Retrieving annotations for objects and versions

You use the HTTP

GET method to retrieve an annotation for an object or version of an object. The annotation is returned in the format it had before it was stored.

You can also use a single request to retrieve object or version data and custom metadata together.

Access permission

To retrieve an annotation, you need read permission.

Request header

GET /rest/directory/file?type=custom-metadata&annotation=annotation HTTP/1.1
ParameterRequiredDescription
directoryYesFolder name.
fileYesName of the file, including file extension.
typeYesUse the value custom-metadata.
annotation NoUse a value of the name of the annotation. You can omit this parameter for the default annotation.Used in conjunction with the type parameter.
nowait No

HCP may detect that a GET request will take a significant amount of time to return an object. You can choose to have the request fail in this situation instead of waiting for HCP to return the object.

When a GET request fails because the request would take a significant amount of time to return an object and the nowait parameter is specified, HCP returns an HTTP 503 (Service Unavailable) error code. If this happens, retry the request a few times, waiting about thirty seconds between retries.

versionNoTo check whether an annotation exists for a specific object version, in addition to specifying the request elements listed above, specify this URL query parameter.

Response headers

The list below describes the request-specific response headers for this operation.

  • Content-Encoding

    Always gzip.

    This header is returned only if the response data is compressed.

  • Content-Length

    The size of the returned data, in bytes.

  • Content-Type

    Always text/xml.

  • ETag

    The ETag of the object or version enclosed in double quotation marks ("). This header is returned only if the object has an ETag.

  • X-HCP-ChangeTimeMilliseconds

    The change time for the object, in milliseconds since January 1, 1970, at 00:00:00 UTC, followed by an integer that is unique for the change time. For example: 1336483100178.00.

  • X-HCP-ChangeTimeString

    The change time for the object in this format:

    yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ssZ

    In this format, Z represents the offset from UTC and is specified as:

    (+|-)hhmm

    For example, 2020-09-18T09:18:20-0400 represents the start of the 20th second into 9:18 AM, September 18, 2020, EDT.

  • X-HCP-ContentLength

    The size of the annotation, in bytes.

    This header is returned only if the request specifies a compressed response.

  • X-HCP-Hash

    The cryptographic hash algorithm HCP uses, along with the cryptographic hash value stored for the object, in this format:

    X-HCP-Hash: hash-algorithmhash-value

    You can use the returned hash value to verify that the stored data is the same as the data you sent. To perform the verification, compare this value with a hash value that you generate from the original data.

    The

    X-HCP-Hash
    header is not returned for multipart objects.

  • X-HCP-Size

    The size of the object data, in bytes.

  • X-HCP-SymlinkTarget

    The path to the target object as specified when the symbolic link was created.

    This header is returned only if the URL specifies a symbolic link to an object.

    If this header is returned, the X-HCP-ACL value is always false.

  • X-HCP-Type

    The object entity type.

Response body

The body of the HTTP response contains the annotation.

Return codes

The table below describes the HTTP return codes that have specific meaning for this request.

CodeMeaningDescription
200OKHCP successfully retrieved the annotation.
204No ContentThe specified object does not the specified annotation.
404Not Found

One of:

  • HCP could not find an object or version at the specified URL. The specified object or version does not exist, or the request specified the current version of an object that has been deleted.
  • The URL path contains a symbolic link to a directory anywhere other than in the last component.
406Not AcceptableThe request has an Accept-Encoding header that does not include gzip or *.
503Service UnavailableThe request contains the nowait query parameter, and HCP determined that the request would have taken a significant amount of time to return the annotation.

Example: Retrieving an annotation for an object

Here’s a sample HTTP GET request that retrieves the account_info annotation for an object named Q1_2012.ppt in the quarterly_rpts directory.

Request with curl command line

curl -k -H "Authorization: HCP bXl1c2Vy:3f3c6784e97531774380db177774ac8d"
"https://finance.europe.hcp.example.com/rest/quarterly_rpts/Q1_2012.ppt
?type=custom-metadata&annotation=account_info" >
Q1_2012.ppt.custom-metadata.xml

Request in Python using PycURL

import pycurl
filehandle = open("Q1_2012.ppt.custom-metadata.xml", 'wb')
curl = pycurl.Curl()
curl.setopt(pycurl.HTTPHEADER, ["Authorization: HCP
  bXl1c2Vy:3f3c6784e97531774380db177774ac8d"])
curl.setopt(pycurl.URL, "https://finance.europe.hcp.example.com \
  /rest/quarterly_rpts/Q1_2012.ppt?type=custom-metadata \
&annotation=account_info")
curl.setopt(pycurl.SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0)
curl.setopt(pycurl.SSL_VERIFYHOST, 0)
curl.setopt(pycurl.WRITEFUNCTION, filehandle.write)
curl.perform()
print curl.getinfo(pycurl.RESPONSE_CODE)
curl.close()
filehandle.close()

Request headers

GET /rest/quarterly_rpts/Q1_2012.ppt?type=custom-metadata&annotation=
account_info HTTP/1.1
Host: finance.europe.hcp.example.com
Authorization: HCP bXl1c2Vy:3f3c6784e97531774380db177774ac8d

Response headers

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
X-HCP-ServicedBySystem: hcp.example.com
X-HCP-Time: 1336490468
X-HCP-SoftwareVersion: 7.0.0.16
ETag: "9c604138ffb0f308a8552a3752e5a1be"
Content-Type: text/xml
Content-Length: 287
X-HCP-Type: annotation
X-HCP-Size: 119459
X-HCP-ChangeTimeMilliseconds: 1335347627362.00
X-HCP-ChangeTimeString: 2012-04-25T05:53:47-0400
X-HCP-Hash: SHA-256 42C605FBFFCD7CEAC36BE62F294374F94503D1DC1793736...

Response body

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<quarterly_rpt>
    <preparation>
     <prepared_by>Lee Green</prepared_by>
     <department>Accounting</department>
     <title>Budget Director</title>
    </preparation>
    <presentation_date>04-18-2012</presentation_date>
    <slide_count>23</slide_count>
</quarterly_rpt>