ESummary:  Retreives document Summaries from a list of primary IDs or from the user's environment.

• URL Parameters
• User System Requirements
• Entrez Database ESummary Fields
• Entrez DTDs
• Demonstration Program
• Announcement Mailing List
• Help Desk

Base URL: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esummary.fcgi?

• Database (db)
• Web Environment (WebEnv)
• Query_key (query_key)  
• Tool (tool)
• E-mail Address (email)
• PubMed
• Record Identifier (id) 
• Display Number (retstart retmax) 
• Retrieval Mode (retmode) 
• Examples
• Journals
• Sequence Databases
  • Examples
  
  

Database (db):

• db=

Web Environment: Value previously returned in XML results from ESearch and EPost and used with ESummary in place of primary ID result list.

• WebEnv=

Query_key: The value used for a history search number or previously returned in XML results from ESearch or EPost.

• query_key=

Tool: A string with no internal spaces that identifies the resource which is using Entrez links (e.g. tool=igm or tool=flybase). This argument is used to help NCBI provide better service to third parties generating Entrez queries from programs. As with any query system, it is sometimes possible to ask the same question different ways, with different effects on performance. NCBI requests that developers sending batch requests include a constant 'tool' argument for all requests using the utilities.

• tool=

E-mail Address: If you choose to provide an email address, we will use it to contact you if there are problems with your queries or if we are changing software interfaces that might specifically affect your requests. If you choose not to include an email address we cannot provide specific help to you,  but you can still sign up for utilities-announce to receive general announcements.

• email=

PubMed

Record Identifier (id): PMID required if WebEnv is not used.

• id=12345,92932

Display Numbers (retstart, retmax): Used when the results from EPost or ESearch are maintained in the user's environment. The maximum number of retrieved records is 10,000.

• retstart=x  (x= sequential number of the first record retrieved - default = 1 which will retrieve the first record)
• retmax=y  (y= number of records retrieved - default = 20)

Retrieval Mode (remode):

• retmode=xml

Example:
In PubMed display records for PMIDs 11850928 and 11482001 in xml retrieval mode:
http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esummary.fcgi?db=pubmed&id=11850928,11482001&retmode=xml

In Journals display records for journal IDs 27731,439,735,905:
http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esummary.fcgi?db=journals&id=27731,439,735,905

Sequence Databases

Record Identifier (id): Required if WebEnv is not used.

• id=28864546,28800981

GI number
MMDB ID (Structure database)
TAX ID (Taxonomy database)