docs.getSettings

This method retrieves the meta-data for existing documents.

Parameters

integer doc_id (required) ID for the document. The current user must have uploaded this document, or will cause an access denied error.
string api_key (required) API key assigned to your account.
string api_sig (optional) MD5 hash of the active request and your secret key. This is an optional security measure. See the signing documentation for more info.
string session_key (optional) A session key for a signed in user. If this parameter is provided, your application will carry out actions on behalf of the signed in user corresponding to the session key. Otherwise, your application will carry out actions on behalf of the user account associated with the API account. See the authentication documentation for more information
string my_user_id (optional) This parameter is intended for sites with their own user authentication system. You can create phantom Scribd accounts that correspond to your users by simply passing the unique identifier you use to identify your own user accounts to my_user_id. If you pass this parameter to an API method, the API will act as if it were executed by the phantom user corresponding to my_user_id. See the authentication documentation for more information.

Sample return XML

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <rsp stat="ok">
      <doc_id>123456</doc_id>
      <isbn>1234567890123</isbn>
      <title>&lt;![CDATA[Hemoglobin Study]]&gt;</title>
      <description>&lt;![CDATA[How's you're blood?]]&gt;</description>
      <access>public</access>
      <license>pd</license>
      <show_ads>true</show_ads>
      <tags>blood,hemoglobin</tags>
      <page_count>17</page_count>
      <author>Joe Sample</author>
      <publisher>Joe's Publishing Shack</publisher>
      <when_published>2009-01-06</when_published>
      <edition>1st ed.</edition>
    </rsp>

Result explanation

integer doc_id doc_id of the specified document.
string isbn ISBN of the specified document, if available.
string title
string description
["public", "private"] access
csv tags
["default", "true", "false"] show_ads This determines whether ads will be shown on this document. A "default" setting means that whether to show ads or not is being determined by global account settings accessible from your account page. Unless you want to show ads on only some documents, it is easiest to control this setting from your account page.
["by", "by-nc", "by-nc-nd", "by-nc-sa", "by-nd", "by-sa", "c", "pd"] license See Wikipedia:Creative_Commons_License. "c" is traditional copyright. "pd" is public domain.
string access_key Every document on Scribd has a unique, secure access key. You must know the access key of a document to embed it.
string secret_password Private documents on Scribd have a secret password. You use the secret password of a private document to link to the private page of the document on Scribd. This parameter will only be present if the document is private.
URL thumbnail_url Link to a JPG that contains a thumbnail of the document. Do not cache thumbnail URLs - they are subject to change.
URL (string) link_back_url Scribd Qualified Publishers have the option to add links on public Scribd documents back to their own website. The link appears above the document on the Scribd view page. This API parameter allows you to control that link. For the parameter to be effective, you must signup and be approved for a qualified publisher account.
integer page_count The number of pages in the document
["pdf", "text", "original"] download_formats Download formats available. May include zero or more of the listed values.
string author
string publisher
date when_published The date the document was originally published
string edition

Document store

["automatic" (default), "max_pages", "max_percentage", "page_range"] page_restriction_type This parameter lets you add additional restrictions to the preview pages that Scribd shows. Scribd will do this automatically, but if you wish, you can set a maximum number of pages to show (max_pages), a maximum percentage of the pages to show (max_percentage), or an explicit page_range such as 1-3,5,8. See the parameters "max_pages", "max_percentage", and "page_range" to actually set the data.
integer max_pages Corresponds to the "max_pages" page_restriction_type. This is the maximum number of pages that will ever be shown in one document preview.
integer max_percentage Corresponds to the "max_percentage" page_restriction_type. This is the maximum percentage of the document that will ever be shown in one document preview.
string, e.g., 1-3,5,7 page_range Corresponds to the "page_range" page_restriction_type. Any document preview will show at most a subset of these pages.
["true", "false"] allow_search_targeting Allow Scribd to vary the preview pages it shows to target users' search queries. Note that you can still control the pages Scribd shows with the page_restriction_type parameter, which overrides Scribd's search targeting algorithm. Default: "true". Setting this to "false" is NOT recommended.
["false", "true"] obfuscate_numbers If true, all numbers in the document will be blurred out in previews. This is good for technical information and market research reports where the numbers are the key value. Default: false.
["true", "false"] allow_search_indexing If true, major search engines will index the full text of the document which will drive targeted traffic to the document and increase sales. Note that even when true, search engines never receive a human-readable version of the text. Default: true.
float (9.99) price The price at which the document will be sold.
float (9.99) list_price Shown in the price box to let purchasers know how much they are saving. A value of 0.00 indicates no list price.

Error codes

401 Unauthorized
500 Internal Server Error. Scribd has been notified about this problem.
601 Required parameter missing
611 Insufficient permissions to access this document