Prerequisites

Prerequisites

The SmartStore.Net Web API requires configuration by the storekeeper to go into action. First of all he must install the Web API plugin in the backend of SmartStore.Net. The plugin technology gives him the opportunity to activate or deactivate the entire Web API at any time without any influence on the online store.

Next step is to configure the API on the plugin's configuration page. The main thing here is to provide individual members access to the API and the data of the online store. Therefore the storekeeper can create a public and a secret key for each registered member. Only a registered member with both keys has access to the API. To exclude a member from the API the storekeeper can either delete the keys of the member (permanent exclusion) or disable them (temporary exclusion). Roles and rights of a member are taken into consideration when accessing data via the API.

The consumer must transmit the public key through a custom HTTP header field. It identifies the member who is accessing the API. The secret key on the other hand should never ever be send over the wire! It is secret to the storekeeper and the member who is accessing the Web API. It is only used for encryption as described in the following chapters.