HERE Places API: not all items have PVID - api

Question

I'm using HERE Places API.
Firstly I'm doing a search.
For Example this query :
https://places.cit.api.here.com/places/v1/discover/search?q=Test&at=35.6111,-97.5467&r=500&size=1&app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg&show_refs=pvid&pretty
According to this documentation (Link) If I add show_refs=pvid to query string, in result I will get external id which I can use to query lookup endpoint.
But in result I get next response :
{
"results": {
"next": "https://places.cit.api.here.com/places/v1/discover/search;context=Zmxvdy1pZD1hY2ExNzk3NC0zYzg3LTU5NzQtYmZkMC04YjAzMDZlYWIzMWJfMTUwNjA3NjMzMTYyMl83NDY3XzM4NTAmb2Zmc2V0PTEmc2l6ZT0x?at=35.6111%2C-97.5467&q=Test&app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg",
"items": [
{
"position": [
35.60369,
-97.51761
],
"distance": 2756,
"title": "Southwest Test & Balance",
"averageRating": 0,
"category": {
"id": "business-services",
"title": "Business & Services",
"href": "https://places.cit.api.here.com/places/v1/categories/places/business-services?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg",
"type": "urn:nlp-types:category",
"system": "places"
},
"icon": "https://download.vcdn.cit.data.here.com/p/d/places2_stg/icons/categories/02.icon",
"vicinity": "200 NW 132nd St<br/>Oklahoma City, OK 73114",
"having": [],
"type": "urn:nlp-types:place",
"href": "https://places.cit.api.here.com/places/v1/places/8403fv6k-d1b2fde0616e0326e321a54b88cd9f53;context=Zmxvdy1pZD1hY2ExNzk3NC0zYzg3LTU5NzQtYmZkMC04YjAzMDZlYWIzMWJfMTUwNjA3NjMzMTYyMl83NDY3XzM4NTAmcmFuaz0w?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg",
"id": "8403fv6k-d1b2fde0616e0326e321a54b88cd9f53",
"authoritative": true
}
]
},
"search": {
"context": {
"location": {
"position": [
35.6111,
-97.5467
],
"address": {
"text": "Oklahoma City, OK 73134<br/>USA",
"postalCode": "73134",
"city": "Oklahoma City",
"county": "Oklahoma",
"stateCode": "OK",
"country": "United States",
"countryCode": "USA"
}
},
"type": "urn:nlp-types:place",
"href": "https://places.cit.api.here.com/places/v1/places/loc-dmVyc2lvbj0xO3RpdGxlPU9rbGFob21hK0NpdHk7bGF0PTM1LjYxMTE7bG9uPS05Ny41NDY3O2NpdHk9T2tsYWhvbWErQ2l0eTtwb3N0YWxDb2RlPTczMTM0O2NvdW50cnk9VVNBO3N0YXRlQ29kZT1PSztjb3VudHk9T2tsYWhvbWE7Y2F0ZWdvcnlJZD1jaXR5LXRvd24tdmlsbGFnZTtzb3VyY2VTeXN0ZW09aW50ZXJuYWw;context=c2VhcmNoQ29udGV4dD0x?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg"
}
}
}
In response no object references
Is it a bug or not every place has this external id?

Answer 1

I am responding as member of the team around HERE Places API.
Yes, not every place has a pvid. That is why I would suggest using the Sharing Id instead. I realize that the documentation should be improved to clarify that.
The Sharing Ids can be obtained by adding show_refs=sharing to either your search query or a place details request. It can be found in the field references. Once you have the sharing id you can you the lookup endpoint as you intended.

Answer 2

Take a look at:
https://places.cit.api.here.com/places/v1/places/8403fv6k-d1b2fde0616e0326e321a54b88cd9f53;context=Zmxvdy1pZD00YWU2ZWZjNi01ZjgzLTUwYTQtOTI4OS0xZjliMGMwNWY3NjBfMTUwNzA0NDE0OTc3NV84MTI5XzU1NDcmcmFuaz0w?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg&show_refs=pvid
and
https://places.cit.api.here.com/places/v1/places/8409q8yy-6af3c3e50bcb4f859686797b2be5773d;context=Zmxvdy1pZD00YWU2ZWZjNi01ZjgzLTUwYTQtOTI4OS0xZjliMGMwNWY3NjBfMTUwNzA0NDE0OTc3NV84MTI5XzU1NDcmcmFuaz0w?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg&show_refs=pvid
On those two examples, the only difference is the placeId.
In the docs, there's not a single reference saying that the external identifier is required or existant for every place.
Since it represents an external identifier, I believe we could assume that it's not required.
And it's what we just saw with your place (8403fv6k-d1b2fde0616e0326e321a54b88cd9f53): this one don't have any external identifier.
Based on your comments, what you need is the information about a place.
So, after you run your first query, you should get something like:
{
title: "Southwest Test & Balance",
position: [],
id: "8403fv6k-d1b2fde0616e0326e321a54b88cd9f53",
href: "https://[...]"
}
With this ID, you could access it:
places.cit.api.here.com/places/v1/places/8403fv6k-d1b2fde0616e0326e321a54b88cd9f53;context=Zmxvdy1pZD0zYTFlZjg5ZS02ZTY5LTUxYmEtYWFkYS1kY2UwZWMyNDdkMDBfMTUwNzEzNjUxNjI5N182NjExXzc2OTgmcmFuaz0w?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg
Or directly using the href information.
This response already is giving you the ID and URL to access all the info of a single place.
You don't need any other external ID or reference.