REST how to handle query parameters when put to resource?

Question

I have a REST data service where I want to allow the users to create new items with HTTP PUT using different formats like json,xml,csv. I'm unsure how to best handle the format specification in the url:

PUT /ressource/ID/json
PUT /ressource/ID/xml

or

PUT /ressource/ID?format=json
PUT /ressource/ID?format=xml

So what is the best way to specify a format indicator?

If I specify the format with an query parameter and want to do a PUT how can I do this with curl?

curl -T test/data.json -d "format=json"  http://localhost:5000/resource/33

does not work.

curl -T test/data.json http://localhost:5000/update?format=json

works, but I would rather let curl build the query parameters instead of adding them by myself.

As you are creating a new resource, you should use POST instead. PUT is more about replacing the resource at a fixed location, where the client knows the URI, it seems very broken to allow the client to say what ID to use to store a resource. POST would have the user use a URI like /resource and the server will respond with the URI that can be used to access the new 'thing', like /resource/666 — thecoshman
– thecoshman, Commented Jul 22, 2015 at 12:27

Peter Hilton · Accepted Answer · 2008-09-08 06:24:48Z

15

A general principle of RESTful web services is to use the features built-in to HTTP, when applicable. In this case, you can indicate the format of your PUT request's content by setting the Content-Type header to application/json or application/xml.

answered Sep 8, 2008 at 6:24

Peter Hilton

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2 Comments

aehlke Over a year ago

Unfortunately if you want to make this an open API, many people will be unable to use Content-Type headers. The sad reality is that you usually need to allow some hacks, even if you permit the standardized way too.

Nick Retallack Over a year ago

This is about the Content-Type of a request body. I can't think of any situation where a person would want to specify this and not be able to. If you're submitting a web form, for example, it's not going to be JSON, so this wouldn't be relevant.

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