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sort parameter: actual error codes (422, 200) don't match contract (400). Invalid sort silently fall back to ascending #389
Description
Please describe your request
During tests, I found three issues related to pagination that need clarification on which behavior is intended vs should be fixed
Contract refs:
Line 143 in 54bcdf6
Lines 189 to 190 in 54bcdf6
Claims:
- invalid sort field returns 400
- invalid sort direction returns 400
Issue 1 - invalid sort fields returns 422, not 400
Base URL: https://sandbox.dspace.org/server/api/discover/search/objects
| Parameter | Return code |
|---|---|
| sort=dc.title,asc | 200 |
| sort=dc.date,asc | 422 |
| sort=doesnotexist,desc | 422 |
Issue 2 - invalid sort direction returns 200, not 400
Base URL: https://sandbox.dspace.org/server/api/discover/search/objects
| Parameter | Return code |
|---|---|
| sort=dc.title,asc | 200 |
sort=dc.title,dsc (desc typo) |
200 |
| sort=dc.title,doesnotexist | 200 |
Issue 3 - the invalid direction is silently applied as ascending
Not covered by the contract
Base URL: https://sandbox.dspace.org/server/api/discover/search/objects
Tested via $ curl -s 'https://sandbox.dspace.org/server/api/discover/search/objects?sort=dc.title,desc' | jq -r '._embedded.searchResult._embedded.objects.[]._embedded.indexableObject.uuid' | head -3
| Parameter | Return body (shortened to first part of UUID) |
|---|---|
| sort=dc.title,asc | 3329a278, fff7a10b, 51715dd3 |
| sort=dc.title,desc | bd254afc, ab19b0a2, cda7a628 |
| sort=dc.title,dsc | 3329a278, fff7a10b, 51715dd3 |
| sort=dc.title,doesnotexist | 3329a278, fff7a10b, 51715dd3 |
UUIDs for both dsc, doesnotexist match asc
Activity
tdonohue commentedon Oct 2, 2026
@MMilosz : In my opinion, Issue 1 sounds like a small bug in the Rest Contract. Issue 2 and 3 could either be considered a minor bug or a contract bug. I think the current behavior is likely slightly wrong, as invalid params likely should result in an error code (either 400 or 422). But, those issues seems so very minor that I'm also OK with just documenting current behavior.
I'd welcome other ideas/thoughts here from other developers though.