User:Hawleyal/sandbox

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Title: RESTful HTTP applications & URI resources

Types of resources

Plural resource

7 basic routes

description	HTTP method	URI
list of all articles	GET	/articles
form for creating new article	GET	/articles/new
create new article	POST	/articles
specific article	GET	/articles/{id}
form for editing specific article	GET	/articles/{id}/edit
update specific article	PATCH/PUT	/articles/{id}
delete specific article	DELETE	/articles/{id}

Multiple-word resource

hyphenate name in uri

description	HTTP method	URI
list of all security groups	GET	/security-groups
form for creating new security group	GET	/security-groups/new
create new security group	POST	/security-groups
specific security group	GET	/security-groups/{id}
form for editing specific security group	GET	/security-groups/{id}/edit
update specific security group	PATCH/PUT	/security-groups/{id}
delete specific security group	DELETE	/security-groups/{id}

Singular resource

no index

description	HTTP method	URI
form for creating processor	GET	/processor/new
create processor	POST	/processor
processor	GET	/processor
form for editing processor	GET	/processor/edit
update processor	PATCH/PUT	/processor
delete processor	DELETE	/processor

Nested resource

shallow nesting
don't include parent path if not needed

description	HTTP method	URI
list of all comments for specific article	GET	/articles/{article_id}/comments
form for creating new comment for specific article	GET	/articles/{article_id}/comments/new
create new comment for specific article	POST	/articles/{article_id}/comments
specific comment	GET	/comments/{id}
form for editing specific comment	GET	/comments/{id}/edit
update a specific comment	PATCH/PUT	/comments/{id}
delete a specific comment	DELETE	/comments/{id}

Resource attributes

specific attributes on their own routes

description	HTTP method	URI
download for specific image	GET	/images/{id}/download
xml meta data for specific image	GET	/image/{id}/xml-meta-data

Query parameters

filter
sorting
paging
format

description	HTTP method	URI
filter list of all articles	GET	/articles?from=2012&to=2013&keywords=birthday
sorting list of all articles	GET	/articles?sort=date+asc
paging list of all articles	GET	/articles?start=1&max=10
specific article in HTML format	GET	/articles/{id}
specific article in JSON format	GET	/articles/{id}?format=json
specific article in XML format	GET	/articles/{id}?format=xml
download for specific image in JPEG format	GET	/image/{id}?format=jpg
download for specific image in PNG format	GET	/image/{id}?format=png

Examples using HTML forms

HTML can be made RESTful by using forms to create and update data.
HTML includes 2 extra routes for forms to create new and edit specific resources.
HTML forms generally use content type application/x-www-form-urlencoded, which must be processed.
HTML doesn't support methods DELETE, PATCH, or PUT in forms, so a hidden element must be included and processed.
HTML applications commonly use the PRG (post-redirect-get) pattern for creating, updating, and deleting records.

description	HTTP method	URI
list of all articles	GET	/articles
form for creating new article	GET	/articles/new
create new article	POST	/articles
specific article	GET	/articles/{id}
form for editing specific article	GET	/articles/{id}/edit
update specific article	PATCH/PUT	/articles/{id}
delete specific article	DELETE	/articles/{id}

List of all articles

Request

GET /articles

Response

200 OK
Content-Type: text/html

<!DOCTYPE html><html>
  <head><title>Articles</title></head>
  <body>
    <h1><a href="/articles">Articles</a></h1>
    <div class="article"><a href="/articles/3">Article 3 by Author 3 on 2014-01-03</a></div>
    <div class="article"><a href="/articles/2">Article 2 by Author 2 on 2014-01-02</a></div>
    <div class="article"><a href="/articles/1">Article 1 by Author 1 on 2014-01-01</a></div>
  </body>
</html>

Form for creating new article

Request

GET /articles/new

Response

200 OK
Content-Type: text/html

<!DOCTYPE html><html>
  <head><title>New article</title></head>
  <body>
    <h1><a href="/articles/new">New article</a></h1>
    <form method="post" action="/articles">
      <div><label for="title">title</label><input id="title" name="title" type="text"/></div>
      <div><label for="author">author</label><input id="author" name="author" type="text"/></div>
      <div><label for="body"></label><textarea id="body" name="body"></textarea></div>
      <div><button type="submit">Create</button></div>
    </form>
  </body>
</html>

Create new article

Request

POST /articles
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

title=Article+4&author=Author+4&body=Lorem+ipsum+dolor+sit+amet%2C+consectetur+adipiscing+elit.

