Begin an Assembly Session

The begin assembly session API method enables you to create a new assembly session for a work item.

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Prerequisites

Before making an 'begin assembly session' request, you must have an access token to sign the request. You can retrieve an access token using one of the following flows:

• Getting an access token using the Resource Owner flow
• Getting an access token using the Implicit flow

Additionally, you must have the following items in the tenancy for which you are creating an assembly session:

• A work item

Overview

The 'begin assembly session' API method is a command method. The API client invoking this method must have either a command or a root scope.

This method is useful when you want to display a HotDocs interview or assemble documents from within your own application.

Validating the HotDocs Answer Set XML

When sending HotDocs answer set XML in a begin assembly session request, you must first validate the answer set against the HotDocs answer Set schema.

Authentication

See Authentication for more information about authenticating requests to the Advance API.

API Documentation

Request

Request URL

PUT https://{tenancymoniker}.{domain}/HdaApi/rest/v1.1/WorkItems/{id}/Versions/{versionId}/SaveSession

Headers

Parameters

Examples

Example Request URL

https://tenancy1.yourorganization.com/HdaApi/rest/v1.1/WorkItems/2d9f3d10-6fdb-494f-9929-955515c6f114/Versions/54210021-e86e-429d-ab1b-cc8e101cf7e1

Example Request JSON

{}

Example Response

Status: 200 OK

Body:

{

    "hdaSessionId": "32b701fa-fh73-4d58-a70c-71e27c277df9",

    "coreSessionId": "mntekqe11s9w3rhe7u3rfdxws3ur1fhdpo68j74rpw6ofmkcoyn9ene3dzz84bnrh7qcy35geon855o7drgsahi3t9ba8yhg",

    "interviewJsUrl": "https://yourorganization.com/AssemblyService/scripts/interview.js",

    "serviceMetadataUrl": "https://yourorganization.com/AssemblyService/ipi/session/mntekqe11s9w3rhe7u3rfdxws3ur1fhdpo68j74rpw6ofmkcoyn9ene3dzz84bnrh7qcy35geon855o7drgsahi3t9ba8yhg"

}

Using the Response Data

The begin assembly session method provides the following data in its response:

You will require this data when displaying an interview.

Resuming a Saved Assembly Session

If you have already saved an assembly session, you can resume the session by making a request to the begin assembly session endpoint, using same versionId you used to begin the initial assembly session. When making the request, ensure that you set the request body parameters as follows:

• answerXml (string) – you must omit this parameter; Advance will reload the answers from your saved assembly session into the resumed assembly session
• forceCreate (boolean) – you must set this parameter to true

Code Example

C#

Note: this code example assumes that you are using .Net Framework 4.6 and a new ASP.NET Web Application project. You will build upon this project in the later code examples for displaying an interview and completing an assembly session.

HomeController.cs

using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace AdvanceExampleApplication.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public async Task<ActionResult> Index()
        {
            // You should have already implemented the 'ResourceOwnerAuthorization' method in the 'Getting an Access Token using the Resource Owner flow' topic.
            var token = await ResourceOwnerAuthorization.GetResourceOwnerToken();
            var assemblySessionData = await AssemblySessionHandler.BeginAssemblySession(token);
            return View();
        }                      
    }
}

AssemblySessionHandler.cs

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace AdvanceExampleApplication
{
    public static class AssemblySessionHandler
    {
        public static async Task<AssemblySessionDto> BeginAssemblySession(string token)
        {
            // ID of a work item for which you want to create the assembly session;
            // it must not have an in-progress assembly session
            var workItemId = Guid.Parse("a1e0e795-5a51-44f5-8fe2-e85a61dbf3c2");

            // Create the request
            var request = CreateHttpRequestMessage(workItemId);

            // Send the begin assembly session request to Advance
            using (var client = new HttpClient())
            {
                client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", token);

                var response = await client.SendAsync(request);

                return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<assemblysessiondto>(await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());
            }
        }

        private static HttpRequestMessage CreateHttpRequestMessage(Guid workItemId)
        {
            var assemblySessionId = Guid.NewGuid();
            var assemblySessionUrl = $"https://tenancy1.yourorganization.com/HdaApi/rest/v1.1/WorkItems/{workItemId}/Versions/{assemblySessionId}";  

            var body = new
            {
                forceCreate = true,
                answerXml = string.Empty
            };

            return new HttpRequestMessage
            {
                RequestUri = new Uri(assemblySessionUrl),
                Method = HttpMethod.Put,
                Content = new StringContent(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(body), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json")
            };
        }
    }
}

AssemblySessionDto.cs

namespace AdvanceExampleApplication
{
    public class AssemblySessionDto
    {
        public string InterviewJsUrl { get; set; }
        public string HdaSessionId { get; set; }
        public string CoreSessionId { get; set; }
        public string ServiceMetadataUrl { get; set; }
    }
}

Next Steps

• Displaying an Interview
• Completing an Assembly Session