HTTP Request Structure

The method indicates the action to be performed on a resource within the API. 

With Iguana’s net.http.* library, you can invoke different HTTP methods:  

• net.http.get{} - query or retrieve resources.

• net.http.post{} - to add or create a resource.

• net.http.put{} - update an existing resource.

• net.http.delete{} - remove a resource.

The URL defines where the client can access the desired resources - for example the Patient resource.  

url='http://hapi.fhir.org/baseR4/Patient'

For GET requests, the URL may also contain any necessary query parameters like the id of the patient you are searching for.  

When using net.http.get{}, the parameters argument takes in a table of key-value pairs and automatically formats the query string.

http://hapi.fhir.org/baseR4/Patient?id=12324&name=John

The header includes metadata requirements defined by the API to provide information about the request.

headers= {
  ['Content-Type'] = 'application/fhir+json',
  ['Authorization'] = 'Bearer '..token
}

This can contain information such as: 

• Connection and content types 

• Authentication information like credentials or an access token

• MIME types

• Entity tags (ETAGS)

Some requests require a body where we add the resource content or additional information to be sent to the server. This can be in a few potential formats:

JSON

[{
    "patientid": "33751",
    "status": "active",
    "firstname": ”Bruce",
    "lastname": ”Wayne",
	...
}]

• See Parsing and Serializing JSON.

XML

<patient>
  <patientid>33751</patientid>
   <status>active</status>
   <firstname>Bruce</firstname>
   <lastname>Wayne</lastname>
</patient>

• See Working with XML

Query String format

The query string can be found in the body or can be included in the URL of the request.

patientid=33751&status=active&firstname=Bruce&lastname=Wayne