Java WebService Tutorial - Part 12 ( Useful REST Annotations & Classes)

REST Annotations & Classes:

Hi, in this Section we will be discussing the different types of Annotations and some of the mostly used classes, provided by REST which can we use in our code.

First off, the most important Points we need to remember is:

REST is Web Service which performs all its Operation based upon the HTTP Methods. So it provides the following annotations.

@ GET

@POST

@PUT

@DELETE

@HEAD

If any one similar with the HTTP methods, they same they behave also here.

Some of the mostly used Annotations:

@Produces - This one we already discuss in our previous Sections, Any way it is used to produce a response to the User in based upon different MIME Types.( ex: text/html )

@Consumes - It is used to define what type of MIME or Inputs it will accepts from the Client .ex:  forms--URL--encoded.

@Context - It like the ServletContext in Servlet , it is the Jersey Framework context. It can used in many cases such as to get Header Parameters, Query parameters, Form Parameters etc.

Accessing Parameters in REST :

REST provides the following ways, the Param can be represented.

1.@PathParam

2.@QueryParam

3.@FormParam

4.@MatrixParam

1.@PathParam:

This annotation is used to get the Parameter specified in the URI using {} either from class level or Method Level.

Ex :CLASS LEVEL

@Path("/MyPath/{username}")

class MyPathResource

{

@GET

@Produces("text/plain")

public String getText(@PathParam("username"}String username)

{

return "UserName:"+username;

}

}

Access from URL :

http://localhost:8080/MyPath/Ayaz

Ayaz - Here taken as value for "username" and map to the Methods getText.Since getText does not have any path Associated with it the Jersey will automatically invokes this method.

Note: If there are more than one method specifies in the class with no path Annotation, then class will compile fine but the deployment will be fail.

EX: METHOD LEVEL

@Path("/MyPath/{username}")

class MyPathResource

{

@GET

@Produces("text/plain")

public String getText(@PathParam("username"}String username)

{

return "UserName:"+username;

}

@Path("/getText1/{text}")

@GET

@Produces("text/plain")

public String getText1(@PathParam("text"}String text)

{

return "Enter text:"+text;

}

}

Access from URL :

http://localhost:8080/MyPath/Ayaz  ---> Gives Output as UserName : Ayaz

http://localhost:8080/MyPath/getText1/HelloWorld  ---> Gives output as Enter text : HelloWorld

Note: If no value is pass for name  error will be thrown at runtime.

2. @Queryparam:

Queryparam is used to access the name and value pair enter in the URL using "?" .

It can be defined at class level and Method level; mostly it will be used in Method level. We will discuss Method level only.

Ex:

http://localhost:8080/MyPath/MyMethod?name=ayaz&age=23

Here , name and age are the two Query parameters.

Ex:

    @Path("/MyMethod")

    @GET

    @Produces(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN)

    public String Query(@QueryParam("name")String name ,

    @QueryParam("age")String  age )

    {

        return "Query Parameters"+" "+"Name:"+name+" "+"Age:"+age;

    }

Note: If no value is pass for name  error will be thrown at runtime.

3. @FormParam :

Form param is used to obtain values of the Form elements.

Ex:

  @Path("/posted")

    @POST

    @Consumes(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED)

    public String  putJson(@FormParam("name")String name ) {    

        return name;

    }

Here, name is the name of the text field or some other field declared inside the Form tag. 

Note: If no value is pass for name null will be return.

4. @MatrixParam :

The Matrix Param is used to accept values in name & value pair unlike Query Parameter it does not need any questionmark to begin with nor any and (&)sign to specify multiple values. Multiple values can be represented using semicolon(;)

Ex:

http://localhost:8080/MyPath/MyMethod;name=ayaz;age=23

 @Path("/MyMethod")

    @GET

    @Produces(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN)

    public String  putMatrix(@MatrixParam("name")String name,@MatrixParam("age")int age)

    {

       return "Name:"+name+"Age:"+age ;

    }

Note: If no value is pass for name and age null will be return.

Useful Classes:

•  MediaType 
•  Response
• JSONObject & JSONArray

1. MediaType :

This class can be used to represent the MIME Types in the form of Constants.

Ex:

@Produces (MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN)

 Equivalent to 

@Produces ("text/plain")

2. Response:

The Response class one of the widely used , it can be used to return response as text,images,files etc.Instead of being returning as String we should return the Response Object and let Jersey to do the remaining writing to the output stream and other stuffs.

Writing text Response

Ex:

    @Path("/matrix")

    @GET

    @Produces(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN)

    public Response putMatrix(@MatrixParam("name")String name,@MatrixParam("age")int age)

    {

       return Response.ok("Name:"+name+"Age:"+age).build();  

    }

 The Response.ok method takes the String as an Entity and builds it adds to the Output as response.

  Writing Image Response:

   @GET

    @Path("/getData")

    @Produces("image/jpg")

    public Response getData()

    {

        File f=new File("G:\\Icons\\en.jpg");

        Response.ResponseBuilder builder=Response.ok((Object)f);

        builder.header("Content-Disposition","attachment; filename=\"file_from_server.jpg\"");

                return builder.build();

    }

   

 3.JSONObject  & JSONArray :

The JSON Object class is used to create a list of JSON Objects. 

Ex:

        JSONObject jSONObject=new JSONObject();

        jSONObject.put("FirstName", "Jack");

        jSONObject.put("LastName", "Sparrow");

        jSONObject.put("Address", "America");

        System.out.println(jSONObject);

    Output :

    {"FirstName":"Jack","LastName":"Sparrow","Address":"America"}

   

    The JSON Array class is used to create an Array of JSON Objects.

Ex:     

       JSONObject jSONObject=new JSONObject();

        jSONObject.put("FirstName", "Jack");

        jSONObject.put("LastName", "Sparrow");

        jSONObject.put("Address", "America");

        JSONArray array=new JSONArray();

        array.put(jSONObject);

        System.out.println(array);

Output:  [{"FirstName":"Jack","LastName":"Sparrow","Address":"America"}]

Even though Jersey with JAXB, support automatic conversion or implementation of JSON and XML from simple Java Bean with setter/getters, It is good to know how to do it manually.

In the Next Part we will see how to produce XML and JSON output manually, and with Automatic Implementation Provided by Jersey along with JAXB.

Please provide your valuable comments.

Thanks for reading..



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