Special Conditions and Error Handling

If there are validation problems with the input parameters the response will have an appropriate HTTP status code (e.g., 400) and details of the problem will be provided in the result format requested (JSON or XML).

Error Responses

XML

 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
    <header>
        <locale country="US" language="en"/>
        <timestamp>
            2009-07-01T10:45:34.758-04:00
        </timestamp>
        <criteria>
            <command>
                <fmt>
                    xml
                </fmt>
                <include-provisional>
                    true
                </include-provisional>                              
                <r>
                    L99381
                </r>
                <back>
                    320
                </back>
                <max-results>
                    500
                </max-results>
                <detail>
                    simple
                </detail>
            </command>
        </criteria>
        <errors>
            <error>
                <error-msg>
                    The maximum number of days back is 30
                </error-msg>
                <error-code>
                    error.data.too_many_back
                </error-code>
            </error>
        </errors>
    </header>
    <result/>
</response>

JSON

The response will include a simple array containing details of the problems encountered: 

 
[{
    "errorMsg": "The maximum number of days back is 30",
    "errorCode": "error.data.too_many_back"
}]

Current List of Error Messages

This list may change or be added to at any time.  Items in brackets will be specified at the time the message is received.

error.data.dist_out_of_range = Distance must be between {0} and {1}
error.data.lat_out_of_range = Latitude out of range
error.data.lng_out_of_range = Longitude out of range
error.data.lat_required = Parameter 'lat' is required
error.data.lng_required = Parameter 'lng' is required
error.data.rcodes_required = Please specify a region code
error.data.rtype_required = The parameter 'rtype' for region type is required
error.data.rcodes_toomany = Too many region codes.  Please limit your selection to {0} region codes.
error.data.too_many_back = The maximum number of days back is {0}
error.data.too_few_back = Please specify a number of days back greater than zero.
error.data.too_many_results = Please specify a "maxResults" parameter greater than {0}.
error.data.too_few_results = Please specify a "maxResults" parameter less than or equal to {0}.
error.data.unknown_species = Unknown species: {0}
error.data.sci_required = Please specify the scientific name of the species of interest with the parameter 'sci'.
error.data.unsupported_detail = Sorry, the "{0}" detail is not currently supported for this service.
error.data.unsupported_rtype = Sorry, the region type "{0}" is not currently supported for this service.
error.unsupported_fmt = Sorry, {0} format is not currently supported for this service.
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2 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    It appears that in the case of an error the HTTP status code coming back is 200 (OK).
    This makes it difficult for the JSON parser to determine the object type (Error Response or Simple Result) being returned.

  2. user-ad27b

    This should be fixed now. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.