REST API v2: the fields parameter

There are several API methods that are able to use the fields parameter in the URL to select profiles and subprofiles. You could use this, for example, to only select profiles where "country" is "the netherlands", or profiles aged between 18 en 65.

The fields parameter is an array, which means square brackets should be added after the name of the variable in the URL. The variable may even be used multiple times. The following URL demonstrates how the variable fields[] can occur twice:

https://api.copernica.com/v2/database/$id/profiles?fields[]=land%3D%3Dnetherlands&fields[]=age%3E16&access_token=xxxx

Supported values

The value of a fields parameter always has the format of "field operator value" like "country==netherlands" or "age>18". The following operators are available:

  • ==: equal to
  • != or <>: not equal to
  • <, >: smaller than, greater than
  • <=, >=: smaller or equal to, greater or equal to
  • =~ or !~: like, not like

The "like" and "not like" operators can be used to match profiles. If you use such an operator you can use the % and _ wildcards. The _ replaces exactly one token, regardless of what that token is. The % matches a series of tokens of any length. You could specifically fetch all profiles with a first name starting with an 'M' by adding "firstname=~M%" to the fields parameter, for example.

ID field

Some Publisher calls concerning statistics and results support the ID parameter. It can be used just like the other fields parameters and is used to gather the statistics or results that we have logged under the ID. This is especially useful when you want to keep track of all our statistics or results yourself. Just store the last ID you have obtained from your last call and only request results with IDs that are larger. The following example demonstrates how to use the paramter:

// dependencies
require_once('copernica_rest_api.php');

// insert your access token
$api = new CopernicaRestApi("your-access-token", 2);

// parameters to pass to the call
$parameters = array(
    'orderby'   =>  'country',
    'fields'    =>  array("id>100000")
);

// do the call, and print result
print_r($api->get("publisher/{$emailingID}/abuses", $parameters));`

Timestamp field

Some Publisher calls concerning statistics support the timestamp parameter. It can be used just like the other fields parameters and is used to gather the statistics for a specific period. The operators can then be used to compare timestamps given in YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss format. The following example demonstrates how to use the parameter:

// dependencies
require_once('copernica_rest_api.php');

// insert your access token
$api = new CopernicaRestApi("your-access-token", 2);

// parameters to pass to the call
$parameters = array(
    'orderby'   =>  'country',
    'fields'    =>  array("timestamp>2020-01-01", "timestamp<=2020-01-31")
);

// do the call, and print result
print_r($api->get("publisher/{$emailingID}/abuses", $parameters));`

Special fields in databases

The fields you use to make comparisons with are always fields from the database. If you make comparisons like "hometown==amsterdam" of "gender==male", these fields should exist in your database.

However, there are three special fields that you do not have to enter to use. These special fields are:

  • id: the numerical ID of the (sub)profile
  • code: the secret code of the (sub)profile
  • modified: timestamp of last modification of (sub)profile in YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss format.

This means you can also make comparisons like "id>1000" or "modified<2017-01-01".

Escaping variables

When you add the fields parameters to the URL you need to escape variables to keep the URL valid. The same goes for other parameters, like the access_token parameter, but this especially important for the fields parameter. This is because you always use characters that can not occur without interfering with the URL (for example name~=m%).

The example earlier also escapes characters. The URL includes two field parameters: 'country==netherlands' and 'age>16' In the URL they have been replace by "country%3D%3Dnetherlands" and "age%3E16" such that the equality and greater than operators do not conflict with other tokens in the URL.

When using our example PHP code you don't have to do this as escaping characters is done automatically.

PHP example

You can also add the fields parameter when executing calls with PHP. In the example below it is used in the call to retrieve profiles.

// dependencies
require_once('copernica_rest_api.php');

// insert your access token
$api = new CopernicaRestApi("your-access-token", 2);

// parameters to pass to the call
$parameters = array(
    'orderby'   =>  'country',
    'fields'    =>  array("age>16", "age<=65")
);

// do the call, and print result
print_r($api->get("database/$databaseID/profiles", $parameters));`

More information

The fields parameter can be used within the following database API methods:

It is also available on the timestamp field for Publisher emailing abuses, clicks, deliveries, errors, impressions and unsubscribes. It's also available on the timestampsent field for the Publisher emailing destinations. You can find the documentation of these calls below.