[gradebook2-dev] Gradebook2 webservices

[Thomas Amsler]

I think one thing to consider is the nature of the REST service. Is it
a "true" API  or is it an "internally" used REST service. There may be
different use cases that make certain versioning schemas more
applicable than others.
-- Thomas

On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 8:23 PM, Jon Gorrono <jpgorrono at ucdavis.edu> wrote:
> I agree.... the points made are very good and the solution, including
> perhaps the addition of media type versioning, IMO, seem more robust
> than the url-embedded versioning
>
> Thomas makes a good point that the momentum may be going in another
> direction, but then industry leaders are not always right, ask
> Citigroup and Merrill Lynch ;) ... I don't think a a more robust
> solution that is simple to document and implement could go wrong here
> though.
>
> I'd like to hear arguments about how client-negotiation might be
> short-circuited in the future if it doesn't get enough attention by
> the big players.
>
> 2011/2/11 Curtis Bray <clbray at ucdavis.edu>:
>> An intriguing post and looks like it's continuing to get comment traffic
>> since 2008. The comments propose a number of options and I'm wondering if
>> anyone else has tried these approaches before?
>>
>>
>> I like the slight tweak on the bloggers idea that is expressed in comment
>> #7: "I like the approach, but wouldn’t it be cleaner to add a ‘version’ (or
>> something similar) parameter to the Content-Type, so you don’t end up with
>> an effectively unique Content-Type for each new version? ‘Accept:
>> application/vnd.mycompany.app+xml; version=1.0′ would be just as expressive,
>> but cleaner."
>>
>>
>> - Curtis
>>
>>
>> From: Jon Gorrono [jpgorrono at ucdavis.edu]
>>
>> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 9:03 PM
>>
>> To: Thomas Amsler
>>
>> Cc: Geng, Kelly; Sakai Programming Team; nicolamj at gmail.com;
>> gradebook2-dev at collab.sakaiproject.org; Jayanna, Sid
>>
>> Subject: Re: [gradebook2-dev] Gradebook2 webservices
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> good point...
>>
>> ... here's an alternate view on url versions and an alternative
>>
>> approach that deserves some scrutiny, IMO
>>
>>
>>
>> http://barelyenough.org/blog/2008/05/versioning-rest-web-services/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 8:28 PM, Thomas Amsler <tpamsler at ucdavis.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> One issue I could see with this approach is that we currently don't
>>
>>> version the REST url space. This means that if we make changes to path
>>
>>> or query parameters, external dependent services could break. If we
>>
>>> really advocate this as a "real" REST service for other tools to use,
>>
>>> then we need to start to version it.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> e.g.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> from:
>>
>>> .../gradebook/rest/learner/numeric/<id>/<id>/
>>
>>>
>>
>>> to:
>>
>>> .../gradebook/rest/v1/learner/numeric/<id>/<id>/
>>
>>>
>>
>>> -- Thomas
>>
>>>
>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 11:06 AM, Geng, Kelly <gengx at muohio.edu> wrote:
>>
>>>> Hi Jon,
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> This is Kelly, working on the same project(grade submission from Sakai
>>>> to Banner) with Sid. Following your discussion, I did some test on calling
>>>> the Gradebook REST service from outside of Sakai to prove whether our idea
>>>> will work. What I did was:
>>
>>
>>>> -Using Curl to send the https request using the REST URL copied from the
>>>> Sakai instance,
>>
>>
>>>> -copy the cookie value of a valid Sakai session from the web browser,
>>>> and send it along,
>>
>>
>>>> -forged a HTTP header of X-XSRF-Cookie(with the session id as the value)
>>>> and sent it along
>>
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> I did the test for the "roster" service and I did get valid JSON data as
>>>> the response. I am planning to do more test on some other services which we
>>>> will potentially be using. At the same time, we would like to know whether
>>>> you see any potential issues with
>>  this approach. Are there any better ways to authenticate the service
>> calls? Will it cause problems in future releases of Gradebook2? Any input
>> will be appreciated.
