REST Drupal

REST Drupal
Talking to Drupal from Javascript, iOS and Android

Drupalcamp Arad 2012 - Alexandru Badiu - REST Drupal 1

Sunday, November 18, 12

About me I pity the fool
who doesn’t use
Drupal
Hi, I’m Alexandru Badiu.
I’m a software engineer, amateur game
developer and part time Mister T
impersonator.

Drupal user for 9 years, board member in
Drupal Romania.

I work for Demotix.

Twitter @voidberg
Web ctrlz.ro



REST Drupal

Mobile is pretty big now days
Drupal 8 Web services initiative
For Drupal 7 there’s the Services module



YASS

Oh boy, yet another Services session!



Nope



In this session
Doing “web services” without Services
Doing “web services” without Drupal’s slowness
Using Services
... With Javascript
... With Objective-C
... With Java
Uploading files and cursing at Apple and Google
Some memes



Sorry :(



1
Services without
services


Why would you do that?

One word: Drupal is slow



Services without services

Sometimes you really don’t need services

Getting a list of news and showing some details
about them.

Showing nearby businesses on a map.

Users submitting anonymous tips or comments.

Use JSON and don’t shoot yourself in the foot
by using XML or plists.



However
Services is not the slowest thing, Drupal is
Shameless plug: Drupal NoBootstrap
Small php library which allows you to be able to use some of
Drupal's functions without bootstrapping Drupal.
Used it for Solr powered instant Google like map of businesses
Used it for lightning fast autocomplete
Used it for coupon claiming app
https://github.com/voidberg/Drupal-NoBootstrap



2
Services



Services

A long time ago in a Drupalcamp far, far away
Last year I was complaining about Services
Clunky way of connecting (session, nonce, timestamp)
Inconsistent responses
Bugs in json_server



Services 3

Services 3 is much much nicer
REST based
No more nonce and other crap
Session is kept in the HTTP calls
Consistent responses



Services 3
REST in a nutshell

Resource based

HTTP based

CRUD

GET /endpoint/resource/id

POST /endpoint/resource + (post data)

DELETE /endpoint/resource/id

PUT /endpoint/resource/id + (post data)

GET /endpoint/resource

GET /services/comment?parameters[nid]=123&parameters[timestamp]=123456:123600



Services 3
REST in a nutshell
Actions
Do not target a specific resource
POST /services/apachesolr/reindex
Targeted actions
Target a specific resource
POST /services/node/123/unpublish
Relationships
GET /services/node/123/comments



3
Drupanium



Drupanium
Distribution targeted at building mobile apps
For Titanium Studio
Should be possible to use with Cordova
Looks abandoned
Simple js code to grab
Decent list of core services resources
http://drupanium.org/api



4
iOS



Android
Drupal iOS SDK
The library formerly known as KBDrupalConnect
Uses AFNetworking
Implements all core service resources
Can use OAuth
Uses blocks
https://github.com/workhabitinc/drupal-ios-sdk



Drupal iOS SDK
Copy AFNetworking code and Drupal iOS SDK code in project
Update Settings.m with url, endpoint etc
Profit!



Drupal iOS SDK
DIOSUser *user = [[DIOSUser alloc] init];

[user userLoginWithUsername:username andPassword:password
success:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject) {
// Login ok
DIOSSession *session = [DIOSSession sharedSession];
[session setUser:[responseObject objectForKey:@"user"]];
}
failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
// Login failed
[MBProgressHUD hideHUDForView:self.view animated:YES];
}
];



Drupal iOS SDK
DIOSNode *node = [[DIOSNode alloc] init];

NSMutableDictionary *nodeData = [NSMutableDictionary new];
[nodeData setValue:[@"Node title" text] forKey:@"title"];

NSDictionary *bodyValues = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjects:[NSArray
arrayWithObjects:@"Node title", nil] forKeys:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"value", nil]];
NSDictionary *languageDict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:[NSArray
arrayWithObject:bodyValues] forKey:@"und"];
[nodeData setValue:languageDict forKey:@"body"];

NSDictionary *fieldValue = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjects:[NSArray
arrayWithObjects:@"Field value", nil] forKeys:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"value", nil]];
NSDictionary *fieldLangDict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:[NSArray
arrayWithObject:sessionValue] forKey:@"und"];
[nodeData setValue:fieldLangDict forKey:@"field_foo_bar"];
[nodeData setValue:@"nodetype" forKey:@"type"];
[nodeData setValue:@"und" forKey:@"language"];
[node nodeSave:nodeData success:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject) {
// Node was saved
} failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
// Node save failed
}];



Extending it
@interface DemotixServices: NSObject
- (void)userRegister:(NSDictionary *)user
success:(void (^)(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject)) success
failure:(void (^)(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error)) failure;
@end

