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REST Resource¶

A REST resource represents a thing that can be managed via the REST API. Each module can define its own REST resources.

Hint

This documentation assumes that you know how REST works and how a REST resource is designed properly. This manual only serves as a guide for implementing resources in our application.

Warning

It’s very important that every resource is structured in such a way that it fits well into the API as a whole and that it follows the REST principles strictly.

Make sure that your resource is properly designed before you start implementing it, since it’s very hard to change its design once it’s in use (possibly there are also 3rd party applications using the resource).

The steps to implement a REST resource in any module:

Add the required gradle dependencies / module-info entries
Implement your rest resource (by extending the class AbstractRestResource) and add JAX-RS annotations as required. Add the RestResource annotation to automatically register the resource.

The following paragraphs explain in detail how this is done.

Hint

Our REST API is based on the Apache Jersey framework which is an implementation of the JAX-RS specification. This documentation only covers the basics of this specification and primarily serves as a guide for implementing resources in our application. There is plenty of information publicly available online about Jersey and JAX-RS.

Add Gradle Dependency¶

Adding REST resources requires the following dependencies in the build.gradle and module-info.java of the module. If another rest rest dependency is required (e.g. core.rest.entity or core.rest.action) core.rest.core should no longer be explicitly added as it is a transitive dependency of most other core.rest.xx modules.

dependencies {
    implementation project(":core:rest:rest-core")
    implementation 'io.swagger.core.v3:swagger-annotations'
}

open module nice.optional.test {
    requires nice.core.rest.core;
    requires io.swagger.v3.oas.annotations;
}

Create Resource¶

Create the Java class for your resource by extending AbstractRestResource.

The following class defines a REST resource which will be available on ${BASE_PATH}/events/{city}. It defines a method called getEvents() and a second method addEvent(). The first method is mapped to GET requests, the second one to POST requests. Both methods return JSON results.

Starting with version 3.0 we no longer support JAX-RS annotations in interfaces. When migrating rest resources to 3.0, all JAX-RS annotations need to be moved to the “implementation” class and in most cases the interface can be removed. To “register” a rest resource the @RestResource must be added to the class.

Hint

${BASE_PATH} is /nice/rest. So the full path of the following resource is /nice2/rest/events/{city}.

@RestResource
@Path("/events/{city}")
public class EventsResource extends AbstractRestResource {

    @GET
    @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
    @Operation(
        summary = "Load events",
        description = "Load events which take place in a certain city",
        tags = "events"
    )
    public CollectionBean getEvents(
        @PathParam("city") @Parameter(description = "name of the city") String city,
        @QueryParam("sort") @Parameter(description = "comma separated string of fields to sort by") String sort
    ) {
        // load events here and return response
    }

    @POST
    @Consumes(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
    @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
    @Operation(
        summary = "Create event",
        description = "Create a new event",
        tags = "events"
    )
    public Response addEvent(EventBean event) {
        // create event here and return response
    }
}

There is an extensive set of JAX-RS annotations which can be used to define the behavior of a resource:

Annotation	Description
Path	Identifies the URI path. Can be specified on a class or a method.
PathParam	Represents the parameter of the URI path.
GET	Specifies the method that responds to GET requests.
POST	Specifies the method that responds to POST requests.
PUT	Specifies the method that responds to PUT requests.
ch.tocco.nice2.rest.core.spi.PATCH	Specifies the method that responds to PATCH requests (note that this annotation is not part of the `javax.ws.rs` package).
HEAD	Specifies the method that responds to HEAD requests.
DELETE	Specifies the method that responds to DELETE requests.
OPTIONS	Specifies the method that responds to OPTIONS requests.
FormParam	Represents the parameter of the form.
QueryParam	Represents the parameter of the query string of an URL.
HeaderParam	Represents the parameter of the header.
CookieParam	Represents the parameter of the cookie.
Produces	Defines the media type for the response such as XML, PLAIN, JSON etc.
Consumes	Defines the media type that the method of a resource class can consume.

