Content Manipulation

Content Manipulation#

plone.restapi does not only expose content objects via a RESTful API. The API consumer can create, read, update, and delete a content object. Those operations can be mapped to the HTTP verbs POST (Create), GET (Read), PUT (Update) and DELETE (Delete).

Manipulating resources across the network using HTTP as an application protocol is one of core principles of the REST architectural pattern. This allows us to interact with a specific resource in a standardized way.

Verb	URL	Action
`POST`	`/folder`	Creates a new document within the folder
`GET`	`/folder/\{document-id}`	Request the current state of the document
`PATCH`	`/folder/\{document-id}`	Update the document details
`DELETE`	`/folder/\{document-id}`	Remove the document

Creating a Resource with `POST`#

To create a new resource, we send a POST request to the resource container. If we want to create a new document within an existing folder, we send a POST request to that folder:

http

POST /plone/folder HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46c2VjcmV0
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "@type": "Document",
    "title": "My Document"
}

curl

curl -i -X POST http://nohost/plone/folder -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data-raw '{"@type": "Document", "title": "My Document"}' --user admin:secret

httpie

echo '{
  "@type": "Document",
  "title": "My Document"
}' | http POST http://nohost/plone/folder Accept:application/json Content-Type:application/json -a admin:secret

python-requests

requests.post('http://nohost/plone/folder', headers={'Accept': 'application/json', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'}, json={'@type': 'Document', 'title': 'My Document'}, auth=('admin', 'secret'))

By setting the Accept header, we tell the server that we would like to receive the response in the application/json representation format.

The Content-Type header indicates that the body uses the application/json format.

The request body contains the minimal necessary information needed to create a document (the type and the title). You could set other properties, such as description, as well.

A special property during content creation is UID It requires the user to have the Manage Portal permission to set it. Without the permission, the request will fail as Unauthorized.

Successful Response (201 Created)#

If a resource has been created, the server responds with the 201 Created status code. The Location header contains the URL of the newly created resource, and the resource representation is in the payload:

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Content-Type: application/json
Location: http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document

{
    "@components": {
        "actions": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@actions"
        },
        "aliases": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@aliases"
        },
        "breadcrumbs": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@breadcrumbs"
        },
        "contextnavigation": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@contextnavigation"
        },
        "navigation": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@navigation"
        },
        "navroot": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@navroot"
        },
        "types": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@types"
        },
        "workflow": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@workflow"
        }
    },
    "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document",
    "@type": "Document",
    "UID": "SomeUUID000000000000000000000005",
    "allow_discussion": false,
    "changeNote": "",
    "contributors": [],
    "created": "1995-07-31T13:45:00+00:00",
    "creators": [
        "admin"
    ],
    "description": "",
    "effective": null,
    "exclude_from_nav": false,
    "expires": null,
    "id": "my-document",
    "is_folderish": false,
    "language": "",
    "layout": "document_view",
    "lock": {
        "locked": false,
        "stealable": true
    },
    "modified": "1995-07-31T17:30:00+00:00",
    "next_item": {},
    "parent": {
        "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder",
        "@type": "Folder",
        "description": "This is a folder with two documents",
        "review_state": "private",
        "title": "My Folder",
        "type_title": "Folder"
    },
    "previous_item": {},
    "relatedItems": [],
    "review_state": "private",
    "rights": "",
    "subjects": [],
    "table_of_contents": null,
    "text": null,
    "title": "My Document",
    "type_title": "Page",
    "version": "current",
    "versioning_enabled": true,
    "working_copy": null,
    "working_copy_of": null
}

Unsuccessful Response (400 Bad Request)#

If the resource could not be created, for instance because the title was missing in the request, the server responds with 400 Bad Request:

HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
Content-Type: application/json

{
  'message': 'Required title field is missing'
}

The response body can contain information about why the request failed.

Unsuccessful Response (500 Internal Server Error)#

If the server can not properly process a request, it responds with 500 Internal Server Error:

HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error
Content-Type: application/json

{
  'message': 'Internal Server Error'
}

The response body can contain additional information, such as an error trace or a link to the documentation.

