Object Reference Error on "Automation" RetrieveRequest

Question

I'm try to do some work with Automations from the Automation Studio using the API. Based on what I read in the documentation I should be able to get use the retrieve method in order to do this.

When I attempt this request, the status comes back as "OK", but the results contain one API object with two partner properties, one containing the error message and one containing the stack trace.

The first ,results[0].PartnerProperties[0].Value, has the following value:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

The second, results[0].PartnerProperties[1].Value has the following value:

at ExactTarget.APIImplementation.Programs3.Soap.EqualsOperator.RetrieveAutomations(SoapRetrieveContext soapRetrieveContext)\n at ExactTarget.APIImplementation.Programs3.Soap.RetrieveCommandHandler.Retrieve(SoapRetrieveContext soapRetrieveContext)\n at ExactTarget.APIImplementation.Programs3.AutomationImpl.Retrieve(RetrieveRequest request)

My code is below:

var retrieveRequest = new RetrieveRequest();
retrieveRequest.ObjectType = "Automation";

retrieveRequest.Properties = new[] { "ObjectID", "CustomerKey", "Name" };

string requestID;
APIObject[] results;
var status = this.client.Retrieve(retrieveRequest, out requestID, out results);

Has anyone seen this before and is there anything I can do about it, or is it a bug with ExactTarget? Is there any other way to get Automation information via the API?

Answer 1

Add the ProgramID to the Properties list when making the retrieve. The Automation object has a few issues with it.

Answer 2

I've gone round and round on this issue and have identified that on the request you need to include "ProgramID"; however, the API response will provide a "ObjectID". Otherwise, it will return an ET internal ErrorStackTrace.

I've opened a case w/ Exact Target and will update the thread of the case #.