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| author | Tom Christie | 2012-10-30 14:32:31 +0000 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Tom Christie | 2012-10-30 14:32:31 +0000 |
| commit | 9b30dab4f772f67a626e176dc4fae0a3ef9c2c81 (patch) | |
| tree | ca138abf4792f58ffa28684f784f201ee1eef6d7 /docs/api-guide/format-suffixes.md | |
| parent | 7e5b1501b5cede61a9391fb1a751d2ebcdb37031 (diff) | |
| parent | 4e7805cb24d73e7f706318b5e5a27e3f9ba39d14 (diff) | |
| download | django-rest-framework-9b30dab4f772f67a626e176dc4fae0a3ef9c2c81.tar.bz2 | |
Merge branch 'restframework2' into rest-framework-2-merge2.0.0
Conflicts:
.gitignore
.travis.yml
AUTHORS
README.rst
djangorestframework/mixins.py
djangorestframework/renderers.py
djangorestframework/resources.py
djangorestframework/serializer.py
djangorestframework/templates/djangorestframework/base.html
djangorestframework/templates/djangorestframework/login.html
djangorestframework/templatetags/add_query_param.py
djangorestframework/tests/accept.py
djangorestframework/tests/authentication.py
djangorestframework/tests/content.py
djangorestframework/tests/reverse.py
djangorestframework/tests/serializer.py
djangorestframework/views.py
docs/examples.rst
docs/examples/blogpost.rst
docs/examples/modelviews.rst
docs/examples/objectstore.rst
docs/examples/permissions.rst
docs/examples/pygments.rst
docs/examples/views.rst
docs/howto/alternativeframeworks.rst
docs/howto/mixin.rst
docs/howto/reverse.rst
docs/howto/usingurllib2.rst
docs/index.rst
docs/topics/release-notes.md
examples/sandbox/views.py
rest_framework/__init__.py
rest_framework/compat.py
rest_framework/utils/breadcrumbs.py
setup.py
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/api-guide/format-suffixes.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/api-guide/format-suffixes.md | 61 |
1 files changed, 61 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/api-guide/format-suffixes.md b/docs/api-guide/format-suffixes.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..6d5feba4 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/api-guide/format-suffixes.md @@ -0,0 +1,61 @@ +<a class="github" href="urlpatterns.py"></a> + +# Format suffixes + +> Section 6.2.1 does not say that content negotiation should be +used all the time. +> +> — Roy Fielding, [REST discuss mailing list][cite] + +A common pattern for Web APIs is to use filename extensions on URLs to provide an endpoint for a given media type. For example, 'http://example.com/api/users.json' to serve a JSON representation. + +Adding format-suffix patterns to each individual entry in the URLconf for your API is error-prone and non-DRY, so REST framework provides a shortcut to adding these patterns to your URLConf. + +## format_suffix_patterns + +**Signature**: format_suffix_patterns(urlpatterns, suffix_required=False, allowed=None) + +Returns a URL pattern list which includes format suffix patterns appended to each of the URL patterns provided. + +Arguments: + +* **urlpatterns**: Required. A URL pattern list. +* **suffix_required**: Optional. A boolean indicating if suffixes in the URLs should be optional or mandatory. Defaults to `False`, meaning that suffixes are optional by default. +* **allowed**: Optional. A list or tuple of valid format suffixes. If not provided, a wildcard format suffix pattern will be used. + +Example: + + from rest_framework.urlpatterns import format_suffix_patterns + + urlpatterns = patterns('blog.views', + url(r'^/$', 'api_root'), + url(r'^comment/$', 'comment_root'), + url(r'^comment/(?P<pk>[0-9]+)/$', 'comment_instance') + ) + + urlpatterns = format_suffix_patterns(urlpatterns, allowed=['json', 'html']) + +When using `format_suffix_patterns`, you must make sure to add the `'format'` keyword argument to the corresponding views. For example. + + @api_view(('GET',)) + def api_root(request, format=None): + # do stuff... + +The name of the kwarg used may be modified by using the `FORMAT_SUFFIX_KWARG` setting. + +Also note that `format_suffix_patterns` does not support descending into `include` URL patterns. + +--- + +## Accept headers vs. format suffixes + +There seems to be a view among some of the Web community that filename extensions are not a RESTful pattern, and that `HTTP Accept` headers should always be used instead. + +It is actually a misconception. For example, take the following quote from Roy Fielding discussing the relative merits of query parameter media-type indicators vs. file extension media-type indicators: + +“That's why I always prefer extensions. Neither choice has anything to do with REST.” — Roy Fielding, [REST discuss mailing list][cite2] + +The quote does not mention Accept headers, but it does make it clear that format suffixes should be considered an acceptable pattern. + +[cite]: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/rest-discuss/message/5857 +[cite2]: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/rest-discuss/message/14844
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