🌐 Feature Request — Retrieve Sample User Info via ORCID (Fallback) to Pre-Fill “New Sample User” Form
🗣️ User Feedback
“Can you get person info through their ORCID? Currently, no — we can get info using an email address if the person already exists in ICAT. Maybe we could use ORCID for future cases where users aren’t in ICAT, to pre-fill the New Sample User form.”
🎯 Goal
Enhance the “New Sample User” form so that SEPIA can:
- First look up user information in ICAT using the provided email address.
- If not found, query the ORCID public API to fetch and pre-fill relevant sample user details.
This reduces manual entry and improves data accuracy for users not yet in ICAT.
🧩 Implementation Details
Proposed Workflow
-
User enters email address → Check ICAT for existing user. (Which is already done)
- If found → populate form fields from ICAT data.
-
If ICAT lookup fails, and an ORCID iD is provided:
-
Query the ORCID public API:
GET https://pub.orcid.org/v3.0/{orcid}/person -
Extract and pre-fill available fields.
-
-
User reviews and edits pre-filled data before submission.
🧱 Target Fields for Pre-Fill
SampleUser Model Fields
| Field | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
given_name |
ORCID name.given-names.value
|
Given name |
family_name |
ORCID name.family-name.value
|
Family name |
full_name |
Derived (given_name + family_name) |
Full name |
email |
ORCID emails.email (if public) |
Email address |
pid |
ORCID iD (e.g., 0000-0002-1825-0097) |
Persistent identifier |
contributor_type |
Manual/default (e.g., “Creator”) | Type of contributor |
icat_user_id |
From ICAT (if exists) | ICAT user ID |
sample_id |
Existing field | Link to parent sample |
order_key |
Generated/optional | Ordering or position key |
created_at / updated_at
|
System-generated | Timestamps |
Affiliation Model Fields
| Field | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
name |
ORCID organization.name
|
Organization name |
full_reference |
Derived (organization + location) | Full formatted reference |
pid |
ORCID organization.identifier.value (if available) |
Persistent identifier |
If ORCID returns multiple affiliations, allow user to select one or choose the most recent.
🧩 Frontend Tasks
-
Add ICAT lookup (email → ICAT API) for sample users. -
Add ORCID lookup as a fallback for users not in ICAT. -
Map ORCID response to SampleUser and Affiliation fields. -
Autofill form fields while keeping them editable. -
Add a “Fetch from ORCID” button (triggered after valid ORCID iD). -
Handle missing/private ORCID fields gracefully. -
Display clear status messages (“User found in ICAT”, “Data fetched from ORCID”, “No data found”).
🧪 Testing
-
Verify ICAT lookup priority and correct data population. -
Verify ORCID fallback works when ICAT user not found. -
Validate accurate mapping for given/family names and affiliations. -
Ensure manual edits persist after pre-fill. -
Confirm robust handling of multiple ORCID affiliations.
🏷️ Labels
frontend feature enhancement integration orcid icat sample-user priority::medium
📘 References
-
ICAT integration: existing email → user info lookup
-
Related models:
SampleUserAffiliation