Swagger documentation¶

There is a Swagger documentation available on /nice2/swagger. Use the annotations @Operation and @Parameter to describe the resource in this documentation.

See the Swagger API documentation for more information about that.

How to test your resource¶

Test your resource by extending AbstractInjectingJerseyTestCase. Writing tests for your resource by extending this base class allows you to implement end-to-end tests which test the whole process including routing (via JAX-RS annotations on your interface) and error handling (via the exception mappers you contribute in the test).

Hint

Compared to simple unit tests, this is the preferred way to test your resource. However, lower level unit tests are important as well.

Set up your test like any conventional AbstractInjectingTestCase and additionally implement the abstract method getRestResources():List<?> and optionally getExceptionMappers():List<ExceptionMapper> to test error handling.

First add the required test dependency in your build.gradle:

testImplementation(testFixtures(project(":core:rest:rest-core")))

Then add your test class(es):

import javax.ws.rs.client.Entity;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
import javax.ws.rs.ext.ExceptionMapper;

import import ch.tocco.nice2.rest.testlib.AbstractInjectingJerseyTestCase;

public class AddEventTest extends AbstractInjectingJerseyTestCase {
    @Resource
    private EventsResourceImpl eventsResource;
    @Resource
    private List<ExceptionMapper> exceptionMappers;

    @Override
    protected void setupTestModules() {
        install(FixtureModules.embeddedDbModules(false));
        install(FixtureModules.createSchema());
        install(RestCoreModules.main());
        bind(EventsResource.class, EventsResourceImpl.class);
        bindDataModel(MyTestDataModel.class);
    }

    @Override
    protected List<?> getRestResources() {
        return ImmutableList.of(
            eventsResource
        );
    }

    @Override
    protected List<ExceptionMapper> getExceptionMappers() {
        return exceptionMappers;
    }

    @Test
    public void testAddEvent() throws Exception {
        Entity entity = Entity.entity(new EventBean(), MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_TYPE);
        Response response = target("/events/zurich").request().post(entity);
        assertEquals(response.getStatus(), 201);

        String location = response.getHeaderString("Location");
        assertNotNull(location);

        assertEventExists(URI.create(location));
    }
}

Warning

When targeting an url with query parameters, the query params should not be added to the path but attached with .queryParams or the response will most likely be 404 - Not Found.

NO

Response response = target("/location/suggestions?city=Züri").get();

YES

Response response = target("/location/suggestions").queryParam("city", "Züri").request().get();

Warning

When mocking a service where an entity or primary key is passed as argument, you must use the sameKey matcher. If the matcher is not used the test will fail.

NO

expect(businessUnitManager.withBusinessUnitOfEntity(entity)).andReturn(Invoker.EMPTY);

YES

expect(businessUnitManager.withBusinessUnitOfEntity(sameKey(entity))).andReturn(Invoker.EMPTY);

Use it¶

Now start the application and send an HTTP request to ${HOST}/nice2/rest/events/zurich. If you send a GET request (i.e. by simply entering the URL in your browser), getEvents() should be called and you should receive a JSON representation of events which take place in Zürich.

Enable cross-origin access (optional)¶

By default, the REST resources cannot be accessed from another domain outside the domain from which the REST API is served (forbidden by the same-origin security policy).

Follow the steps described in Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) if access from other domains should be enabled.

Privileged rebinding¶

Special attention to security is required when rebinding beans to entities in privileged mode. Our rebinding logic EntityBeanRebinder handles nested paths and creates missing entities where necessary. This means that even if you only intend to send beans of some specific entity model from the client, ANY entity model that is related through a relation path can be freely created or adjusted by a malicious user.

To limit this EntityBeanRebinder takes an optional RebindLimitConfiguration parameter that can be used to strictly define which entities may be created and which paths may be edited. Use the builder helper to setup this configuration, either as a black- or whitelist.