[2] | 1 | |
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| 2 | |
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| 3 | Proposal for a Common Groupware Interface Standard |
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| 4 | |
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| 5 | (C) 2001-2004 Miles Lott <milos@groupwhere.org> |
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| 6 | |
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| 7 | September 13, 2001 and December 29, 2003 |
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| 8 | |
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| 9 | Table of Contents |
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| 10 | |
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| 11 | 1 Scope |
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| 12 | 2 The Services |
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| 13 | 2.1 Overview |
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| 14 | 2.2 Detail |
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| 15 | 2.2.1 Contacts |
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| 16 | 2.2.2 Schedule |
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| 17 | 2.2.3 Notes |
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| 18 | 2.2.4 Todo |
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| 19 | 2.3 Examples in XML-RPC |
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| 20 | 3 Conclusion |
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| 21 | 3.1 Contacts: |
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| 22 | 3.2 Schedule: |
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| 23 | 3.3 Notes: |
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| 24 | 3.4 Todo: |
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| 25 | |
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| 26 | |
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| 27 | |
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| 28 | 1 Scope |
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| 29 | |
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| 30 | As many different opensource and freesoftware groupware systems |
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| 31 | are being developed, the full realization of the dream of |
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| 32 | a connected world should be prefaced by an agreement to |
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| 33 | interoperate. There are limited ways in which cooperation |
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| 34 | with these and commercial groupware systems may be achecived, |
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| 35 | the majority if not all of which were derived via the establishment |
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| 36 | of open standards. These might include email (POP3/IMAP), |
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| 37 | contacts(LDAP,vcard), or scheduling(ical/vcal). It is felt |
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| 38 | that while these have proven themselves to be very useful, |
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| 39 | they are insufficient to satisfy the real needs of a typical |
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| 40 | business environment. |
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| 41 | |
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| 42 | This document hopes to provide a reasonable, if limited, |
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| 43 | recommendation for a set of standardized methods to be used |
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| 44 | for groupware services interaction. More specifically, it |
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| 45 | hopes to address the need for such a standard as well as |
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| 46 | to spur discussion about the common service names and methods |
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| 47 | themselves. |
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| 48 | |
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| 49 | Examples will be given for implementations in XML-RPC, since |
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| 50 | this standard is relatively fixed and open. |
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| 51 | |
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| 52 | This document does not provide recommendations for the underlying |
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| 53 | access control system which would allow or deny a particular |
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| 54 | action. |
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| 55 | |
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| 56 | Also not discussed here is login and authorization to be |
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| 57 | used for initial access to a service provider. |
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| 58 | |
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| 59 | 2 The Services |
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| 60 | |
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| 61 | 2.1 Overview |
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| 62 | |
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| 63 | There are a few common services types that will be needed |
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| 64 | for minimum useability of a groupware server or application. |
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| 65 | They are: |
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| 66 | |
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| 67 | * Contacts |
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| 68 | |
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| 69 | * Schedule |
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| 70 | |
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| 71 | * Notes |
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| 72 | |
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| 73 | * Todo |
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| 74 | |
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| 75 | These services are represented already in places such as |
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| 76 | existing groupware client-server applications and also in |
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| 77 | the PalmOS basic-4 buttons and applications. Different systems |
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| 78 | may have different names for these services internally, |
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| 79 | e.g. Contacts - addresses, addressbook, people, Schedule |
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| 80 | - calendar, agenda, meetings. |
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| 81 | |
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| 82 | Within each of these services are some common methods that |
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| 83 | would be called to store, retreive, or update data: |
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| 84 | |
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| 85 | * read_list |
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| 86 | |
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| 87 | * read |
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| 88 | |
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| 89 | * save |
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| 90 | |
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| 91 | * delete |
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| 92 | |
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| 93 | 2.2 Detail |
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| 94 | |
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| 95 | 2.2.1 Contacts |
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| 96 | |
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| 97 | The concept of contacts may encompass local addressbooks, |
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| 98 | LDAP, and lists stored in other media. The purpose of the |
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| 99 | contacts service is not to duplicate or attempt to replace |
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| 100 | these. In some respects, it might do just that. But its |
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| 101 | goal is more so to provide a common and shareable way for |
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| 102 | the other core services to create, edit, and read a common |
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| 103 | user and address list. All of the other services may use |
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| 104 | the contact service to obtain record owner information to |
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| 105 | be used in access control. They would also use them when |
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| 106 | it is required to share this data, as with a meeting where |
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| 107 | other local and non-local users will be invited to attend. |
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| 108 | |
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| 109 | Contacts may include the local installed user base, users |
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| 110 | on other cooperative servers, or email addresses used for |
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| 111 | limited cooperation with other groupware services that are |
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| 112 | not compliant with this service scheme or implementations |
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| 113 | thereof. It could also include individuals using web-based |
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| 114 | or local ISP email services. The scope of this document, |
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| 115 | however, is to define the service with regard to the common |
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| 116 | methods to be used for server-server and client-server communications: |
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| 117 | |
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| 118 | * read_list |
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| 119 | |
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| 120 | This method is used to list contacts, with or without limits, |
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| 121 | filters, or search criteria. In this way it can be used |
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| 122 | for simple lists or to search for contact records and their |
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| 123 | identifiers. The optional search criteria includes: |
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| 124 | |
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| 125 | 1. start - Start at this identifier (integer: default 0) |
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| 126 | |
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| 127 | 2. limit - Limit to this number of records returned(integer: |
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| 128 | unlimited by default) |
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| 129 | |
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| 130 | 3. fieldlist - limit to showing only these fields (array: |
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| 131 | default to identifier, owner identifier, possibly firstname |
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| 132 | and lastname) |
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| 133 | |
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| 134 | 4. filter - Show records that are public or private only, |
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| 135 | or other system-specific filters, e.g group or company(string: |
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| 136 | default '') |
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| 137 | |