Possible `POST` Responses#

Possible server responses for a POST request are:

201 Created (Resource has been created successfully)
400 Bad Request (malformed request to the service)
500 Internal Server Error (server fault, can not recover internally)

`POST` Implementation#

A pseudo-code example of the POST implementation on the server:

try:
    order = createOrder()
    if order == None:
        # Bad Request
        response.setStatus(400)
    else:
        # Created
        response.setStatus(201)
except:
    # Internal Server Error
    response.setStatus(500)

Todo

Link to the real implementation...

Reading a Resource with `GET`#

After a successful POST, we can access the resource by sending a GET request to the resource URL:

http

GET /plone/folder/my-document HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46c2VjcmV0

curl

curl -i -X GET http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document -H "Accept: application/json" --user admin:secret

httpie

http http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document Accept:application/json -a admin:secret

python-requests

requests.get('http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document', headers={'Accept': 'application/json'}, auth=('admin', 'secret'))

Successful Response (200 OK)#

If a resource has been retrieved successfully, the server responds with 200 OK:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "@components": {
        "actions": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@actions"
        },
        "aliases": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@aliases"
        },
        "breadcrumbs": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@breadcrumbs"
        },
        "contextnavigation": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@contextnavigation"
        },
        "navigation": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@navigation"
        },
        "navroot": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@navroot"
        },
        "types": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@types"
        },
        "workflow": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@workflow"
        }
    },
    "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document",
    "@type": "Document",
    "UID": "SomeUUID000000000000000000000005",
    "allow_discussion": false,
    "changeNote": "",
    "contributors": [],
    "created": "1995-07-31T13:45:00+00:00",
    "creators": [
        "admin"
    ],
    "description": "",
    "effective": null,
    "exclude_from_nav": false,
    "expires": null,
    "id": "my-document",
    "is_folderish": false,
    "language": "",
    "layout": "document_view",
    "lock": {
        "locked": false,
        "stealable": true
    },
    "modified": "1995-07-31T17:30:00+00:00",
    "next_item": {},
    "parent": {
        "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder",
        "@type": "Folder",
        "description": "This is a folder with two documents",
        "review_state": "private",
        "title": "My Folder",
        "type_title": "Folder"
    },
    "previous_item": {},
    "relatedItems": [],
    "review_state": "private",
    "rights": "",
    "subjects": [],
    "table_of_contents": null,
    "text": null,
    "title": "My Document",
    "type_title": "Page",
    "version": "current",
    "versioning_enabled": true,
    "working_copy": null,
    "working_copy_of": null
}

For folderish types, their children are automatically included in the response as items. To disable the inclusion, add the GET parameter include_items=false to the URL.

By default, only basic metadata is included. To include additional metadata, you can specify the names of the properties with the metadata_fields parameter. See also Retrieving additional metadata.

The following example additionally retrieves the UID and Creator:

http

GET /plone/folder?metadata_fields=UID&metadata_fields=Creator HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46c2VjcmV0

curl

curl -i -X GET 'http://nohost/plone/folder?metadata_fields=UID&metadata_fields=Creator' -H "Accept: application/json" --user admin:secret

httpie

http 'http://nohost/plone/folder?metadata_fields=UID&metadata_fields=Creator' Accept:application/json -a admin:secret

python-requests

requests.get('http://nohost/plone/folder?metadata_fields=UID&metadata_fields=Creator', headers={'Accept': 'application/json'}, auth=('admin', 'secret'))

