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OSID Specifications
ontology package
Version 3.0.0
Release Candidate Preview
Interfaceosid.ontology.SubjectSearchSession
Implementsosid.ontology.SubjectQuerySession
Description

This session provides methods for searching Subject objects. The search query is constructed using the SubjectQuery. The subject record Type also specifies the record for the subject query.

getSubjectsByQuery() is the basic search method and returns a list of Subjects. A more advanced search may be performed with getSubjectsBySearch(). It accepts a SubjectSearch in addition to the query for the purpose of specifying additional options affecting the entire search, such as ordering. getSubjectsBySearch() returns a SubjectSearchResults that can be used to access the resulting SubjectList or be used to perform a search within the result set through SubjectSearch.

This session defines views that offer differing behaviors for searching.

  • federated ontology view: searches include subjects in ontologies of which this ontology is a ancestor in the ontology hierarchy
  • isolated ontology view: searches are restricted to subjects in this ontology

Subjects may have a query record indicated by their respective record types. The query record is accessed via the SubjectQuery.

MethodgetSubjectSearch
Description

Gets a subject search.

Returnosid.ontology.SubjectSearchthe subject search
CompliancemandatoryThis method must be implemented.
MethodgetSubjectSearchOrder
Description

Gets a subject search order. The SubjectSearchOrder is supplied to a SubjectSearch to specify the ordering of results.

Returnosid.ontology.SubjectSearchOrderthe subject search order
CompliancemandatoryThis method must be implemented.
MethodgetSubjectsBySearch
Description

Gets the search results matching the given search query using the given search.

Parametersosid.ontology.SubjectQuerysubjectQuerythe subject query
osid.ontology.SubjectSearchsubjectSearchthe subject search
Returnosid.ontology.SubjectSearchResultsthe subject search results
ErrorsNULL_ARGUMENT subjectQuery or subjectSearch is null
OPERATION_FAILEDunable to complete request
PERMISSION_DENIEDauthorization failure
UNSUPPORTED subjectSearch or subjectQuery is not of this service
CompliancemandatoryThis method must be implemented.
MethodgetSubjectQueryFromInspector
Description

Gets a subject query from an inspector. The inspector is available from a SubjecttSearchResults.

Parametersosid.ontology.SubjectQueryInspectorsubjectQueryInspectora subject query inspector
Returnosid.ontology.SubjectQuerythe subject query
ErrorsNULL_ARGUMENT subjectQueryInspector is null
UNSUPPORTED subjectQueryInspector is not of this service
CompliancemandatoryThis method must be implemented.