>>
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>
>>>> Kelly
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>
>>>> From: gradebook2-dev-bounces at collab.sakaiproject.org
>>>> [mailto:gradebook2-dev-bounces at collab.sakaiproject.org] On Behalf
>>  Of Jon Gorrono
>>
>>>> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 8:41 PM
>>
>>>> To: Jayanna, Sid
>>
>>>> Cc: Sakai Programming Team; gradebook2-dev at collab.sakaiproject.org
>>
>>>> Subject: Re: [gradebook2-dev] Gradebook2 webservices
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> Sid,
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> We found a few places where the service calls make the assumption that
>>
>>>> there is a current site... if you are establishing a session in sakai
>>
>>>> through some alternative method, that may not be the case.... If you
>>
>>>> run run into this case (usually a NullPointerException) in the logs,
>>
>>>> please post a note about it.... we should probably be finding
>>
>>>> solutions for all the cases.
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> jP
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 1:56 PM, Thomas Amsler <tpamsler at ucdavis.edu>
>>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>> Sid,
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> Assuming you are doing this from a browser with some sort of REST
>>
>>>>> plugin (e.g.Chrome and cREST client), you can make the (GET, POST,
>>
>>>>> DELETE, PUT) REST calls as long as:
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> - You have established a valid Sakai session
>>
>>>>> - You provide the valid path parameters
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> All the gradebook2 REST resources are located here:
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>>
>>
>> https://source.sakaiproject.org/contrib/gradebook2/trunk/server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/sakai/rest/resource/
>>
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> So you should be able to look at those classes and determine what the
>>
>>>>> path parameters are. Also, if you develop gradebook2 in GWT DEV mode,
>>
>>>>> you can use the following url:
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>>
>> http://127.0.0.1:8888/gradebook/rest/application.wadl
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> ... to get the Jersey generated WADL. I have attached the generated
>>
>>>>> sample output.
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> I hope this helps.
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> Best,
>>
>>>>> -- Thomas
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 12:32 PM, Jayanna, Sid <jayannsd at muohio.edu>
>>>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>>> Hi Thomas,
>>
>>>>>> Thanks for taking the time to reply to my emails.
>>
>>>>>> If I understand the REST implementation correctly, don't gradebook2
>>
>>>>>> provide
>>
>>>>>> some kind of URI to manipulate (get/post/put/delete) resources?
>>
>>>>>> please bear with me here, I noticed on our log while working with
>>
>>>>>> gradebook2
>>
>>>>>> these messages (ipaddress have been masked to protect the guilty) -
>>
>>>>>> ------
>>
>>>>>> [31/Jan/2011:14:41:46 -0500] x.x.x.x TLSv1 AES256-SHA "GET
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> /portal/tool/d10a1c9e-66af-4084-ac1c-c5a07d059e8a/gradebook/rest/roster/87450467-8cab-4fc3-be7c-00a3e6245965/1/?sortField=S_LST_NM_FRST&sortDir=ASC&offset=0&limit=19
>>
>>
>>>>>> HTTP/1.1"
>>
>>>>>> [31/Jan/2011:14:15:16 -0500] x.x.x.x TLSv1 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA "POST
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> /portal/tool/d10a1c9e-66af-4084-ac1c-c5a07d059e8a/gradebook/rest/item/87450467-8cab-4fc3-be7c-00a3e6245965/1/
>>
>>
>>>>>> HTTP/1.1"
>>
>>>>>> -----------------
>>
>>>>>> So it appears like the GWT client is making GET/POST REST calls to
>>>>>> work
>>
>>>>>> with
>>
>>>>>> the resources on the server? but when I copy the above url and try to
>>>>>> run
>>
>>>>>> it
>>
>>>>>> from the address bar I get "ERROR: SESSIONID is null".
>>
>>>>>> So, theoretically I should be able to call the same URI from my broker
>>
>>>>>> application to get a roster with grades, is my understanding correct?