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "@components": {
        "actions": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/@actions"
        },
        "aliases": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/@aliases"
        },
        "breadcrumbs": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/@breadcrumbs"
        },
        "contextnavigation": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/@contextnavigation"
        },
        "navigation": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/@navigation"
        },
        "navroot": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/@navroot"
        },
        "types": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/@types"
        },
        "workflow": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/@workflow"
        }
    },
    "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder",
    "@type": "Folder",
    "UID": "SomeUUID000000000000000000000002",
    "allow_discussion": false,
    "contributors": [],
    "created": "1995-07-31T13:45:00+00:00",
    "creators": [
        "test_user_1_"
    ],
    "description": "This is a folder with two documents",
    "effective": null,
    "exclude_from_nav": false,
    "expires": null,
    "id": "folder",
    "is_folderish": true,
    "items": [
        {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/doc1",
            "@type": "Document",
            "Creator": "test_user_1_",
            "UID": "SomeUUID000000000000000000000003",
            "description": "",
            "review_state": "private",
            "title": "A document within a folder",
            "type_title": "Page"
        },
        {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/doc2",
            "@type": "Document",
            "Creator": "test_user_1_",
            "UID": "SomeUUID000000000000000000000004",
            "description": "",
            "review_state": "private",
            "title": "A document within a folder",
            "type_title": "Page"
        },
        {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document",
            "@type": "Document",
            "Creator": "admin",
            "UID": "SomeUUID000000000000000000000005",
            "description": "",
            "review_state": "private",
            "title": "My Document",
            "type_title": "Page"
        }
    ],
    "items_total": 3,
    "language": "",
    "layout": "listing_view",
    "lock": {},
    "modified": "1995-07-31T17:30:00+00:00",
    "nextPreviousEnabled": false,
    "next_item": {},
    "parent": {
        "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone",
        "@type": "Plone Site",
        "description": "",
        "title": "Plone site",
        "type_title": "Plone Site"
    },
    "previous_item": {},
    "relatedItems": [],
    "review_state": "private",
    "rights": "",
    "subjects": [],
    "title": "My Folder",
    "type_title": "Folder",
    "version": "current",
    "working_copy": null,
    "working_copy_of": null
}

Note

For folderish types, collections or search results, the results will be batched if the size of the resultset exceeds the batch size. See Batching for more details on how to work with batched results.

Unsuccessful response (404 Not Found)#

If a resource cannot be found, the server will respond with 404 Not Found:

HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "message": "Resource not found: https://<resource url>",
  "type": "NotFound"
}

`GET` Implementation#

A pseudo-code example of the GET implementation on the server:

try:
    order = getOrder()
    if order == None:
        # Not Found
        response.setStatus(404)
    else:
        # OK
        response.setStatus(200)
except:
    # Internal Server Error
    response.setStatus(500)

You can find implementation details in the plone.restapi.services.content.add.FolderPost class.

`GET` Responses#

Possible server responses for a GET request are:

Updating a Resource with `PATCH`#

To update an existing resource, we send a PATCH request to the server. PATCH allows providing just a subset of the resource, such as the values you actually want to change.

If you send the value null for a field, the field's content will be deleted, and the missing_value defined for the field in the schema will be set. Note that this is not possible if the field is required:

http

PATCH /plone/folder/my-document HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46c2VjcmV0
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "title": "My New Document Title"
}

curl

curl -i -X PATCH http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data-raw '{"title": "My New Document Title"}' --user admin:secret

httpie

echo '{
  "title": "My New Document Title"
}' | http PATCH http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document Accept:application/json Content-Type:application/json -a admin:secret

python-requests

requests.patch('http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document', headers={'Accept': 'application/json', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'}, json={'title': 'My New Document Title'}, auth=('admin', 'secret'))

Successful Response (204 No Content)#

A successful response to a PATCH request will be indicated by a 204 No Content response by default:

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content

Successful Response (200 OK)#

You can get the object representation by adding a Prefer header with a value of return=representation to the PATCH request. In this case, the response will be a 200 OK:

http

PATCH /plone/folder/my-document HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46c2VjcmV0
Prefer: return=representation
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "title": "My New Document Title"
}

curl

curl -i -X PATCH http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Prefer: return=representation" --data-raw '{"title": "My New Document Title"}' --user admin:secret

httpie

echo '{
  "title": "My New Document Title"
}' | http PATCH http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document Accept:application/json Content-Type:application/json Prefer:return=representation -a admin:secret

python-requests

requests.patch('http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document', headers={'Accept': 'application/json', 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Prefer': 'return=representation'}, json={'title': 'My New Document Title'}, auth=('admin', 'secret'))

