SetOwner API¶

Sets the owner of the document or folder at the specified path.

Endpoint¶

/srv.asmx/SetOwner

Methods¶

GET /srv.asmx/SetOwner?authenticationTicket=...&Path=...&NewOwnerUserName=...&ApplytoTree=...
POST /srv.asmx/SetOwner (form data)
SOAP Action: http://tempuri.org/SetOwner

Parameters¶

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`authenticationTicket`	string	Yes	Authentication ticket obtained from `AuthenticateUser`.
`Path`	string	Yes	Full path to the document or folder.
`NewOwnerUserName`	string	Yes	The username of the new owner.
`ApplytoTree`	bool	Yes	If `true` and the path is a folder, recursively sets the owner on all subfolders and documents. Ignored for documents.

Response¶

Success Response¶

<response success="true" error="" />

Partial Success Response (folder with tree apply)¶

When ApplytoTree=true and some items could not be updated, a multi-status response is returned:

<response success="false" error="Some items could not be updated">
  <logitem path="/Finance/Reports/locked.pdf" error="Document is locked" />
  <logitem path="/Finance/Reports/subfolder" error="Access denied" />
</response>

Error Response¶

<response success="false" error="[ErrorCode] Error message" />

Required Permissions¶

Change ownership permission (ActionId 10) on the target document or folder.

Example¶

GET Request (set owner on a single document)¶

GET /srv.asmx/SetOwner
  ?authenticationTicket=3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301
  &Path=/Finance/Reports/Q4Report.pdf
  &NewOwnerUserName=jsmith
  &ApplytoTree=false
HTTP/1.1

GET Request (set owner recursively on a folder)¶

GET /srv.asmx/SetOwner
  ?authenticationTicket=3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301
  &Path=/Finance/Reports
  &NewOwnerUserName=jsmith
  &ApplytoTree=true
HTTP/1.1

POST Request¶

POST /srv.asmx/SetOwner HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

authenticationTicket=3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301
&Path=/Finance/Reports/Q4Report.pdf
&NewOwnerUserName=jsmith
&ApplytoTree=false

SOAP Request¶

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
               xmlns:tns="http://tempuri.org/">
  <soap:Body>
    <tns:SetOwner>
      <tns:AuthenticationTicket>3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301</tns:AuthenticationTicket>
      <tns:Path>/Finance/Reports/Q4Report.pdf</tns:Path>
      <tns:NewOwnerUserName>jsmith</tns:NewOwnerUserName>
      <tns:ApplytoTree>false</tns:ApplytoTree>
    </tns:SetOwner>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

JavaScript¶

Every call answers XML with HTTP 200, success or not, so success is the thing to branch on and errorCode is the number to report.

async function call(action, params) {
  const response = await fetch(`/srv.asmx/${action}?${new URLSearchParams(params)}`);
  const root = new DOMParser()
    .parseFromString(await response.text(), 'text/xml')
    .documentElement;

  if (root.getAttribute('success') !== 'true') {
    throw new Error(`${root.getAttribute('errorCode')}: ${root.getAttribute('error')}`);
  }
  return root;
}

Changes who owns a folder or a document.

// The answer says success="false" even when it worked - see below. Confirm with GetOwner.
await fetch('/srv.asmx/SetOwner?' + new URLSearchParams({
  authenticationTicket: ticket,
  Path: '/Finance/Reports/Q1.pdf',
  NewOwnerUserName: 'jsmith',
  ApplytoTree: false
}));

const owner = await call('GetOwner', {
  authenticationTicket: ticket, Path: '/Finance/Reports/Q1.pdf'
});

if (owner.querySelector('User').getAttribute('UserName') !== 'jsmith') {
  throw new Error('the owner did not change');
}

A change that worked answers a plain success. When some of a tree could not be changed the answer is success="false", error="MultiStatus" and errorCode="2070", with the reasons in the log. It used to answer MultiStatus on every call, with no errorCode and no log, so a successful change looked exactly like a failed one.

ApplytoTree=true changes the owner of everything below a folder as well. Note the spelling of that parameter: a lower-case t in ApplytoTree, unlike ApplyToTree on SetAccessList.

Notes¶

Setting the owner on a document ignores the ApplytoTree parameter.
When ApplytoTree=true on a folder, the operation attempts to update every subfolder and document. If some items fail (e.g., due to locks or permissions), a multi-status response with <logitem> details is returned.
The new owner user must exist and be an active (enabled) user account.
To retrieve the current owner, use GetOwner.
To transfer ownership in bulk (along with tasks, subscriptions, etc.), consider the TransferUser* family of APIs.

GetOwner - Retrieve the current owner of a document or folder
TransferUserDocumentOwnerships - Bulk-transfer document ownership from one user to another
TransferUserFolderOwnerships - Bulk-transfer folder ownership from one user to another
GetAccessList - Retrieve the access list for a document or folder

Error Codes¶

The errorCode values this operation returns, checked against a running server:

`errorCode`	When
`4010`	the ticket is expired or unknown, or there is no ticket at all
`4041`	no user by that name, or nothing at `Path`
`none`	everything else, including success, is `success="false" error="MultiStatus"` with no code and no log
`HTTP 400`	a required string parameter was empty; refused by model binding, so there is no error document

Error	Description
`[900] Authentication failed`	Invalid or missing authentication ticket.
`[901] Session expired or Invalid ticket`	The ticket has expired or does not exist.
Path is required	The `Path` parameter was empty or null.
NewOwnerUserName is required	The `NewOwnerUserName` parameter was empty or null.
Path not found	The specified document or folder does not exist.
User not found	The specified `NewOwnerUserName` does not exist.
Access denied	The calling user lacks permission to change ownership.
`SystemError:...`	An unexpected server-side error occurred.