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| 138 | 5. query - Search internal fieldlist for a value (string: |
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| 139 | default '') |
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| 140 | |
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| 141 | The return for this method includes: |
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| 142 | |
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| 143 | 1. count of number of records returned(integer) |
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| 144 | |
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| 145 | 2. array consisting of: array: identifier => (array: fieldlist |
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| 146 | key => value pairs) |
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| 147 | |
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| 148 | * read |
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| 149 | |
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| 150 | Once the identifier for a single contact record is known, |
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| 151 | the contact may be read for more detail using this method. |
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| 152 | This takes two parameters: |
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| 153 | |
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| 154 | 1. identifier - (integer: no default) |
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| 155 | |
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| 156 | 2. fieldlist - limit to showing only these fields (array: |
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| 157 | default to identifier, owner identifier, possibly firstname |
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| 158 | and lastname) |
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| 159 | |
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| 160 | And returns: |
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| 161 | |
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| 162 | 1. array consisting of: array: identifier => (array: fieldlist |
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| 163 | key => value pairs) |
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| 164 | |
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| 165 | * save |
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| 166 | |
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| 167 | This is a method used to save an existing record or create |
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| 168 | a new one. If the identifier for an existing record is not |
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| 169 | passed, a new entry will be created. |
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| 170 | |
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| 171 | * delete |
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| 172 | |
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| 173 | This will allow deletion of a record by passing its identifier. |
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| 174 | |
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| 175 | 2.2.2 Schedule |
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| 176 | |
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| 177 | 2.2.3 Notes |
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| 178 | |
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| 179 | 2.2.4 Todo |
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| 180 | |
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| 181 | 2.3 Examples in XML-RPC |
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| 182 | |
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| 183 | Query the contacts service for read_list, using only start |
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| 184 | and limit to grab the first 5 records, starting with identifier |
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| 185 | 1. Additionally, return only the firstname and lastname |
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| 186 | fields n_given and n_family (firstname and lastname in pseudo |
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| 187 | vcard format): |
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| 188 | |
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| 189 | <methodCall> |
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| 190 | |
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| 191 | <methodName>service.contacts.read_list</methodName> |
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| 192 | |
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| 193 | <params> |
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| 194 | |
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| 195 | <param> |
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| 196 | |
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| 197 | <value><struct> |
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| 198 | |
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| 199 | <member><name>start</name> |
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| 200 | |
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| 201 | <value><string>1</string></value> |
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| 202 | |
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| 203 | </member> |
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| 204 | |
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| 205 | <member><name>limit</name> |
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| 206 | |
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| 207 | <value><string>5</string></value> |
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| 208 | |
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| 209 | </member> |
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| 210 | |
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| 211 | <member><name>fields</name> |
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| 212 | |
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| 213 | <value><struct> |
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| 214 | |
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| 215 | <member><name>n_given</name> |
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| 216 | |
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| 217 | <value><string>n_given</string></value> |
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| 218 | |
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| 219 | </member> |
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| 220 | |
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| 221 | <member><name>n_family</name> |
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| 222 | |
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| 223 | <value><string>n_family</string></value> |
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| 224 | |
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| 225 | </member> |
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| 226 | |
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| 227 | </struct></value> |
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| 228 | |
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| 229 | </member> |
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| 230 | |
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| 231 | <member><name>query</name> |
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| 232 | |
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| 233 | <value><string></string></value> |
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| 234 | |
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| 235 | </member> |
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| 236 | |
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| 237 | <member><name>filter</name> |
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| 238 | |
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| 239 | <value><string></string></value> |
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| 240 | |
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| 241 | </member> |
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| 242 | |
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| 243 | </struct></value> |
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| 244 | |
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| 245 | </param> |
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| 246 | |
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| 247 | </params> |
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| 248 | |
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| 249 | </methodCall> |
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| 250 | |
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| 251 | 3 Conclusion |
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| 252 | |
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| 253 | This document outlined the following services and methods: |
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| 254 | |
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| 255 | 3.1 Contacts: |
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| 256 | |
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| 257 | * service.contacts.read_list([search criteria]) |
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| 258 | |
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| 259 | * service.contacts.read(identifier,[fieldlist]) |
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| 260 | |
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| 261 | * service.contacts.save(fields) |
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| 262 | |
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| 263 | * service.contacts.delete(identifier) |
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| 264 | |
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| 265 | 3.2 Schedule: |
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| 266 | |
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| 267 | * service.schedule.read_list([search criteria]) |
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| 268 | |
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| 269 | * service.schedule.read(identifier,[fieldlist]) |
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| 270 | |
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| 271 | * service.schedule.save(fields) |
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| 272 | |
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| 273 | * service.schedule.delete(identifier) |
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| 274 | |
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| 275 | 3.3 Notes: |
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| 276 | |
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| 277 | * service.notes.read_list([search criteria]) |
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| 278 | |
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| 279 | * service.notes.read(identifier,[fieldlist]) |
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| 280 | |
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| 281 | * service.notes.save(fields) |
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| 282 | |
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| 283 | * service.notes.delete(identifier) |
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| 284 | |
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| 285 | 3.4 Todo: |
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| 286 | |
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| 287 | * service.todo.read_list(search criteria) |
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| 288 | |
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| 289 | * service.todo.read(identifer,[fieldlist]) |
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| 290 | |
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| 291 | * service.todo.save(fields) |
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| 292 | |
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| 293 | * service.todo.delete(identifier) |
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