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Difference between revisions of "Documentation/WADL conventions"

(Title)
(Writing style)
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== Writing style ==
 
== Writing style ==
 +
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* Make sure every resource has a unique ID.
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* Put the JSON requests before the XML requests, and the JSON responses before the XML responses. Why? JSON is used more commonly than XML.
 +
* Use sentence-style capitalization for method titles.
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* Put parameter descriptions inside <param> tags rather than in a table.
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* Be sure to describe all parameters - template, headers, plain, and so on.
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* Be sure to describe all response fields and response headers.
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* Include all possible success and error codes.
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* Include code examples for both JSON and XML if the method has either or both a request body and a response body.
  
 
An API method has the following components:
 
An API method has the following components:

Revision as of 22:00, 2 March 2014

WADL style and markup conventions

In progress......

What is WADL?

For information about WADL files, see http://docs.rackspace.com/writers-guide/content/ch_wadl.html.

For complete information about the WADL language, see Web Application Description Language (http://www.w3.org/Submission/wadl/).

Writing style

  • Make sure every resource has a unique ID.
  • Put the JSON requests before the XML requests, and the JSON responses before the XML responses. Why? JSON is used more commonly than XML.
  • Use sentence-style capitalization for method titles.
  • Put parameter descriptions inside <param> tags rather than in a table.
  • Be sure to describe all parameters - template, headers, plain, and so on.
  • Be sure to describe all response fields and response headers.
  • Include all possible success and error codes.
  • Include code examples for both JSON and XML if the method has either or both a request body and a response body.

An API method has the following components:


URI

Title

<method name="GET" id="getVolume">
        <wadl:doc xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="EN"
            title="Show volume details">

Use sentence-style capitalization for the title.

Follow this convention for title text:

Method Example title
Create (POST) Create volume
List (GET) List volumes
Show (GET) Show volume details
Update (PUT) Update volume
Delete (DELETE) Delete volume

Short description

<method name="GET" id="getVolume">
        <wadl:doc xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="EN"
            title="Show volume details">
            <para role="shortdesc">Shows volume details.</para>

Make the short description short. Put extra content into subsequent <para> tags.

Follow this convention for short description text:

Method Example short description Do not use
Create (POST) Creates a volume. Create a volume. Creates a new volume.
List (GET) Lists volumes. Gets a listing of volumes. Prints a listing of volumes. Retrieves a list of volumes.
Show (GET) Shows volume details. Shows image details. Shows the up time for a specified hypervisor. Retrieves information about, or Gets information for.
Update (PUT) Updates volume details.
Delete (DELETE) Deletes a volume. Removes a volume. Permanently destroys a volume.