CODEWITHSUNDEEP
.netasp.net-web-api
Lee
Lee

Reputation: 1641

Web API actions

While not entirely RESTful, I think it makes sense to use actions where you're doing something more conceptually involved than just manipulating simple data. Therefore I have adopted the following scheme:

/api/projects/ = Returns all projects
/api/projects/{id} = Returns single project

/api/projects/{id}/{action} [POST]
       Applies action on a project, such as "Activate"
/api/projects/{action} [GET]
       Gets projects which meet the condition of the action, such
       as all projects which are "Active"

But... Providing a way to get Projects for a Client is not so clear, I'm leaning towards option 2...

1. /api/projects/GetByClient [POST, Client Id in body]
       But now it has to be a POST, when we're only getting a resultset...
2. /api/clients/{clientid}/GetProjects
       But now we're returning projects from a clients controller
3. /api/ProjectGetterForClient/{client}
       But will result in a large number of URLs for a complex project

How should I go about making this kind of API available?

If #2 is the correct option. Should I be returning just the list of Projects. Or return the Client, which contains a list of Projects?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 82

Answers (2)

user1620220
user1620220

Reputation: 1315

I believe the most RESTful way would be:

GET: /api/clients/5/projects

This would return all projects for client with ID 5.

You could also use:

GET: /api/projects?clientId=5

If your caller is likely to use project data whenever they request a client, then include it in the result. Otherwise you're better off keeping them as separate requests.

Upvotes: 3

Arkadiusz Kałkus
Arkadiusz Kałkus

Reputation: 18433

Have you heard about OData? It extends basic REST features and provides standardized format of queries.

For instance:

Requesting an Individual Entity by ID

The request below returns an individual entity of type Person by the given UserName “russellwhyte” 

GET serviceRoot/People('russellwhyte')

http://www.odata.org/getting-started/basic-tutorial/

Or...

GET serviceRoot/Airports('KSFO')/Location/Address

In your case it could be I think more or less...

GET api/Clients('clientid')/Projects

As user1620220 mentioned - Web API has built-in support for OData: http://www.asp.net/web-api/overview/odata-support-in-aspnet-web-api/supporting-odata-query-options

Upvotes: 2

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