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "@components": {
        "actions": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@actions"
        },
        "aliases": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@aliases"
        },
        "breadcrumbs": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@breadcrumbs"
        },
        "contextnavigation": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@contextnavigation"
        },
        "navigation": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@navigation"
        },
        "navroot": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@navroot"
        },
        "types": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@types"
        },
        "workflow": {
            "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document/@workflow"
        }
    },
    "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder/my-document",
    "@type": "Document",
    "UID": "SomeUUID000000000000000000000005",
    "allow_discussion": false,
    "changeNote": "",
    "contributors": [],
    "created": "1995-07-31T13:45:00+00:00",
    "creators": [
        "admin"
    ],
    "description": "",
    "effective": null,
    "exclude_from_nav": false,
    "expires": null,
    "id": "my-document",
    "is_folderish": false,
    "language": "",
    "layout": "document_view",
    "lock": {
        "locked": false,
        "stealable": true
    },
    "modified": "1995-07-31T17:30:00+00:00",
    "next_item": {},
    "parent": {
        "@id": "http://localhost:55001/plone/folder",
        "@type": "Folder",
        "description": "This is a folder with two documents",
        "review_state": "private",
        "title": "My Folder",
        "type_title": "Folder"
    },
    "previous_item": {},
    "relatedItems": [],
    "review_state": "private",
    "rights": "",
    "subjects": [],
    "table_of_contents": null,
    "text": null,
    "title": "My New Document Title",
    "type_title": "Page",
    "version": "current",
    "versioning_enabled": true,
    "working_copy": null,
    "working_copy_of": null
}

See the full specifications in RFC 5789: PATCH Method for HTTP.

Replacing a Resource with `PUT`#

Note

PUT is not implemented yet.

To replace an existing resource, we send a PUT request to the server:

Todo

Add example.

In accordance with the HTTP specification, a successful PUT will not create a new resource or produce a new URL.

PUT expects the entire resource representation to be supplied to the server, rather than just changes to the resource state. This is usually not a problem since the consumer application requested the resource representation before a PUT anyways.

When the PUT request is accepted and processed by the service, the consumer will receive a 204 No Content response (200 OK would be a valid alternative).

Successful Update (204 No Content)#

When a resource has been updated successfully, the server sends a 204 No Content response:

Todo

Add example.

Unsuccessful Update (409 Conflict)#

Sometimes requests fail due to incompatible changes. The response body includes additional information about the problem:

Todo

Add example.

`PUT` Implementation#

A pseudo-code example of the PUT implementation on the server:

try:
    order = getOrder()
    if order:
        try:
            saveOrder()
        except conflict:
            response.setStatus(409)
        # OK
        response.setStatus(200)
    else:
        # Not Found
        response.setStatus(404)
except:
    # Internal Server Error
    response.setStatus(500)

Todo

Link to the real implementation...

`PUT` Responses#

Possible server responses for a PUT request are:

`POST` vs. `PUT`#

Using POST or PUT depend on the desired outcome.

Use POST to create a resource identified by a service-generated URI.
Use POST to append a resource to a collection identified by a service-generated URI.
Use PUT to overwrite a resource.

This follows RFC 7231: HTTP 1.1: PUT Method.

Removing a Resource with `DELETE`#

We can delete an existing resource by sending a DELETE request:

http

DELETE /plone/folder/my-document HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46c2VjcmV0

curl

curl -i -X DELETE http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document -H "Accept: application/json" --user admin:secret

httpie

http DELETE http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document Accept:application/json -a admin:secret

python-requests

requests.delete('http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document', headers={'Accept': 'application/json'}, auth=('admin', 'secret'))

A successful response will be indicated by a 204 No Content response:

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content

`DELETE` Implementation#

A pseudo-code example of the DELETE implementation on the server:

try:
    order = getOrder()
    if order:
        if can_delete(order):
            # No Content
            response.setStatus(204)
        else:
            # Not Allowed
            response.setStatus(405)
    else:
        # Not Found
        response.setStatus(404)
except:
    # Internal Server Error
    response.setStatus(500)

Todo

Link to the real implementation...

