API — An interface for scriptable access to the Animal QTLdb

Schema, Specifications, and Usage Examples

Purpose

The Application Program Interface (API) provides a portal for programmable access to the Animal QTLdb contents.

Protocol

It is developed using the REpresentational State Transfer (REST) architecture. Many programming languages can be employed to code for an application program as long as it can make HTTP calls, capture and process the XML data returned.

Representational state transfer (REST) is an architectural framework for scriptable, reliable, and automated data request and transport. It uses coordinated constraints for components, connectors, and data elements for distributed information transportation through HTTP protocol. The REST is one of the most used architectural style widely used to build web services.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a data markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format which is both human-readable and machine-readable following W3C's XML 1.0 Specification.

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web.

Reference:

Zhi-Liang Hu, Carissa A. Park, James E. Koltes, Eric Fritz-Waters and James M. Reecy (2014). An Application Programming Interface (API) for Programmable Access to Animal QTLdb. Plant & Animal Genomes XX Conference, January 14-19, 2012. Town & Country Convention Center, San Diego, CA.