1 package Catalyst::TraitFor::Request::REST::ForBrowsers;
3 use namespace::autoclean;
5 with 'Catalyst::TraitFor::Request::REST';
7 has _determined_real_method => (
12 has looks_like_browser => (
16 builder => '_build_looks_like_browser',
20 # All this would be much less gross if Catalyst::Request used a builder to
21 # determine the method. Then we could just wrap the builder.
22 around method => sub {
26 return $self->$orig(@_)
27 if @_ || $self->_determined_real_method;
29 my $method = $self->$orig();
32 if ( defined $method && uc $method eq 'POST' ) {
33 $tunneled = $self->param('x-tunneled-method')
34 || $self->header('x-http-method-override');
37 $self->$orig( defined $tunneled ? uc $tunneled : $method );
39 $self->_determined_real_method(1);
41 return $self->$orig();
45 my %HTMLTypes = map { $_ => 1 } qw(
50 sub _build_looks_like_browser {
53 my $with = $self->header('x-requested-with');
55 if $with && grep { $with eq $_ }
56 qw( HTTP.Request XMLHttpRequest );
58 if ( uc $self->method eq 'GET' ) {
59 my $forced_type = $self->param('content-type');
61 if $forced_type && !$HTMLTypes{$forced_type};
64 # IE7 does not say it accepts any form of html, but _does_
65 # accept */* (helpful ;)
67 if $self->accepts('*/*');
70 if grep { $self->accepts($_) } keys %HTMLTypes;
73 if @{ $self->accepted_content_types() };
75 # If the client did not specify any content types at all,
76 # assume they are a browser.
89 Catalyst::TraitFor::Request::REST::ForBrowsers - A request trait for REST and browsers
95 use Catalyst::TraitFor::Request::REST::ForBrowsers;
101 Writing REST-y apps is a good thing, but if you're also trying to support web
102 browsers, you're probably going to need some hackish workarounds. This module
103 provides those workarounds for you.
105 Specifically, it lets you do two things. First, it lets you "tunnel" PUT and
106 DELETE requests across a POST, since most browsers do not support PUT or
107 DELETE actions (as of early 2009, at least).
109 Second, it provides a heuristic to check if the client is a web browser,
110 regardless of what content types it claims to accept. The reason for this is
111 that while a browser might claim to accept the "application/xml" content type,
112 it's really not going to do anything useful with it, and you're best off
117 This class provides the following methods:
119 =head2 $request->method
121 This method works just like C<< Catalyst::Request->method() >> except it
122 allows for tunneling of PUT and DELETE requests via a POST.
124 Specifically, you can provide a form element named "x-tunneled-method" which
125 can override the request method for a POST. This I<only> works for a POST, not
128 You can also use a header named "x-http-method-override" instead (Google uses
129 this header for its APIs).
131 =head2 $request->looks_like_browser
133 This attribute provides a heuristic to determine whether or not the request
134 I<appears> to come from a browser. You can use this however you want. I
135 usually use it to determine whether or not to give the client a full HTML page
136 or some sort of serialized data.
138 This is a heuristic, and like any heuristic, it is probably wrong
139 sometimes. Here is how it works:
145 If the request includes a header "X-Request-With" set to either "HTTP.Request"
146 or "XMLHttpRequest", this returns false. The assumption is that if you're
147 doing XHR, you don't want the request treated as if it comes from a browser.
151 If the client makes a GET request with a query string parameter
152 "content-type", and that type is I<not> an HTML type, it is I<not> a browser.
156 If the client provides an Accept header which includes "*/*" as an accepted
157 content type, the client is a browser. Specifically, it is IE7, which submits
158 an Accept header of "*/*". IE7's Accept header does not include any html types
163 If the client provides an Accept header and accepts either "text/html" or
164 "application/xhtml+xml" it is a browser.
168 If it provides an Accept header of any sort, it is I<not> a browser.
172 The default is that the client is a browser.
176 This all works well for my apps, but read it carefully to make sure it meets
177 your expectations before using it.
181 Dave Rolsky, C<< <autarch@urth.org> >>
185 Please report any bugs or feature requests to
186 C<bug-catalyst-action-rest@rt.cpan.org>, or through the web interface at
187 L<http://rt.cpan.org>. We will be notified, and then you'll automatically be
188 notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.
190 =head1 COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
192 Copyright 2008-2010 Dave Rolsky, All Rights Reserved.
194 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
195 the same terms as Perl itself.