RESTful Web Services - Methods

As we have discussed so far that RESTful web service makes heavy uses of HTTP verbs to determine the operation to be carried out on the specified resource(s). Following table states the examples of common use of HTTP Verbs.

S.N.	HTTP Method, URI and Operation
1	GET http://localhost:8080/UserManagement/rest/UserService/users Get list of users (Read Only)
2	GET http://localhost:8080/UserManagement/rest/UserService/users/1 Get User of Id 1 (Read Only)
3	PUT http://localhost:8080/UserManagement/rest/UserService/users/2 Insert User with Id 2 (Idempotent)
4	POST http://localhost:8080/UserManagement/rest/UserService/users/2 Update User with Id 2 (N/A)
5	DELETE http://localhost:8080/UserManagement/rest/UserService/users/1 Delete User with Id 1 (Idempotent)
6	OPTIONS http://localhost:8080/UserManagement/rest/UserService/users List the supported operations in web service (Read Only)
7	HEAD http://localhost:8080/UserManagement/rest/UserService/users Returns only HTTP Header, no Body. (Read Only)

Here are important points to be considered:

• GET operations are read only and are safe.

• PUT and DELETE operations are idempotent means their result will always same no matter how many times these operations are invoked.

• PUT and POST operation are nearly same with the difference lying only in the result where PUT operation is idempotent and POST operation can cause different result.

Example

Let's update Example created in RESTful Web Services - First Applicationtutorial to create a Web service which can perform CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations. For simplicity, we've used a file I/O to replace Database operations.

Let's update User.java, UserDao.java, and UserService.java files under the com.tutorialspoint package.

User.java

package com.tutorialspoint;

import java.io.Serializable;

import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;
@XmlRootElement(name = "user")
public class User implements Serializable {

   private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
   private int id;
   private String name;
   private String profession;

   public User(){}

   public User(int id, String name, String profession){
      this.id = id;
      this.name = name;
      this.profession = profession;
   }

   public int getId() {
      return id;
   }
   @XmlElement
   public void setId(int id) {
      this.id = id;
   }
   public String getName() {
      return name;
   }
   @XmlElement
      public void setName(String name) {
      this.name = name;
   }
   public String getProfession() {
      return profession;
   }
   @XmlElement
   public void setProfession(String profession) {
      this.profession = profession;
   }	

   @Override
   public boolean equals(Object object){
      if(object == null){
         return false;
      }else if(!(object instanceof User)){
         return false;
      }else {
         User user = (User)object;
         if(id == user.getId()
            && name.equals(user.getName())
            && profession.equals(user.getProfession())
         ){
            return true;
         }			
      }
      return false;
   }	
}

UserDao.java

package com.tutorialspoint;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class UserDao {
   public List<User> getAllUsers(){
      List<User> userList = null;
      try {
         File file = new File("Users.dat");
         if (!file.exists()) {
            User user = new User(1, "Mahesh", "Teacher");
            userList = new ArrayList<User>();
            userList.add(user);
            saveUserList(userList);		
         }
         else{
            FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(file);
            ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(fis);
            userList = (List<User>) ois.readObject();
            ois.close();
         }
      } catch (IOException e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
      } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
      }		
      return userList;
   }

   public User getUser(int id){
      List<User> users = getAllUsers();

      for(User user: users){
         if(user.getId() == id){
            return user;
         }
      }
      return null;
   }

   public int addUser(User pUser){
      List<User> userList = getAllUsers();
      boolean userExists = false;
      for(User user: userList){
         if(user.getId() == pUser.getId()){
            userExists = true;
            break;
         }
      }		
      if(!userExists){
         userList.add(pUser);
         saveUserList(userList);
         return 1;
      }
      return 0;
   }

   public int updateUser(User pUser){
      List<User> userList = getAllUsers();

      for(User user: userList){
         if(user.getId() == pUser.getId()){
            int index = userList.indexOf(user);			
            userList.set(index, pUser);
            saveUserList(userList);
            return 1;
         }
      }		
      return 0;
   }

   public int deleteUser(int id){
      List<User> userList = getAllUsers();

      for(User user: userList){
         if(user.getId() == id){
            int index = userList.indexOf(user);			
            userList.remove(index);
            saveUserList(userList);
            return 1;   
         }
      }		
      return 0;
   }

   private void saveUserList(List<User> userList){
      try {
         File file = new File("Users.dat");
         FileOutputStream fos;

         fos = new FileOutputStream(file);

         ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fos);		
         oos.writeObject(userList);
         oos.close();
      } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
      } catch (IOException e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
      }
   }
}

 

UserService.java

package com.tutorialspoint;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.List;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
import javax.ws.rs.Consumes;
import javax.ws.rs.DELETE;
import javax.ws.rs.FormParam;
import javax.ws.rs.GET;
import javax.ws.rs.OPTIONS;
import javax.ws.rs.POST;
import javax.ws.rs.PUT;
import javax.ws.rs.Path;
import javax.ws.rs.PathParam;
import javax.ws.rs.Produces;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Context;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;

@Path("/UserService")
public class UserService {
	
   UserDao userDao = new UserDao();
   private static final String SUCCESS_RESULT="<result>success</result>";
   private static final String FAILURE_RESULT="<result>failure</result>";


   @GET
   @Path("/users")
   @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
   public List<User> getUsers(){
      return userDao.getAllUsers();
   }

   @GET
   @Path("/users/{userid}")
   @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
   public User getUser(@PathParam("userid") int userid){
      return userDao.getUser(userid);
   }

