ruby script get JSON from RESTful web service

Question

I am trying to write a simple ruby script to collect an array of JSON objects from a RESTful web service. I have read a lot of documentation that suggests I need to create an HTTP GET request, but I haven't seen an example of how to pass parameters to only return the objects I need. (I.e. I need to retrieve ONLY JSON objects with a particular name/value pair)

Essentially I am trying to query a database that can return information in JSON format, but I only want to select objects that meet certain criteria, and store that in an array.

I have been able to retrieve ONE JSON object, by looking at the NET requests in chrome developer tools when I manually search for one of these objects using a web GUI, but I cannot figure out how to generate a request for multiple objects.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I am new to both ruby and REST.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I would recommend viewing the presentations about REST API first and find some talks on Youtube:

• API design and more
• Implementing a RESTful API with Ruby

Most useful gems at current moment:

• rails-api
• rabl
• goliath
• sinatra

And don't forget Grape.

If you want to go deeper in the area, next books will help you with that:

• APIs: A Strategy Guide
• REST in Practice: Hypermedia and Systems Architecture
• RESTful Web Services Cookbook

Answer 2

Using java/jpa with REST, we use a named query or a native query. I would be surprised if Ruby did not have something similar.