2016 - September Newsletter

New Change Process

We have changed to a new release process that batches incompatible changes into release dates that happen once per quarter. These changes will be rolled out in March, June, September, and December. In addition to this new schedule, we will also be sending out notifications at specific intervals that coincide with these quarterly release dates.

For more information, please see the API Evolution Guide

September Changes

New APIs

API Resources	Prototype	Beta	Release
Genealogies	September 2016	October 2016	December 2016

Pending Modification Changes

No pending modifications will go live in September.

Certification Changes

There are no certification changes due in September.

Upcoming December Changes

The following changes will be released on December 6, 2016.

Pending Modifications Changes

For information regarding pending modifications, please see the API Evolution Guide.

Pending Modification	Description
include-non-subject-persons-and-relationships	When reading a person and/or relationship(s), additional persons and relationships are available to be included at minimal cost, but are currently being dropped to preserve compatibility. This pending modification will include the extra "non-subject" persons and relationships. For more information see details below
consolidate-redundant-resources	Resources that have been made redundant will be consolidated by returning a 303 (redirect) to the appropriate resources. These resources include: Person With Relationships, Spouse Relationships, Child Relationships, Parent Relationships, Source References, Discussion References, and Memory References. For more information see details below
current-person-401	Changes the response code for an attempt to read the current person from 404 to 401. For more information see details below
new-name-form-langs	Enables support for new, more specific languages on name forms. For details, see the Names guide in the developer documentation. For more information see details below

New APIs

The Genealogies API and Ordinances API will be moved to the "Release" phase, which means that future changes will conform to changes according to the API Evolution Guide.

Certification Changes

No required certification changes will be due in December.

Pending Modification Details

include-non-subject-persons-and-relationships

Relationships are now returned on this resource, including relationships that may be non-subject relationships.

Currently, when a person call is made, only the person object of the ID in the call will be returned. When enabling the include-non-subject-persons-and-relationships experiment, the relationships to those that are a child, spouse, or parent of the person will also be included. In addition, if you include a URL Param ?relatives=true with the call, those non “subject” person objects will also be included.

/platform/tree/persons/:id

Before Example

This is how the call currently works with no additional experiments or url params.

{
	"persons":[
	{"id": "KWCK-85X", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X/spouses"…}
	],
	"relationships":[],
	"sourceDescriptions":[
	{"id": "SD-KWCK-85X", "links":{"description":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/sources/descriptions/SD-KWCK-85X"…}
	],
	"description": "#SD-KWCK-85X"
}

After Example

After enabling the include-non-subject-persons-and-relationships experiment, you are now able to see the additional relationships of the subject person.

{
	"persons":[{"id": "KWCK-85X", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X/spouses"…],
	"relationships":[
	{"id": "MHTH-PWX", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/couple-relationships/MHTH-PWX"…},
	{"id": "FMMLL-YRP", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCC-NLV"…},
	{"id": "MMMLL-YRP", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCC-NL2"…},
	{"id": "FMMHK-581", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MMMHK-581", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FMM2Q-3CG", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MMM2Q-3CG", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FMMPM-DK2", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MMMPM-DK2", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FM9K8-976", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MM9K8-976", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FM79Z-MW1", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MM79Z-MW1", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FM718-DZW", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MM718-DZW", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FMWBH-69K", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MMWBH-69K", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FM4Q5-62Y", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MM4Q5-62Y", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FMHQ6-KM4", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MMHQ6-KM4", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…},
	{"id": "FMZYW-D63", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X"…},
	{"id": "MMZYW-D63", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F"…}
	],
	"sourceDescriptions":[{"id": "SD-KWCK-85X", "links":{"description":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/sources/descriptions/SD-KWCK-85X"…],
	"childAndParentsRelationships":[
	{"id": "MMLL-YRP", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/MMLL-YRP"…},
	{"id": "MMHK-581", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/MMHK-581"…},
	{"id": "MM2Q-3CG", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/MM2Q-3CG"…},
	{"id": "MMPM-DK2", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/MMPM-DK2"…},
	{"id": "M9K8-976", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/M9K8-976"…},
	{"id": "M79Z-MW1", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/M79Z-MW1"…},
	{"id": "M718-DZW", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/M718-DZW"…},
	{"id": "MWBH-69K", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/MWBH-69K"…},
	{"id": "M4Q5-62Y", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/M4Q5-62Y"…},
	{"id": "MHQ6-KM4", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/MHQ6-KM4"…},
	{"id": "MZYW-D63", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/MZYW-D63"…}
	],
	"description": "#SD-KWCK-85X"
}