   @PUT
   @Path("/users")
   @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
   @Consumes(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED)
   public String createUser(@FormParam("id") int id,
      @FormParam("name") String name,
      @FormParam("profession") String profession,
      @Context HttpServletResponse servletResponse) throws IOException{
      User user = new User(id, name, profession);
      int result = userDao.addUser(user);
      if(result == 1){
         return SUCCESS_RESULT;
      }
      return FAILURE_RESULT;
   }

   @POST
   @Path("/users")
   @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
   @Consumes(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED)
   public String updateUser(@FormParam("id") int id,
      @FormParam("name") String name,
      @FormParam("profession") String profession,
      @Context HttpServletResponse servletResponse) throws IOException{
      User user = new User(id, name, profession);
      int result = userDao.updateUser(user);
      if(result == 1){
         return SUCCESS_RESULT;
      }
      return FAILURE_RESULT;
   }

   @DELETE
   @Path("/users/{userid}")
   @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
   public String deleteUser(@PathParam("userid") int userid){
      int result = userDao.deleteUser(userid);
      if(result == 1){
         return SUCCESS_RESULT;
      }
      return FAILURE_RESULT;
   }

   @OPTIONS
   @Path("/users")
   @Produces(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
   public String getSupportedOperations(){
      return "<operations>GET, PUT, POST, DELETE</operations>";
   }
}

 

Now using Eclipse, export your application as a war file and deploy the same in tomcat. To create WAR file using eclipse, follow the option File -> export -> Web > War File and finally select project UserManagement and destination folder. To deploy war file in Tomcat, place the UserManagement.war in Tomcat Installation Directory > webapps directory and start the Tomcat.

Testing the Web Service

Jersey provides APIs to create a Web Service Client to test web services. We've created a sample test class WebServiceTester.java under the com.tutorialspoint package in the same project.

WebServiceTester.java

package com.tutorialspoint;

import java.util.List;

import javax.ws.rs.client.Client;
import javax.ws.rs.client.ClientBuilder;
import javax.ws.rs.client.Entity;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Form;
import javax.ws.rs.core.GenericType;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;

public class WebServiceTester  {

   private Client client;
   private String REST_SERVICE_URL = "http://localhost:8080/UserManagement/rest/UserService/users";
   private static final String SUCCESS_RESULT="<result>success</result>";
   private static final String PASS = "pass";
   private static final String FAIL = "fail";

   private void init(){
      this.client = ClientBuilder.newClient();
   }

   public static void main(String[] args){
      WebServiceTester tester = new WebServiceTester();
      //initialize the tester
      tester.init();
      //test get all users Web Service Method
      tester.testGetAllUsers();
      //test get user Web Service Method 
      tester.testGetUser();
      //test update user Web Service Method
      tester.testUpdateUser();
      //test add user Web Service Method
      tester.testAddUser();
      //test delete user Web Service Method
      tester.testDeleteUser();
   }
   //Test: Get list of all users
   //Test: Check if list is not empty
   private void testGetAllUsers(){
      GenericType<List<User>> list = new GenericType<List<User>>() {};
      List<User> users = client
         .target(REST_SERVICE_URL)
         .request(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
         .get(list);
      String result = PASS;
      if(users.isEmpty()){
         result = FAIL;
      }
      System.out.println("Test case name: testGetAllUsers, Result: " + result );
   }
   //Test: Get User of id 1
   //Test: Check if user is same as sample user
   private void testGetUser(){
      User sampleUser = new User();
      sampleUser.setId(1);

      User user = client
         .target(REST_SERVICE_URL)
         .path("/{userid}")
         .resolveTemplate("userid", 1)
         .request(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
         .get(User.class);
      String result = FAIL;
      if(sampleUser != null && sampleUser.getId() == user.getId()){
         result = PASS;
      }
      System.out.println("Test case name: testGetUser, Result: " + result );
   }
   //Test: Update User of id 1
   //Test: Check if result is success XML.
   private void testUpdateUser(){
      Form form = new Form();
      form.param("id", "1");
      form.param("name", "suresh");
      form.param("profession", "clerk");

      String callResult = client
         .target(REST_SERVICE_URL)
         .request(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
         .post(Entity.entity(form,
            MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED_TYPE),
            String.class);
      String result = PASS;
      if(!SUCCESS_RESULT.equals(callResult)){
         result = FAIL;
      }

      System.out.println("Test case name: testUpdateUser, Result: " + result );
   }
   //Test: Add User of id 2
   //Test: Check if result is success XML.
   private void testAddUser(){
      Form form = new Form();
      form.param("id", "2");
      form.param("name", "naresh");
      form.param("profession", "clerk");

      String callResult = client
         .target(REST_SERVICE_URL)
         .request(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
         .put(Entity.entity(form,
            MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED_TYPE),
            String.class);
   
      String result = PASS;
      if(!SUCCESS_RESULT.equals(callResult)){
         result = FAIL;
      }

      System.out.println("Test case name: testAddUser, Result: " + result );
   }
   //Test: Delete User of id 2
   //Test: Check if result is success XML.
   private void testDeleteUser(){
      String callResult = client
         .target(REST_SERVICE_URL)
         .path("/{userid}")
         .resolveTemplate("userid", 2)
         .request(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
         .delete(String.class);

      String result = PASS;
      if(!SUCCESS_RESULT.equals(callResult)){
         result = FAIL;
      }

      System.out.println("Test case name: testDeleteUser, Result: " + result );
   }
}

 

Now run the tester using Eclipse. Right click on the file, and follow the optionRun as -> Java Application. You'll see the following result in Eclipse console:

Test case name: testGetAllUsers, Result: pass
Test case name: testGetUser, Result: pass
Test case name: testUpdateUser, Result: pass
Test case name: testAddUser, Result: pass
Test case name: testDeleteUser, Result: pass