[Catalyst] Re: Catalyst and Web Services?

[Gavin Henry]

<quote who="Aristotle Pagaltzis">
> * Gavin Henry <ghenry at perl.me.uk> [2008-02-04 12:05]:
>> If you want to provide access over SSL with auth, i.e. for
>> example a desktop app posting and retrieving info from/to a
>> Catalyst app what's the best way?
>>
>> REST or SOAP?
>
> Well, the question you’re asking is actually REST or WS-*; SOAP
> is actually just an envelope format that can be used in both
> scenarios. Of course in practice no one uses SOAP for REST
> because it adds no value that you can’t get another way anyway.

OK, thanks.

>
> Anyway, between WS-* and REST, the answer is clearly REST, with
> the only exception being if you need to integrate with existing
> infrastructure that is already heavily geared toward WS-* – in
> short, you’re in a Microsoft shop.

Well, it might involve an Outlook Plugin (to right-click a calendar
entry), a Thunderbird plugin with/for Lightening/Sunbird and a taskbar app
all using wxWidgets, connecting to the central Catalyst App.

>
>> I want the same users that normalling login via a web browser
>> and get a cookie to be able to login via a "light" wee desktop
>> app or some such?
>>
>> Would you create a new interface/access point on the Cat site
>> and use REST or SOAP?
>>
>> All new to me, so excuse the dumb questions.
>
> I don’t know what you’re doing, so I can’t say if it’ll work for
> your case, but in the very least as a source of inspiration, take
> a look at Atompub. It’s a great example of how to structure a
> REST system, and in fact, with a little creativity, it is a close
> match for the great majority of scenarios in which people want to
> provide an API. The advantage is that there is already a bunch of
> code that implements Atompub, both on the client but also on the
> server – see Catalyst::Controller::Atompub.

Cool, thanks will look at that.

>
> But, as I said, even if it *really* doesn’t fit your needs, it
> gives you an idea for how a REST service should look like.

It's bascially to login, retrieve some db entries and post them back
authenticated with a session etc. just like a normal session/cookie web
login.

>
> Regards,
> --
> Aristotle Pagaltzis // <http://plasmasturm.org/>
>
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