import requests


def get_icat_properties(icat_url, icat_check_cert):
    """
    ICAT properties can be retrieved using Python ICAT's client object, however this
    requires the client object to be authenticated which may not always be the case
    when requesting these properties, hence a HTTP request is sent as an alternative
    """
    properties_url = f"{icat_url}/icat/properties"
    r = requests.request("GET", properties_url, verify=icat_check_cert)
    icat_properties = r.json()

    return icat_properties