Standard practices in the Emporix API

Here you can find descriptions of practices, concepts, and data formats that are commonly used across the Emporix API services.

Data standardization

To ensure consistency between the Emporix API services, some data types use standardized formats:

Data type	Description
Countries	Countries are indicated through two-letter codes compliant with the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard.
Currencies	Currencies are indicated through three-letter codes compliant with the ISO 4217 standard.
Dates and times	All dates and times are stored as instantaneous moments in the UTC timezone, compliant with the ISO 8601 standard.
Languages	Languages (including regional variants) are indicated through codes compliant with the IETF BCP-47 standard.

Mixins

Mixins are custom properties that you can use to describe your business resources in more details. Mixins can be applied to most objects in the Emporix API. Learn more about mixin schemas in Schema Service.

Schemas

To apply a mixin to a resource, you need to define the mixin schema in the form of a JSON Schema object. Mixin schemas need to be uploaded to a hosting service and then referenced in a resource's mixin metadata.

attention

The following Emporix API services do not require mixin schemas:

Category Service

Here's an example of a JSON schema that defines custom delivery options for customers:

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{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#",
  "type": "object",
  "description": "Mixin schema for delivery options.",
  "properties": {
    "packaging": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Delivery packaging."
    },
    "hint": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Additional information from the customer."
    },
    "substituteProduct": {
      "type": ["boolean"],
      "default": false,
      "description": "Flag indicating whether products that are out of stock can be substituted."
    }
  }
}

Usage example

Here's an example of custom delivery options applied inside a Customer object with the schema referenced in mixin metadata:

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{
  "mixins": {
    "deliveryOptions": {
      "packaging": "Paper",
      "hint": "If we are not home, the package can be left in front of the door.",
      "substituteProduct": true
    }
  },
  "metadata": {
    "mixinMetadata": {
      "mixins": {
        "deliveryOptions": "https://res.cloudinary.com/saas-ag/raw/upload/schemata/deliveryOptionsMixIn.v6.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

How to add mixins to an object

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The procedure below presents applying mixins to a Customer object.

Define your mixin schema.

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{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#",
  "type": "object",
  "description": "Mixin schema for delivery options.",
  "properties": {
    "packaging": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Delivery packaging."
    },
    "hint": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Additional information from the customer."
    },
    "substituteProduct": {
      "type": ["boolean"],
      "default": false,
      "description": "Flag indicating whether products that are out of stock can be substituted."
    }
  }
}

Upload your schema to a hosting service and save its URL.
Update an object with mixins and the mixin schema.

Translations

Descriptive fields — such as names or descriptions — can be localized and translated into multiple languages.

In the Emporix Digital Commerce Platform, localized fields are stored in the form of String-String maps, where the keys are language codes and the values are the translations.

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Language codes must match the ones defined in your language configurations.

For more information on language configurations, check out the Language Configuration Tutorials.

How to create a localized object in a specific language

To create an object where field values are specified in one language, you need to call a POST endpoint for a specific resource with the Content-Language header set to the language's IETF BCP 47 tag.

attention

When you set the Content-Language header to a specific language, you need to pass the localized fields as Strings.

info

What if I don't specify the fields' language?

If you do not specify a language in which the values are expressed, the Emporix API will assume the values are expressed in your tenant's default language.

Here's an example on how to create a measurement unit with its name in German:

How to create a localized object in multiple languages

To create an object where field values are translated to multiple languages, you need to call a POST endpoint for a specific resource with the Content-Language header set to *.

attention

When you set the Content-Language header to *, you need to pass the translations as maps of String-String pairs.

Here's an example on how to create a measurement unit with its name in multiple languages:

How to retrieve a localized object in a specific language

To retrieve localized fields in one language, you need to call a GET endpoint for a specific resource with the Accept-Language header set to the language's IETF BCP 47 tag.

Here's an example on how to retrieve a product's localized fields in German:

How to retrieve a localized object in all available languages

To retrieve localized fields in all available languages, you need to call a GET endpoint for a specific resource with the Accept-Language header set to *.

Here's an example on how to retrieve a product's localized fields in all available languages:

How to add localized fields to an existing object

To add translations to an existing object's localizable fields, you need to call a PUT or a PATCH endpoint for a specific resource with the Content-Language header set to *.

attention

When you add translations to an existing object, you need to always pass the translations as maps of String-String pairs.

Here's an example on how to add translations to a measurement unit's name: