The vCloud Air Platform APIs support XML and JSON data input and output formats. Whether you specify JSON or XML in a request, the data structure returned in the response is equivalent for both formats; the only difference is the data encoding differs by format.

Request Headers

In HTTP requests, API clients must specify in the Content-Type header the format in which data is submitted: 

Content-Type: application/xml  
Content-Type: application/json

For HTTP responses, specifying the media type and subtype is optional.

For HTTP responses, the vCloud Air Platform APIs support specifying in the Accept header the following media types and subtypes: 

Accept: application/xml 
Accept: application/json 
Accept: application/* 
Accept: */*

When you do not specify a media type or subtype or you specify wildcards in an Accept header, the vCloud Air Platform APIs provide the HTTP response by using application/xml. To receive a response using JSON, you must explicitly specify application/json in the Accept header.

Media Type and Subtype Support

Type

Media Range

Application media type and JSON subtype

Accept:application/json;class=mediatype

Application media type and XML subtype

Accept:application/xml;class=mediatype

Wildcard media type and subtype

■

Accept:application/*;class=mediatype

■

Accept: */*;class=mediatype

■

Media type defaults to “application”

■

Subtype defaults “xml”

Note

Specifying the media class for a resource is optional and does not include versioning information.