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POPOST to create a resource vs creating a new path element in REST
 

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  1. POPOST to create a resource vs creating a new path element in REST
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    <p>I'm trying to define a REST API on top of a MongoDB database where I should be able to add collections and documents. Assume the following:</p> <p><a href="http://games.mydomain.com/database/characters/123" rel="nofollow">http://games.mydomain.com/database/characters/123</a></p> <p>In MongoDB, I would have created the database, then the characters collection and finally the ironman document (which has an _id 123). The above record would have been created along these lines:</p> <pre><code> POST /database/characters/ HTTP/1.1 Host: games.mydomain.com Content-Type: application/json { "_id" : 123, "name" : "ironman" } </code></pre> <p>If later I realize that I should break the characters in two subcollections (i.e. friends and foes), I would create them after characters (don't worry about the migration part):</p> <pre><code> POST /database/characters/ HTTP/1.1 Host: games.mydomain.com Content-Type: application/json { "name" : "friends" } </code></pre> <p>and...:</p> <pre><code> POST /database/characters/ HTTP/1.1 Host: games.mydomain.com Content-Type: application/json { "name" : "foes" } </code></pre> <p>And here lies the problem: both POSTs (collection and document) look the same! That is, how would a developer differentiate one from the other when looking at the API? In this particular case, wouldn't be "better" (or less ambiguous) to write the API like so?:</p> <p><strong>To create a collection:</strong></p> <pre><code> POST /{database}/createCollection Host: games.mydomain.com {...} </code></pre> <p><strong>To create a document</strong></p> <pre><code> POST /{database}/{collection}/ Host: games.mydomain.com {...} </code></pre> <p>-or-</p> <pre><code> POST /{database}/{collection}/createDocument Host: games.mydomain.com {...} </code></pre> <p>I know it's not REST-like, but the API has to create resources <em>and</em> intermediate paths (i.e. collections). Any idea how could I approach this problem?</p> <p>Thanks in advance!</p> <p>-- Tito</p>
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    1. UStitusmagnus
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      1. VTUpMod
    1. COIn a RESTful API, you would `PUT` to create new resources, not `POST`, no? This is probably a better topic for http://programmers.stackexchange.com than SO.
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      1. POPOST to create a resource vs creating a new path element in REST
      1. USDan Grossman
 

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