REST API
An Application Program Interface (API) allows applications to communicate with other systems through code. Lucernex uses a REST API that lets you GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE data from Lucernex. A REST (Representational State Transfer) API is a common architectural approach for web service communication.
Use the Lucernex API in one of these ways:
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Send an XML file to Lucernex. This method is typically used for large updates.
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Send POST requests using an API client such as Postman.
Accruent does not provide API software. Use the tool recommended by your organization.
REST APIs use HTTP requests to manage data transactions. REST APIs support four request types, also known as methods or calls. These methods align with the CRUD database update model.
REST APIs support these request types:
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POST: Creates/updates objects (Create)
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GET: Retrieves objects (Read)
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PUT: Updates objects (Update)
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DELETE: Removes objects (Delete)
REST APIs are stateless and don't rely on responses from the system. After a POST request completes, you can submit another API request without maintaining a session state.
Lucernex has a dedicated API server that other system processes do not affect. API performance remains stable even when activity in Lucernex increases.
Lucernex uses XML in its API calls. Use XML because Lucernex fully supports it. The REST API Web Services Docs tool shows JSON by default, but JSON is not fully supported. JSON calls may behave unexpectedly.
For more information about Lucernex environments, see the What environments exist for Lucernex? question on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
In the API section of the User Guide, {{url}} refers to your environment URL.
The following key terms may appear in our API documentation:
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Resource: Any item that you can access through a REST API URL.
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businessObject: Primary Lx REST API resource for reading individual objects and object groups, and for creating, updating, and deleting individual objects.
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firm: Primary Lx REST API resource for creating and updating multiple objects at one time.
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Object: Any related set of fields in Lucernex that represent a single artifact or idea (for example, contract, payment transaction, straightâline period, percentage rent record, schedule task). An object may also be referred to as a table.
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Entity: Any Lucernex object that you can access from the primary tabs in the user interface.
The following pages on the System Administrator Dashboard support API development. Also use tools such as Postman to develop API calls and XML syntax.
eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language for storing and transporting data. Many ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tools are available for writing XML, including Metl and Mapforce.
Reserved characters
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less than
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greater than
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& |
ampersand
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apostrophe
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quotation mark
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REST API basics