Request & Response Format

The Viewtron API uses HTTP POST requests with XML payloads and returns XML responses. GET also works for read-only commands on most firmware versions, but POST is the recommended method.

URL Format

http://<host>[:port]/<command>[/channelId][/action]

Component	Description
host	IP address or hostname of the device
port	HTTP port (default 80)
command	API command name (e.g., GetDeviceInfo, PtzControl)
channelId	Channel number (optional, default 1). For single-channel IP cameras, can be omitted.
action	Sub-operation for some commands (e.g., PtzControl/1/Up)

Examples:

http://192.168.0.50/GetDeviceInfo
http://192.168.0.50/GetImageConfig/1
http://192.168.0.50/PtzControl/1/Up

Request with XML Body

For SET commands that modify configuration, include an XML body:

POST http://192.168.0.50/SetImageConfig HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46MTIzNDU2
Content-Type: application/xml; charset="UTF-8"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<config version="1.0" xmlns="http://www.ipc.com/ver10">
  <image>
    <bright>60</bright>
  </image>
</config>

For persistent connections, include Connection: Keep-Alive.

Response Format

Successful response with data:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<config version="2.0.0" xmlns="http://www.ipc.com/ver10">
  <deviceInfo>
    <supportTalk type="boolean">true</supportTalk>
  </deviceInfo>
</config>

Successful response (no data):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<config status="success"/>

Error response:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<config status="failed" errorCode="1" errorDesc="Invalid Request"/>

note

v2.0 adds the errorDesc attribute with human-readable error descriptions. v1.9 returns only the numeric errorCode. See the Error Codes reference for all codes.

XML Conventions

Element Naming

All elements use camelCase (e.g., deviceName, alarmHoldTime).

Data Types

Each element has a type attribute defining its data type:

Type	Description
boolean	true or false
int8 / uint8	8-bit signed/unsigned integer
int16 / uint16	16-bit signed/unsigned integer
int32 / uint32	32-bit signed/unsigned integer
int64 / uint64	64-bit signed/unsigned integer
string	Character string (value wrapped in CDATA)
list	List of items

Numeric Elements

Numeric elements may include min, max, and default attributes defining valid ranges:

<bright type="uint8" min="0" max="100" default="50">50</bright>

String Elements

String elements may include minLen, maxLen, minCharNum, maxCharNum attributes. Values are wrapped in CDATA:

<ntpServer type="string" minLen="0" maxLen="127">
  <![CDATA[time.windows.com]]>
</ntpServer>

List Elements

Lists use maxCount for the maximum allowed items and count for the current number:

<content type="list" count="2" maxCount="6">
  <itemType type="string" minLen="0" maxLen="32"/>
  <item><![CDATA[111111]]></item>
  <item><![CDATA[222222]]></item>
</content>

Enum Types

When basic data types are insufficient, the response defines enum types in a <types> element:

<types>
  <userType>
    <enum>administrator</enum>
    <enum>advance</enum>
    <enum>normal</enum>
  </userType>
</types>

These enums are defined by the device and used as type references elsewhere in the response.

note

v2.0 adds annotation conventions: <!--Required-->, <!--Optional-->, <!--Dependent--> comments in XML blocks indicate whether fields are mandatory.