#import "DemotixServices.h"
#import "DIOSSession.h"

@implementation DemotixServices

#pragma mark userRegister
- (void)userRegister:(NSDictionary *)user
success:(void (^)(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject)) success
failure:(void (^)(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error)) failure {
[[DIOSSession sharedSession] postPath:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/%@", kDiosEndpoint,
@"demotix_services_user/register"]
parameters:user
success:success
failure:failure];
}
@end;



Saving the session
// After a login
NSHTTPCookieStorage *cookieStorage = [NSHTTPCookieStorage sharedHTTPCookieStorage];
NSArray *cookies = [cookieStorage cookies];
for (NSHTTPCookie *cookie in cookies) {
if ([cookie.name hasPrefix:@"SESS"]) {
[keychainS setObject:cookie.name forKey:(__bridge id)kSecAttrAccount];
[keychainS setObject:cookie.value forKey:(__bridge id)kSecValueData];
}
}

// On next app start
NSString *sessionName = [keychainS objectForKey:(__bridge id)kSecAttrAccount];
NSString *sessionValue = [keychainS objectForKey:(__bridge id)kSecValueData];

if (![sessionName isEqualToString:@""] && ![sessionValue isEqualToString:@""]) {
DIOSSession *session = [DIOSSession sharedSession];
[session setDefaultHeader:@"Cookie" value:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@=%@", sessionName,
sessionValue]];

DIOSSystem *system = [[DIOSSystem alloc] init];
[system systemConnectwithSuccess: ^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject) {
}
failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
}];
}



File upload
NSMutableURLRequest *request = [[DIOSSession sharedSession]
multipartFormRequestWithMethod:@"POST"
path:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/%@", kDiosEndpoint, @"demotix_services_story/upload"]
parameters:params
constructingBodyWithBlock: ^(id <AFMultipartFormData> formData) {
NSError *error;
if (![formData appendPartWithFileURL:[NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath] name:@"joined"
error:&error]) {
NSLog(@"An error occured: %@", error);
}
else {
NSLog(@"No error");
}
}];

AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation = [[AFHTTPRequestOperation alloc] initWithRequest:request];
[operation setUploadProgressBlock:^(NSInteger bytesWritten, long long totalBytesWritten, long
long totalBytesExpectedToWrite) {
[delegate updateUploadProgress:totalBytesWritten from:totalBytesExpectedToWrite];
}];

[operation setCompletionBlockWithSuccess:success failure:failure];
[operation start];



File upload



File upload
AFNetworking uses the iOS API for http calls
The API has a bug since iOS 3
When uploading files on 3G you get a OOM error
Solution is to throttle the upload which the API has no support for
AFNetworking is still working on this
I ended up using ASIHttpRequest just for file upload with throttled
upload on 3G



File upload
[ASIHTTPRequest setShouldThrottleBandwidthForWWAN:YES];
[ASIHTTPRequest setMaxBandwidthPerSecond:ASIWWANBandwidthThrottleAmount*throttle_amount];

NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/%@/%@", kDiosBaseUrl,
kDiosEndpoint, @"demotix_services_story/upload"]];
__block ASIFormDataRequest *request = [ASIFormDataRequest requestWithURL:url];

[request setCompletionBlock:^{
success(responseString);
}];
[request setFailedBlock:^{
failure(responseString, error);
}];

for (NSString * fkey in files) {
NSDictionary *file = [files objectForKey:fkey];
NSString *fileName = [file valueForKey:@"name"];

[request setFile:[file valueForKey:@"fileUrl"] forKey:fileName];
}
[request setShouldContinueWhenAppEntersBackground:YES];
[request setTimeOutSeconds:999];
[request setUploadProgressDelegate:self];
[request startAsynchronous];



5
Android



Android
DrupalCloud is not working anymore
Hasn’t been updated to Services 3
Never really liked the architecture
Dandy might work, I was scared
No documentation at all
Source code seems over engineered
Not sure it works with Services 3 (issue queue says it doesn’t)



Android

So I built my own
Android Drupal SDK
https://github.com/voidberg/
Android-Drupal-Sdk



First step
Let’s choose a HTTP Client
It’s a mess
HttpUrlConnection
Been since the dark ages
Had some serious bugs before Froyo
Still behind the apache lib
Apache HTTP Client
Best option so far IMHO
Has been deprecated



We have a winner
Android Asynchronous Http Client

http://loopj.com/android-async-http/

You’ll be in select company - Instagram

HTTP requests happen outside the UI thread

Requests use a threadpool to cap concurrent resource usage

Multipart file uploads with no additional third party libraries

Automatic smart request retries optimized for spotty mobile connections

Automatic gzip response decoding support for super-fast requests

Built-in response parsing into JSON with JsonHttpResponseHandler

Persistent cookie store, saves cookies into your app’s SharedPreferences

Uses the Apache HTTP Client



Using it

ServicesClient client;
client = new ServicesClient("http://www.example.com", "api/
mobile");

client.setBasicAuth("username","password/token");

