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Authenticate

Required to begin the VSA API Web Service session. The SessionID returned must be submitted with every method invoked during session. The SessionID is only valid when received from the same machine the authentication originates from.

A single record of the following fields is returned.

SessionID

decimal

The unique session ID assigned to a user connection with the target URL.

Method

string

The operation that requested this response.

TransactionID

decimal

The unique message ID for this message.

ErrorMessage

string

If blank, no error was returned.

ErrorLocation

string

If blank, no error was returned.

Automatic Logon During Authentication

When you authenticate through the API, you are automatically logged into VSA as well. If you are already logged into the VSA at authentication time, the 2 sessions are synchronized.  Either way, the result is the same – you end up with valid sessions in both worlds.

The VSA looks for the API's 26 digit SessionID on the query string of every VSA page. So, if the application developer needs to redirect to a VSA page, he can now get directly to a page without forcing the user to log in again. The syntax is:

URL?apiLogonGuid=12345678901234567890123456

For example:

http://someServer:123/Systemtab/SomePage?apiLogonGuid=12345678901234567890123456&SomeVar=SomeValue

API activity keeps the VSA session alive. However, since VSA does not assume there is always a need for an API session, VSA activity does not keep the API session alive.

The API uses the same timeout value as the VSA, which is maintained using the VSA's System > Logon Policy page, and has a system default value of 30 minutes.