在另一个域上使用RESTful Web服务的正确“Rails方式”是什么？

Question

I would like to write a Ruby on Rails application that consumes a RESTful web service API performs some logic on the result and then displays that data on my view. For example, let's say I wanted to write a program that did a search on search.twitter.com. Using pure ruby I might create the following method:

def run(search_term='', last_id=0)
  @results = []
  url = URI.parse("http://search.twitter.com")
  res = Net::HTTP.start(url.host, url.port) do |http|
    http.get("/search.json?q=#{search_term}&since_id=#{last_id.to_s}")
  end
  @results = JSON.parse res.body
end

I'm tempted to just drop that method into my Rails controller as a private method, but part of me thinks that there is a better, more "Rails" way to do this. Is there a best practice approach or is this really the best way?

Answer 1

There is a plugin/gem called HTTParty that I've used for several projects.

http://johnnunemaker.com/httparty/

HTTParty lets you easily consume any web service and parses results into a hash for you. Then you can use the hash itself or instantiate one or more model instances with the results. I've done it both ways.

For the twitter example, your code would look like this:

class Twitter
  include HTTParty
  base_uri 'twitter.com'

  def initialize(u, p)
    @auth = {:username => u, :password => p}
  end

  # which can be :friends, :user or :public
  # options[:query] can be things like since, since_id, count, etc.
  def timeline(which=:friends, options={})
    options.merge!({:basic_auth => @auth})
    self.class.get("/statuses/#{which}_timeline.json", options)
  end

  def post(text)
    options = { :query => {:status => text}, :basic_auth => @auth }
    self.class.post('/statuses/update.json', options)
  end
end

# usage examples.
twitter = Twitter.new('username', 'password')
twitter.post("It's an HTTParty and everyone is invited!")
twitter.timeline(:friends, :query => {:since_id => 868482746})
twitter.timeline(:friends, :query => 'since_id=868482746')

As a last point, you could use your code above also, but definitely include the code in a model as opposed to a controller.

Answer 2

Restclient is a really nice solution to this problem.

require 'rest_client'
RestClient.get 'http://example.com/resource'
RestClient.get 'http://example.com/resource', {:params => {:id => 50, 'foo' => 'bar'}}

From the readme .

Answer 3

如果远程RESTful Web服务也是使用Ruby on Rails创建的，那么ActiveResource就是最佳选择。

Answer 4

为了回应您的Twitter示例，有一个Twitter Gem可以帮助您自动执行此操作。

Answer 5

I think Faraday deserves a mention here. Really nice interface, and powerful concept of middleware.

https://github.com/lostisland/faraday