`DELETE` Responses#

Possible responses to a DELETE request are:

204 No Content
404 Not Found (if the resource does not exist)
405 Method Not Allowed (if deleting the resource is not allowed)
500 Internal Server Error

Reordering sub resources#

The resources contained within a resource can be reordered using the ordering key with a PATCH request on the container.

Use the obj_id subkey to specify which resource to reorder. The subkey delta can be top, bottom, or a negative or positive integer for moving up or down.

Reordering resources within a subset of resources can be done using the subset_ids subkey.

A response of 400 BadRequest with a message Client/server ordering mismatch will be returned if the value is not in the same order as server side.

A response of 400 BadRequest with a message Content ordering is not supported by this resource will be returned if the container does not support ordering:

http

PATCH /plone/folder/my-document HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46c2VjcmV0
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "ordering": {"obj_id": "item_3", "delta": "top", "subset_ids": ["item_1", "item_3", "item5"]}
}

curl

curl -i -X PATCH http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data-raw '{"ordering": {"delta": "top", "obj_id": "item_3", "subset_ids": ["item_1", "item_3", "item5"]}}' --user admin:secret

httpie

echo '{
  "ordering": {
    "delta": "top",
    "obj_id": "item_3",
    "subset_ids": [
      "item_1",
      "item_3",
      "item5"
    ]
  }
}' | http PATCH http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document Accept:application/json Content-Type:application/json -a admin:secret

python-requests

requests.patch('http://nohost/plone/folder/my-document', headers={'Accept': 'application/json', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'}, json={'ordering': {'delta': 'top', 'obj_id': 'item_3', 'subset_ids': ['item_1', 'item_3', 'item5']}}, auth=('admin', 'secret'))

To rearrange all items in a folderish context, use the sort key.

The on subkey defines the catalog index to be sorted on. The order subkey indicates either the ascending or descending order of items.

A response 400 BadRequest with a message Content ordering is not supported by this resource will be returned if the container does not support ordering:

http

PATCH /plone/folder HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46c2VjcmV0
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "sort": {"on": "modified", "order": "descending"}
}

curl

curl -i -X PATCH http://nohost/plone/folder -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data-raw '{"sort": {"on": "modified", "order": "descending"}}' --user admin:secret

httpie

echo '{
  "sort": {
    "on": "modified",
    "order": "descending"
  }
}' | http PATCH http://nohost/plone/folder Accept:application/json Content-Type:application/json -a admin:secret

python-requests

requests.patch('http://nohost/plone/folder', headers={'Accept': 'application/json', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'}, json={'sort': {'on': 'modified', 'order': 'descending'}}, auth=('admin', 'secret'))

Content Manipulation

Contents

Content Manipulation#

Creating a Resource with POST#

Successful Response (201 Created)#

Unsuccessful Response (400 Bad Request)#

Unsuccessful Response (500 Internal Server Error)#

Possible POST Responses#

POST Implementation#

Reading a Resource with GET#

Successful Response (200 OK)#

Unsuccessful response (404 Not Found)#

GET Implementation#

GET Responses#

Updating a Resource with PATCH#

Successful Response (204 No Content)#

Successful Response (200 OK)#

Replacing a Resource with PUT#

Successful Update (204 No Content)#

Unsuccessful Update (409 Conflict)#

PUT Implementation#

PUT Responses#

POST vs. PUT#

Removing a Resource with DELETE#

DELETE Implementation#

DELETE Responses#

Reordering sub resources#

Creating a Resource with `POST`#

Possible `POST` Responses#

`POST` Implementation#

Reading a Resource with `GET`#

`GET` Implementation#

`GET` Responses#

Updating a Resource with `PATCH`#

Replacing a Resource with `PUT`#

`PUT` Implementation#

`PUT` Responses#

`POST` vs. `PUT`#

Removing a Resource with `DELETE`#

`DELETE` Implementation#

`DELETE` Responses#