry’s ID as a parameter. This replaces the details of the specified entry with the details provided in the API call.

   ./Able_PUT_ById.sh {entry-id}
   

   {
     "id" : 41969,
     ...
     "name" : "Able One"
   }
   

5. Execute Able_DELETE_ById with the same ID as its parameter. This deletes the specified entry.

   ./Able_DELETE_ById.sh {entry-id}
   

6. Execute Able_GET_ById with the same ID as its parameter. This returns the details for the specified entry if it exists.

   ./Able_GET_ById.sh {entry-id}
   

   Since you deleted the entry in the preceding step, it returns the following message.

   {
   	"status": "NOT_FOUND",
   	"title": "No ObjectEntry exists with the primary key 41969"
   }
   

Examining the Sample cURL Scripts

The following are examples of the tutorial’s cURL commands.

Able_POST_ToCompany.sh

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/c/ables/" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"name": "Able 1"
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "POST" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/c/ables/" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"name": "Able 2"
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "POST" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/c/ables/" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"name": "Able 3"
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "POST" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

Able_PUT_ById.sh

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/c/ables/${1}" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"name": "Able One"
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "PUT" \
	--user "[e-mail]:learn"

Managing Object Tags and Categories

You can use the Object APIs to read, set, and update tags and categories for object entries that have categorization enabled. See Tags and Categories for more information.

Tags are represented by the keywords property. You can set or update tags by adding a keywords array to the body of any POST, PUT, or PATCH request.

"keywords" : [
   "tag1", "tag2", "tag3"
]

After making a GET request for an object entry, you can read its tags in the same keywords array.

You can set and update categories for an object entry by adding the taxonomyCategoryIds array to any POST, PUT, or PATCH request.

"taxonomyCategoryIds" : [
   1234, 5678
]

Note

You must have an existing vocabulary of categories to assign categories to an object entry. See Defining Categories and Vocabularies for Content for more information.

After making a GET request for an object entry, you can read its categories in the taxonomyCategoryBriefs array, which contains the taxonomyCategoryId and taxonomyCategoryName for each assigned category.

"taxonomyCategoryBriefs": [
   {
      "taxonomyCategoryId": 1234,
      "taxonomyCategoryName": "Category A"
   },
   {
      "taxonomyCategoryId": 5678,
      "taxonomyCategoryName": "Category B"
   }
]

You can filter object entries by keywords and taxonomyCategoryIds following the rules described in API Query Parameters. Example filter strings may look like these:

• keywords/any(k:k in ('tag1','tag2')) will retrieve all object entries tagged with tag1 or tag2.

• taxonomyCategoryIds/any(k:k in (1234,5678)) will retrieve all entries linked to the category with ID 1234 or 5678.

Related Topics

• Using Batch APIs
• Using nestedFields to Query Related Entries
• Using Aggregation Terms with REST APIs