def api_request(self, ro):
        """ """
        api_response = None
        fail_msg = None
        h_content_length = None
        h_content_type = None
        start = datetime.now()

        #
        # enable activity log
        #
        if self._activity_log:
            ro.enable_activity_log()

        #
        # prepare request
        #
        url = '{0!s}{1!s}'.format(self._api_url, ro.request_uri)
        api_request = Request(ro.http_method, url, data=ro.body, params=ro.payload)
        request_prepped = api_request.prepare()

        #
        # generate headers
        #
        ro.set_path_url(request_prepped.path_url)
        self._api_request_headers(ro)
        request_prepped.prepare_headers(ro.headers)

        #
        # Debug
        #
        self.tcl.debug('request_object: {0!s}'.format(ro))
        self.tcl.debug('url: {0!s}'.format(url))
        self.tcl.debug('path url: {0!s}'.format(request_prepped.path_url))

        #
        # api request (gracefully handle temporary communications issues with the API)
        #
        for i in range(1, self._api_retries + 1, 1):
            try:
                api_response = self._session.send(
                    request_prepped, verify=self._verify_ssl, timeout=self._api_request_timeout,
                    proxies=self._proxies, stream=False)
                break
            except exceptions.ReadTimeout as e:
                self.tcl.error('Error: {0!s}'.format(e))
                self.tcl.error('The server may be experiencing delays at the moment.')
                self.tcl.info('Pausing for {0!s} seconds to give server time to catch up.'.format(self._api_sleep))
                time.sleep(self._api_sleep)
                self.tcl.info('Retry {0!s} ....'.format(i))

                if i == self._api_retries:
                    self.tcl.critical('Exiting: {0!s}'.format(e))
                    raise RuntimeError(e)
            except exceptions.ConnectionError as e:
                self.tcl.error('Error: {0!s}'.format(e))
                self.tcl.error('Connection Error. The server may be down.')
                self.tcl.info('Pausing for {0!s} seconds to give server time to catch up.'.format(self._api_sleep))
                time.sleep(self._api_sleep)
                self.tcl.info('Retry {0!s} ....'.format(i))
                if i == self._api_retries:
                    self.tcl.critical('Exiting: {0!s}'.format(e))
                    raise RuntimeError(e)
            except socket.error as e:
                self.tcl.critical('Exiting: {0!s}'.format(e))
                raise RuntimeError(e)

        #
        # header values
        #
        if 'content-length' in api_response.headers:
            h_content_length = api_response.headers['content-length']
        if 'content-type' in api_response.headers:
            h_content_type = api_response.headers['content-type']

        #
        # raise exception on *critical* errors
        #
        non_critical_errors = [
            b'The MD5 for this File is invalid, a File with this MD5 already exists',  # 400 (application/json)
            b'The SHA-1 for this File is invalid, a File with this SHA-1 already exists',  # 400 (application/json)
            b'The SHA-256 for this File is invalid, a File with this SHA-256 already exists',  # 400 (application/json)
            b'The requested resource was not found',  # 404 (application/json)
            b'Could not find resource for relative',  # 500 (text/plain)
            b'The requested Security Label was not removed - access was denied',  # 401 (application/json)
        ]

        #
        # TODO: work out some logic to improve the API error handling, possible area where API could improve
        #

        # valid status codes 200, 201, 202
        # if api_response.status_code in [400, 401, 403, 500, 503]:
        if api_response.status_code not in [200, 201, 202]:
            # check for non critical errors that have bad status codes
            nce_found = False
            fail_msg = api_response.content
            for nce in non_critical_errors:
                # api_response_dict['message'] not in non_critical_errors:
                if re.findall(nce, api_response.content):
                    nce_found = True
                    break

            if ro.failure_callback is not None:
                ro.failure_callback(api_response.status_code)

            # raise error on bad status codes that are not defined as nce
            if not nce_found:
                self.tcl.critical('Status Code: {0:d}'.format(api_response.status_code))
                self.tcl.critical('Failed API Response: {0!s}'.format(api_response.content))
                if ro.failure_callback is not None:
                    ro.failure_callback(api_response.status_code)
                raise RuntimeError(api_response.content)

        #
        # set response encoding (best guess)
        #
        if api_response.encoding is None:
            api_response.encoding = api_response.apparent_encoding

        #
        # Debug
        #
        self.tcl.debug('url: %s', api_response.url)
        self.tcl.debug('status_code: %s', api_response.status_code)
        self.tcl.debug('content-length: %s', h_content_length)
        self.tcl.debug('content-type: %s', h_content_type)

        #
        # Report
        #
        self.report.add_api_call()  # count api calls
        self.report.add_request_time(datetime.now() - start)
        self.tcl.debug('Request Time: {0!s}'.format(datetime.now() - start))

        if self._enable_report:
            report_entry = ReportEntry()
            report_entry.add_request_object(ro)
            report_entry.set_request_url(api_response.url)
            report_entry.set_status_code(api_response.status_code)
            report_entry.set_failure_msg(fail_msg)
            self.report.add(report_entry)

