HTTP headers returned by the Office 365 Reporting web service

Some of the information that the Office 365 Reporting web service returns to the application comes in the form of HTTP headers. This topic describes those headers and how to use them.

Applies to: Office 365

Example

The following headers were returned from a MailFilterList request.

Pragma:no-cache
request-id:07233171-c795-470f-bf09-0fb8ea028841
X-CalculatedBETarget:by2pr03mb027.namprd03.prod.outlook.com
X-Content-Type-Options:nosniff
DataServiceVersion:2.0;
X-RWS-Version:2013-V1
X-DiagInfo:BY2PR03MB027
X-BEServer:BY2PR03MB027
X-UA-Compatible:IE=10
X-FEServer:BY2PR03CA011
Content-Length:42266
Cache-Control:no-cache, no-store
Content-Type:application/atom+xml;type=feed;charset=utf-8
Date:Sun, 10 Feb 2013 19:50:25 GMT
Expires:-1
Set-Cookie:X-BackEndCookie=S-1-5-21-2412119505-3560892057-1500426294-2779018=u56Lnp2ejJqBnM+Zy8jInpzSncjKzdLLmsfP0p6ZmcfSzMycysiems+ax53PgZqHkJuakpDO0ZCRkpacjZCMkJmL0ZyQkoHN0M7P0M3Pzszfx8XPz8XNyt+vsg==; expires=Sun, 10-Feb-2013 20:00:25 GMT; path=/ecp/reportingwebservice; secure; HttpOnly
Server:Microsoft-IIS/7.5
X-AspNet-Version:4.0.30319
X-Powered-By:ASP.NET

The following table provides information about the headers and how your application should handle them.

HTTP headers returned

Header name

Handling guidance

request-id:...

This GUID identifies the request that your application made. Customer support may need this to help you troubleshoot problems in the service. You application doesn't generally need to do anything with it.

DataServiceVersion:2.0

The ODATA DataServiceVersion that this response is compatible with.

X-RWS-Version:2013-V1

The Office 365 service version identifier that this response is compatible with.

Content-Length:...

Applications can use this to confirm that all the response payload data has been received.

Content-Type:...

Applications can use this to confirm that the web service has responded in the requested data format.

Date:...

Applications should use the <updated> tag in the report metadata to display when the report was generated.

Set-Cookie:...

See, Handling the X-BackEndCookie.

Pragma:no-cache
X-CalculatedBETarget:...
X-Content-Type-Options:nosniff
X-DiagInfo...
X-BEServer:...
X-UA-Compatible:
X-FEServer:...
Cache-control:...
Expires:-1
Server:...
X-AspNet-Version:...
X-Powered-By:...

Your application can usually ignore these. Reporting applications typically do not cache the report information. Instead, updates requested by the user call for retrieving the report again.

Handling the X-BackEndCookie

The Office 365 Reporting web service may retain cached internal connection or state information. In accordance with the recommendations in RFC-2109, cookies sent to an application by the server in an HTTP response should be returned by the application to the system in subsequent requests. The client should update the retained cookie information as directed in subsequent service responses. The Reporting web service returns a cookie named X-BackEndCookie. Your application should return that cookie to the server on subsequent requests.