Can I access all page layouts specific to an object via the Salesforce API - api

Question

Can we access all page layouts specific to one object using Salesforce API?
We are currently restricted to use Record Types and therefore have one page layout per record type. We would like to avoid having to create a record type for every page layout we need but simply access different page layouts associated to one object.
To give you a bigger picture, we would like to control the page layout of a second tab (in a web browser coded in .NET), based on values entered in the first tab. The first tab would be the same for all, but the second tab would be specific to one of the 80 funding programs. As it is now, we have to create 80 record types to associate the 80 different page layouts. We would like not to have to create the record types.
Thank you!
Izumi.

Answer 1

the describeLayout call in the SOAP api will return all the layouts associated with an object (that the calling user has access to)

Answer 2

I think Salesforce Metadata API can be helpful in that case. But the Problem is it returns the zip files. I am not sure that the xml file returned by the Retrieve call is serialized form of the Object returned by the Salesforce API from DescribeLayout Call.
http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/api_meta/index.htm

Answer 3

I hope that you have found out the solution by now, but in case it's negative, here's one solution :
In the SFDC Metadata API you will find the listMetadata method which returns the names and other properties of the components. Here's sample code for you which enlists all of the Account object page layouts in the org : ( ofcourse you have to login as an admin thro the API using Metadatabinding first) :
// this is the Login method ... please refer to Metadata Api documentation
metadatabinding = (MetadataBindingStub)new MetadataServiceLocator().getMetadata();
// this is another method in which you call the listMetadata method
ListMetadataQuery query = new ListMetadataQuery();
query.setType("Layout");
double asOfVersion = 23.0;
// Assuming that the SOAP binding has already been established.
FileProperties[] metadatafile = metadatabinding.listMetadata(
new ListMetadataQuery[] {query}, asOfVersion);
if (metadatafile != null) {
for (FileProperties fp : metadatafile) {
if(fp.getFullName().contains("Account")){
System.out.println("Component fullName: " + fp.getFullName());
System.out.println("Component type: " + fp.getType());
}
}

Answer 4

public void listMetadata() {
try {
ListMetadataQuery query = new ListMetadataQuery();
query.setType("Layout");
double asOfVersion = 21.0;
// Assuming that the SOAP binding has already been established.
FileProperties[] lmr = metadatabinding.listMetadata(new ListMetadataQuery[] {
query
}, asOfVersion);
String layoutName[] = {
"SVMXC__Activity_Master__c-Activity Master Layout"
};
System.out.println("Component length: " + lmr.length);
if (lmr != null) {
for (FileProperties n: lmr) {
if (n.getNamespacePrefix() != null && n.getNamespacePrefix().equals("SVMXC")) {
System.out.println("Component fullName SVMXC: " + n.getFullName());
System.out.println("Component type SVMXC: " + n.getType());
} else {
System.out.println("Component fullName direct: " + n.getFullName());
System.out.println("Component type: " + n.getType());
}
}
}
} catch (Exception ce) {
ce.printStackTrace();
}
}