        #
        # return response
        #
        # self.print_mem('end _api_request')
        return api_response
    def api_request(self, ro):
        """ """
        api_response = None
        fail_msg = None
        h_content_length = None
        h_content_type = None
        start = datetime.now()

        #
        # enable activity log
        #
        # request_object.enable_activity_mode()

        #
        # prepare request
        #
        url = '{0!s}{1!s}'.format(self._api_url, ro.request_uri)
        api_request = Request(ro.http_method, url, data=ro.body, params=ro.payload)
        request_prepped = api_request.prepare()

        #
        # generate headers
        #
        ro.set_path_url(request_prepped.path_url)
        self._api_request_headers(ro)
        request_prepped.prepare_headers(ro.headers)

        #
        # Debug
        #
        self.tcl.debug('request_object: {0!s}'.format(ro))
        self.tcl.debug('url: {0!s}'.format(url))
        self.tcl.debug('path url: {0!s}'.format(request_prepped.path_url))

        #
        # api request (gracefully handle temporary communications issues with the API)
        #
        for i in range(1, self._api_retries + 1, 1):
            try:
                api_response = self._session.send(
                    request_prepped, verify=self._verify_ssl, timeout=self._api_request_timeout,
                    proxies=self._proxies, stream=False)
                break
            except exceptions.ReadTimeout as e:
                self.tcl.error('Error: {0!s}'.format(e))
                self.tcl.error('The server may be experiencing delays at the moment.')
                self.tcl.info('Pausing for {0!s} seconds to give server time to catch up.'.format(self._api_sleep))
                time.sleep(self._api_sleep)
                self.tcl.info('Retry {0!s} ....'.format(i))

                if i == self._api_retries:
                    self.tcl.critical('Exiting: {0!s}'.format(e))
                    raise RuntimeError(e)
            except exceptions.ConnectionError as e:
                self.tcl.error('Error: {0!s}'.format(e))
                self.tcl.error('Connection Error. The server may be down.')
                self.tcl.info('Pausing for {0!s} seconds to give server time to catch up.'.format(self._api_sleep))
                time.sleep(self._api_sleep)
                self.tcl.info('Retry {0!s} ....'.format(i))
                if i == self._api_retries:
                    self.tcl.critical('Exiting: {0!s}'.format(e))
                    raise RuntimeError(e)
            except socket.error as e:
                self.tcl.critical('Exiting: {0!s}'.format(e))
                raise RuntimeError(e)

        #
        # header values
        #
        if 'content-length' in api_response.headers:
            h_content_length = api_response.headers['content-length']
        if 'content-type' in api_response.headers:
            h_content_type = api_response.headers['content-type']

        #
        # raise exception on *critical* errors
        #
        non_critical_errors = [
            b'The MD5 for this File is invalid, a File with this MD5 already exists',  # 400 (application/json)
            b'The SHA-1 for this File is invalid, a File with this SHA-1 already exists',  # 400 (application/json)
            b'The SHA-256 for this File is invalid, a File with this SHA-256 already exists',  # 400 (application/json)
            b'The requested resource was not found',  # 404 (application/json)
            b'Could not find resource for relative',  # 500 (text/plain)
            b'The requested Security Label was not removed - access was denied',  # 401 (application/json)
        ]

        #
        # TODO: work out some logic to improve the API error handling, possible area where API could improve
        #

        # valid status codes 200, 201, 202
        # if api_response.status_code in [400, 401, 403, 500, 503]:
        if api_response.status_code not in [200, 201, 202]:
            # check for non critical errors that have bad status codes
            nce_found = False
            fail_msg = api_response.content
            for nce in non_critical_errors:
                # api_response_dict['message'] not in non_critical_errors:
                if re.findall(nce, api_response.content):
                    nce_found = True
                    break

            if ro.failure_callback is not None:
                ro.failure_callback(api_response.status_code)

            # raise error on bad status codes that are not defined as nce
            if not nce_found:
                self.tcl.critical('Status Code: {0:d}'.format(api_response.status_code))
                self.tcl.critical('Failed API Response: {0!s}'.format(api_response.content))
                if ro.failure_callback is not None:
                    ro.failure_callback(api_response.status_code)
                raise RuntimeError(api_response.content)

        #
        # set response encoding (best guess)
        #
        if api_response.encoding is None:
            api_response.encoding = api_response.apparent_encoding

        #
        # Debug
        #
        self.tcl.debug('url: %s', api_response.url)
        self.tcl.debug('status_code: %s', api_response.status_code)
        self.tcl.debug('content-length: %s', h_content_length)
        self.tcl.debug('content-type: %s', h_content_type)

        #
        # Report
        #
        self.report.add_api_call()  # count api calls
        self.report.add_request_time(datetime.now() - start)
        self.tcl.debug('Request Time: {0!s}'.format(datetime.now() - start))

        if self._enable_report:
            report_entry = ReportEntry()
            report_entry.add_request_object(ro)
            report_entry.set_request_url(api_response.url)
            report_entry.set_status_code(api_response.status_code)
            report_entry.set_failure_msg(fail_msg)
            self.report.add(report_entry)

        #
        # return response
        #
        # self.print_mem('end _api_request')
        return api_response