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LeythG
LeythG

Reputation: 191

What is the best practice for a REST api to manage maximum characters for a field?

I have a Web Api RESTful service that has a few POST endpoints to insert a new object to the database. We want to limit the maximum characters accepted for the object name to 20. Should the DB, API, or UI handle this?

Obviously, we could prevent more than 20 characters on any of those layers. However, if it gets past the UI then the form has been submitted. At that point, we would want the Service layer or the DB layer to return an informative explanation as to why it was not accepted. What would be the best practice to handle this?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 733

Answers (1)

StriplingWarrior
StriplingWarrior

Reputation: 156614

Should the DB, API, or UI handle this?

At the very least, your API must handle data validation. Everyone has their own opinions on how REST should work, but one good approach would be to return HTTP 400 (Bad Request), with some content that includes information about why the request was bad.

Client-side checking is a definite bonus on top of this. Ideally you'll never even see this code get hit at your API layer. The client should also be capable of handling the potential "Bad Request" response in a graceful way. If there's ever a mismatch between the rules applied by the API and the client, you'll want the client to recognize that its action didn't succeed, and display an appropriate error to help the user respond to the issue.

Database-level checks are also a good idea if you ever allow data to bypass your API layer, through bulk imports or something. If not, the database might just be one more place you'll have to remember to change if you ever change your validation requirements.

Upvotes: 5

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