>>
>>>>>> Also, if you can point me to some documentation of the REST
>>>>>> implementation
>>
>>>>>> will be very helpful.
>>
>>>>>> Please let me know if you have any questions.
>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>
>>>>>> Sid
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> On Jan 28, 2011, at 4:27 PM, Thomas Amsler wrote:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> That would be one way to extend the existing Sakai (Axis) SOAP service
>>
>>>>>> endpoints. Gradebook2 uses REST (JAX-RS) to communicate between client
>>
>>>>>> and the server. So you could potentially expand on that by providing a
>>
>>>>>> new REST resource that returns the required data. Both approaches are
>>
>>>>>> valid.
>>
>>>>>> -- Thomas
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 1:21 PM, Jayanna, Sid <jayannsd at muohio.edu>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Thanks Thomas, that helps.
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> So, there are no webservices listening by default which can provide me
>>>>>> the
>>
>>>>>> roster with grades (like a REST Get call) from the broker application.
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> That webservice needs to be designed on the sakai end similar to the
>>
>>>>>> SakaiLogin.jws. Is my understanding correct?
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Sid
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> On Jan 28, 2011, at 4:14 PM, Thomas Amsler wrote:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Sid,
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> The details of the final grade submission handling  is implemented by
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> and implementation of the InstitutionalAdvisor.java interface. When
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> the user clicks on the submit final grade menu item, it makes a REST
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> call to SubmitFinalGrades.java
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> That class calls the Gradebook2ComponentService.submitFinalGrade(...)
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> method, which in turn calls the
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> InstitutionalAdvisor.submitFinalGrade(...) method. So you should
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> implement your version of the InstitutionalAdvisor interface and use
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> it via Spring injection. There is a default implementation of the
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> InstitutionalAdvisor interface in SampleInstitutionalAdvisor.java
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> I hope this helps.
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Best,
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> -- Thomas
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 11:55 AM, Jayanna, Sid <jayannsd at muohio.edu>
>>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Hi Thomas,
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> I was wondering if gradebook2 exposes any REST webservices for me to
>>
>>>>>> consume
>>
>>>>>> to submit the final grades to another broker application which will
>>>>>> send
>>
>>>>>> it
>>
>>>>>> to our SIS.
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> If you could point me to some resources will be very helpful.
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Sid
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> On Oct 6, 2010, at 2:26 PM, Thomas Amsler wrote:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Yes
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> On Wednesday, October 6, 2010, Jayanna, Sid <jayannsd at muohio.edu>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Sure, I will create my first jira.
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> That will be a feature request right?
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Sid
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> On Oct 6, 2010, at 2:11 PM, Thomas Amsler wrote:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> As far as I know, we haven't added a tool icon for gradebook2 yet.
>>>>>> Would
>>
>>>>>> you
>>
>>>>>> mind creating a GRBK jira for this:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>> http://jira.sakaiproject.org/browse/GRBK
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Best,
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> -- Thomas
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 10:53 AM, Jayanna, Sid <jayannsd at muohio.edu>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> The reason I wanted to test gradebook2 on a nightly server is due to a
>>
>>>>>> missing icon on my Sakai build. I am using Sakai src tag 2.7.1 and
>>
>>>>>> gradebook2 1.3.0
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> I have attached a screen shot. As you can see from the screen shot,
>>>>>> the
>>
>>>>>> icon
>>
>>>>>> for gradebook2 is missing.
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> I would appreciate if you can shed some light on why the icon is
>>>>>> missing.
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>> Sid
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>>
>>
>>>>> [see attachment: "application.wadl", size: 20903 bytes]
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> Attachments:
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> application.wadl
>>
>>>>>
>>
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>>
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>>>>
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> --
>>
>>>> Jon Gorrono
>>
>>>> PGP Key: 0x5434509D -
>>
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>>
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>>
>>
>>>> http{sysdev.ucdavis.edu}
>>
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>>
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>>
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>>
>>>>
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>>
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>>
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>>
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>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Jon Gorrono
>>
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>
> --
> Jon Gorrono
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