Response

302 Found
Location: /articles/4

Specific article

Request

GET /articles/1

Response

200 OK
Content-Type: text/html

<!DOCTYPE html><html>
  <head><title>Article 1</title></head>
  <body>
    <h1 class="title"><a href="/articles/1">Article 1</a></h1>
    <div class="author">Author 1</div>
    <div class="date">2014-01-01</div>
    <div class="body">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.</div>
  </body>
</html>

Form for editing specific article

HTML doesn't support PUT method in forms, so a hidden element must be included and processed.

Request

GET /articles/1/edit

Response

200 OK
Content-Type: text/html

<!DOCTYPE html><html>
  <head><title>Edit article: Article 1</title></head>
  <body>
    <h1><a href="/articles/1/edit">Edit article: Article 1</a></h1>
    <form method="post" action="/articles/1"><input name="_method" value="PUT" type="hidden"/>
      <div><label for="title">title</label><input id="title" name="title" type="text" value="Article 1"/></div>
      <div><label for="author">author</label><input id="author" name="author" type="text" value="Author 1"/></div>
      <div><label for="body"></label><textarea id="body" name="body">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.</textarea></div>
      <div><button type="submit">Update</button></div>
    </form>
  </body>
</html>

Update specific article

HTML doesn't support PUT method in forms, so a hidden element must be included and processed.

Request

POST /articles/1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

_method=PUT&title=Article+1&author=Author+1&body=Lorem+ipsum+dolor+sit+amet%2C+consectetur+adipiscing+elit.

Response

302 Found
Location: /articles/1

Delete specific article

A form for this is usually included in another resource view, for example, a specific article may include a delete form/button combo.
HTML doesn't support DELETE method in forms, so a hidden element must be included and processed.

Form

<form method="post" action="/articles/1"><input name="_method" value="DELETE" type="hidden"/>
  <button type="submit">Delete</button>
</form>

Request

POST /articles/1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

_method=DELETE

Response

302 Found
Location: /articles

Examples using JSON API

JSON can be used by JavaScript and other languages as a quick way to make a RESTful API.
RESTful APIs generally don't need forms to create or update data.
Since APIs don't use forms, they can execute methods DELETE, PATCH, and PUT directly.
APIs usually don't use the PRG (post-redirect-get) pattern.

description	HTTP method	URI
list of all articles	GET	/articles
create new article	POST	/articles
specific article	GET	/articles/{id}
update specific article	PATCH/PUT	/articles/{id}
delete specific article	DELETE	/articles/{id}

List of all articles

Request

GET /articles

Response

200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

[
  {"id": 3, "uri":"/articles/3", "title": "Article 3", "author": "Author 3", "date": "2014-01-03"}
  ,{"id": 2, "uri":"/articles/2", "title": "Article 2", "author": "Author 2", "date": "2014-01-02"}
  ,{"id": 1, "uri":"/articles/1", "title": "Article 1", "author": "Author 1", "date": "2014-01-01"}
]

Create new article

Request

POST /articles
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "Article 4"
  ,"author": "Author 4"
  ,"body": "Lorem+ipsum+dolor+sit+amet%2C+consectetur+adipiscing+elit."
}

Response

201 Created
Location: /articles/4
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": 4
  ,"uri":"/articles/4"
  ,"title": "Article 4"
  ,"author": "Author 4"
  ,"date": "2014-01-04"
  ,"body": "Lorem+ipsum+dolor+sit+amet%2C+consectetur+adipiscing+elit."
}

Specific article

Request

GET /articles/1

Response

200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": 1
  ,"uri":"/articles/1"
  ,"title": "Article 1"
  ,"author": "Author 1"
  ,"date": "2014-01-01"
  ,"body": "Lorem+ipsum+dolor+sit+amet%2C+consectetur+adipiscing+elit."
}

Update specific article

Request

PUT /articles/1
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": 1
  ,"uri":"/articles/1"
  ,"title": "Article 1"
  ,"author": "Author 1"
  ,"date": "2014-01-01"
  ,"body": "Lorem+ipsum+dolor+sit+amet%2C+consectetur+adipiscing+elit."
}

Response

201 Created
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": 1
  ,"uri":"/articles/1"
  ,"title": "Article 1"
  ,"author": "Author 1"
  ,"date": "2014-01-01"
  ,"body": "Lorem+ipsum+dolor+sit+amet%2C+consectetur+adipiscing+elit."
}

Delete specific article

Request

DELETE /articles/1

Response

204 No Content

Types of resources

Plural resource

Multiple-word resource

Singular resource

Nested resource

Resource attributes

Query parameters

Examples using HTML forms

List of all articles

Form for creating new article

Create new article

Specific article

Form for editing specific article

Update specific article

Delete specific article

Examples using JSON API

List of all articles

Create new article

Specific article

Update specific article

Delete specific article

See also