Is it ok by REST to return content after POST?
I am using RESTlet and I have created a resource. I handle POST by overriding acceptRepresentation method.
The client should send me some data, then I store it to DB, set response to 201 (SUCCESS_CREATED) and I need to return some data to the client, but return type of acceptRepresentation is void.
In my case, I need to return some identificator so that client can access that resource.
For example, if I had a resource with URL /resource and the client sends POST request I add a new row in DB and its address should be /resource/{id}. I need to send {id}.
Am I doing something wrong? Does REST principles allow to return something after POST? If yes, how can I do it, and if no what is the way to handle this situation?
Answer
REST just says that you should conform to the uniform interface. In other words, it says you should do what POST is supposed to do as per the HTTP spec. Here is the quote from that spec that is relevant,
If a resource has been created on the origin server, the response SHOULD be 201 (Created) and contain an entity which describes the status of the request and refers to the new resource, and a Location header (see section 14.30).
As you can see from this, you have two places where you can indicate to the client where the newly created resource resides. The Location header should have an URL that points to the new resource and you can return an entity with the details also.
I'm not sure what the difference between overriding acceptRepresentation() and overriding post() but this example shows how to return a response from a POST.