Right so... I've been working on a replacement for centrepoint in my free time, however I've been wanting to automate the registering system.

I face one problem with this, I cannot automatically check if a character name exists on SWCombine or if the character is dead/has a new name or not. This could easily be done through using the Profile ID as a primary key and requesting the involving name with it. This way one can make sure nobody can have an account on the trading website that simply does not exist without the need of constant admin intervention, thus making it automatic.

I am unaware if the API (that I vaguely remember in the back of my mind being there somewhere on the combine site) has the possibility of cross referencing or requesting info like that, if it does.. Great! Question answered.

If it doesn't I'd like to request the possibility for this to be added (Or if my vague recollection is wrong, to be made).

For the sake of detailing the kind of info needed..
I would require the profile ID and the current name to be requested from the database to cross reference it with the name put in the registering form.

To detail how it would work:
- User registers using current SWCombine name on Trading Website
- Trading Website checks if this is a legimate name currently existing on the combine
- Trading Website requests and attaches the Profile ID to the account
- Every log in the website would check if the name to the attached Profile ID is still correct, if not it would force the user to change the name, Profile picture and any and all public history of the user (such as in Centrepoint's case positive reviews made out to the user and made by the user) will no longer be attached to this account. They'll still exist to their earlier name but will no longer have any attachment to the new name with no way of checking if the new name had made those past reviews or gained them. This is in the spirit of SWCombine's perma death system. Once a character dies, it dies.

So yeah, both a bit of a coding question as well as a question directed to admins (and staff in general).

would this not allow the api to be used to check if someones dead? something which isnt meant to be made public unless someone finds out ic?

We have an API forum you can request access to via Selatos which is probably a better place for these questions.

But the way to check for if someone is the character they say there are using the API is to have them grant you basic permissions and then pull their handle. You wouldn't be able to check if someone's alive this way (for the concerns Ichiru mentioned) but you could constantly make sure they were the character who was logged in, so if they died and created a new character they'd just have to create a new account with you to be recognized.

If you need any help setting up what Mikel described, I've got some code that I use on my signature rotator for authentication using the basic character permissions of the API. It's pretty easy to set up and use, and pretty much guarantees you that you're getting a real character.

I’ll get in touch with selatos about that Mikel, I was however unaware of a forum for it existing.

Yes Ulrike please do share, I am very interested in seeing and applicating the code where I might need it.