PersistentCookieStore cookieStore;
cookieStore = new PersistentCookieStore(this);
client.setCookieStore(cookieStore);



Using it
SystemServices ss;
ss = new SystemServices(client);

JsonHttpResponseHandler connectHandler = new JsonHttpResponseHandler() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(JSONObject response) {
JSONObject user = response.getJSONObject("user");
int uid = user.getInt("uid");
}

@Override
public void onFailure(Throwable e, JSONObject response) {
// System.Connect call failed
}

@Override
public void onFinish() {
}
};

ss.Connect(connectHandler);



Using it
UserServices us;

us = new UserServices(client);

JsonHttpResponseHandler loginHandler = new JsonHttpResponseHandler() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(JSONObject response) {
boolean error = false;
JSONObject user = response.getJSONObject("user");
}

@Override
public void onFailure(Throwable e, JSONObject response) {
// Username or password were incorrect
}

@Override
public void onFinish() {
activity.hideProgressDialog();
}
};

activity.showProgressDialog("Logging you in");
us.Login("username", "password");



Extending it
public class DemotixServices {
private ServicesClient client;

public DemotixServices(ServicesClient c) {
client = c;
}

public void Register(String fname, String lname, String name, String email, String
password, AsyncHttpResponseHandler responseHandler) {
JSONObject params = new JSONObject();
try {
params.put("name", name);
params.put("mail", email);
params.put("pass", password);
params.put("field_firstname", fname);
params.put("field_lastname", lname);
params.put("legal_accept", "1");
params.put("from_mobile", "1");
} catch (JSONException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}

client.post("demotix_services_user/register", params, responseHandler);
}
}



File upload

InputStream myInputStream = blah;
RequestParams params = new RequestParams();
params.put("secret_passwords", myInputStream, "passwords.txt");

File myFile = new File("/path/to/file.png");
RequestParams params = new RequestParams();
try {
params.put("profile_picture", myFile);
} catch(FileNotFoundException e) {}

client.post(...)



File upload



File upload

Turns out that the library tries to read all data before uploading
For large files this is a problem as you’ll run out of memory
immediately
Solution: go low level and build the multi part yourself by
attaching FileInputStreams



File upload
HttpParams httpParams = new BasicHttpParams();
HttpConnectionParams.setConnectionTimeout(httpParams, 900 * 1000);
HttpConnectionParams.setSoTimeout(httpParams, 900 * 1000);

HttpClient httpclient = ServicesClient.client.getHttpClient();
HttpContext httpContext = ServicesClient.client.getHttpContext();

HttpPost httppost = new HttpPost("http://www.example.com/api/mobile/service/upload");
httppost.setParams(httpParams);

MultipartEntity entity = new MultipartEntity();
// Add parameters to the post body
entity.addPart("param1", new StringBody(param1.toString(),"application/json",
Charset.forName("UTF-8")));

// Add file to post body
InputStream istream1 = new FileInputStream("file1.jpg");
entity.addPart("file1", new InputStreamBody(istream1, "file1"));

httppost.setEntity(entity);
HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httppost, httpContext);



File upload



File upload

Nope
There is no easy way of getting the progress of an upload
We fake it: use CustomMultiPartEntity instead of MultiPartEntity
This class notifies a listener of the bytes read so far
Calculate an approximation of the size of the post data



File upload
CustomMultiPartEntity postEntity = new CustomMultiPartEntity(new
CustomMultiPartEntity.ProgressListener() {
@Override
public void transferred(long num) {
updateUploadProgress((int) ((num / (float) totalUploadSize) * 100));
}
});

try {
postEntity.addPart("param1", new StringBody(param1.toString(),"application/json",
Charset.forName("UTF-8")));
totalUploadSize = postEntity.getContentLength();
for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : files.entrySet()) {
try {
InputStream istream = new FileInputStream(entry.getValue());
postEntity.addPart(entry.getKey(), new InputStreamBody(istream,
entry.getKey()));
totalUploadSize += new File(entry.getValue()).length();
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {}
}
httppost.setEntity(postEntity);
}
catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {}

HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httppost, httpContext);



Another caveat

Varnish has issues by default
You have a rule that does “return post” for, well, POST calls
Upload will fail with a socket exception
Add another rule that does “return stream” for POST calls made
to your upload url



Thanks!
Questions?

Alexandru Badiu.
Twitter @voidberg
Web http://ctrlz.ro

Email andu@ctrlz.ro

D.O http://drupal.org/user/8662



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