CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

Hi,

The default api.contact.get returns the following fields. I would like to simplify and that by default it doesn't return as many.


{
         "contact_id":"2",
         "contact_type":"Individual",
         "sort_name":"Parker, Sandy",
         "display_name":"Dr Sandy J Parker Jr",
         "do_not_email":"0",
         "do_not_phone":"1",
         "do_not_mail":"0",
         "do_not_sms":"0",
         "do_not_trade":"0",
         "is_opt_out":"0",
         "preferred_mail_format":"Both",
         "first_name":"Sandy",
         "middle_name":"J",
         "last_name":"Parker",
         "birth_date":"2010-10-15",
         "is_deceased":"1",
         "contact_is_deleted":"0",
         "gender_id":"2",
         "gender":"Male",
         "prefix_id":"4",
         "prefix":"Dr.",
         "suffix_id":"1",
         "suffix":"Jr.",
         "address_id":"83",
         "street_address":"862C Green St S",
         "supplemental_address_1":"Subscriptions Dept",
         "city":"Wallsburg",
         "postal_code":"84082",
         "geo_code_1":"40.371817",
         "geo_code_2":"-111.41809",
         "state_province_id":"1043",
         "state_province_name":"Utah",
         "state_province":"UT",
         "country_id":"1228",
         "country":"United States",
         "phone_id":"110",
         "phone_type_id":"1",
         "phone":"74847775",
         "worldregion_id":"2",
         "world_region":"America South, Central, North and Caribbean"
      },


Proposal (again in the "by default", can be requested by adding them in the return) to remove:


         "do_not_email":"0",
         "do_not_phone":"1",
         "do_not_mail":"0",
         "do_not_sms":"0",
         "do_not_trade":"0",
         "is_opt_out":"0",
         "preferred_mail_format":"Both",
         "is_deceased":"1",
         "contact_is_deleted":"0",
         "prefix_id":"4",
         "prefix":"Dr.",
         "suffix_id":"1",
         "suffix":"Jr.",
         "geo_code_1":"40.371817",
         "geo_code_2":"-111.41809",
         "worldregion_id":"2",
         "world_region":"America South, Central, North and Caribbean"


Rationale: it generates more expensive queries, take bandwidth and are arguably not very useful.
Moreover, I'd like that api user start using the return=first_name,last_name... More likely we will get the question "how to add a field", than "how to remove a field".

as for the contact_id, can we/how to work on the transition to have "id" instead ?

X+

I agree it makes more sense to have less fields returned, but doesn't that mean we are moving away from the 'keep the API as stupid as is feasible'? But I have never been in a situation where I needed the fields....

Color me convinced then