/platform/tree/persons/:id?relatives=true

Same as /persons/:id but now includes `person` objects for all persons mentioned in the relationships.

Before Example

This call without the experiment includes all of the non subject related persons, but does not include the relationship information.

{
	"persons":[
	{"id": "KWCK-85X", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWZB-8V8", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWZB-8V8/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCV-7S6", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCV-7S6/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWJP-7HD", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWJP-7HD/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWZW-J6X", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWZW-J6X/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCK-85F", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCC-NL2", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCC-NL2/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCX-MZV", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCX-MZV/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWJP-7H8", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWJP-7H8/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWZ8-57V", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWZ8-57V/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCV-H9Y", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCV-H9Y/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCK-LPS", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-LPS/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KW8Z-M2L", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KW8Z-M2L/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCC-NLV", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCC-NLV/spouses"…}
	],
	"relationships":[
	],
	"sourceDescriptions":[{"id": "SD-KWCK-85X", "links":{"description":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/sources/descriptions/SD-KWCK-85X"…],
	"description": "#SD-KWCK-85X"
}

After Example

Once the experiment is applied in conjunction with the url param, you are now able to see the related individuals, as well as the various relationships.

{
	"persons":[
	{"id": "KWCK-85X", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWZB-8V8", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWZB-8V8/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCV-7S6", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCV-7S6/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWJP-7HD", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWJP-7HD/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWZW-J6X", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWZW-J6X/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCK-85F", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCC-NL2", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCC-NL2/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCX-MZV", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCX-MZV/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWJP-7H8", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWJP-7H8/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWZ8-57V", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWZ8-57V/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCV-H9Y", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCV-H9Y/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCK-LPS", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-LPS/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KW8Z-M2L", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KW8Z-M2L/spouses"…},
	{"id": "KWCC-NLV", "links":{"spouses":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCC-NLV/spouses"…}
	],
	"relationships":[
	{"id": "MHTH-PWX", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/couple-relationships/MHTH-PWX"…},
	{"id": "FMMLL-YRP", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCC-NLV?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MMMLL-YRP", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCC-NL2?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FMZYW-D63", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MMZYW-D63", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FMMPM-DK2", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MMMPM-DK2", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FM9K8-976", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MM9K8-976", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FM718-DZW", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MM718-DZW", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FMM2Q-3CG", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MMM2Q-3CG", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FM79Z-MW1", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MM79Z-MW1", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FM4Q5-62Y", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MM4Q5-62Y", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FMMHK-581", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MMMHK-581", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FMHQ6-KM4", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MMHQ6-KM4", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "FMWBH-69K", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85X?relatives=true"…},
	{"id": "MMWBH-69K", "links":{"person1":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/persons/KWCK-85F?relatives=true"…}
	],
	"sourceDescriptions":[{"id": "SD-KWCK-85X", "links":{"description":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/sources/descriptions/SD-KWCK-85X"…],
	"childAndParentsRelationships":[{"id": "MMLL-YRP", "links":{"relationship":{"href": "https://familysearch.org/platform/tree/child-and-parents-relationships/MMLL-YRP"…],
	"description": "#SD-KWCK-85X"
}

consolidate-redundant-resources

Due to relationship information being returned on the person call, we have now deprecated various relationship calls. This experiment should be used in conjunction with the include-non-subject-persons-and-relationships experiment.