diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md index 46c5cf190..0072b56f0 100644 --- a/docs/index.md +++ b/docs/index.md @@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ General guides to using REST framework. * [CSRF][csrf] * [Form overloading][formoverloading] +* [Working with the Browsable API][browsableapi] * [Contributing to REST framework][contributing] * [Credits][credits] @@ -162,5 +163,6 @@ OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. [csrf]: topics/csrf.md [formoverloading]: topics/formoverloading.md +[browsableapi]: topics/browsable-api.md [contributing]: topics/contributing.md [credits]: topics/credits.md diff --git a/docs/template.html b/docs/template.html index c8cfbbab2..819e3b92e 100644 --- a/docs/template.html +++ b/docs/template.html @@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ diff --git a/docs/topics/browsable-api.md b/docs/topics/browsable-api.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6d2d2a37b --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/topics/browsable-api.md @@ -0,0 +1,86 @@ +# Working with the Browsable API + +API may stand for Application *Programming* Interface, but humans have to be able to read the APIs, too; someone has to do the programming. Django REST Framework supports generating human-friendly HTML output for each resource when the `HTML` format is requested. These pages allow for easy browsing of resources, as well as forms for submitting data to the resources using `POST`, `PUT`, and `DELETE`. + +## URLs + +If you include fully-qualified URLs in your resource output, they will be 'urlized' and made clickable for easy browsing by humans. The `djangorestframework` package includes a [`reverse`](../api-guide/reverse.md) helper for this purpose. + + +## Formats + +By default, the API will return the format specified by the headers, which in the case of the browser is HTML. The format can be specified using `?format=` in the request, so you can look at the raw JSON response in a browser by adding `?format=json` to the URL. There are helpful extensions for viewing JSON in [Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/jsonview/) and [Chrome](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chklaanhfefbnpoihckbnefhakgolnmc). + + +## Customizing + +To customize the look-and-feel, create a template called `api.html` and add it to your project, eg: `templates/djangorestframework/api.html`, that extends the `djangorestframework/base.html` template. + +The included browsable API template is built with [Bootstrap (2.1.1)](http://getbootstrap.com), making it easy to customize the look-and-feel. + +### Theme + +To replace the theme wholesale, add a `bootstrap_theme` block to your `api.html` and insert a `link` to the desired Bootstrap theme css file. This will completely replace the included theme. + + {% block bootstrap_theme %} + + {% endblock %} + +A suitable replacement theme can be generated using Bootstrap's [Customize Tool](http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/customize.html#variables). Also, there are pre-made themes available at [Bootswatch](http://bootswatch.com/), which are even hosted by [Bootstrap CDN](http://www.bootstrapcdn.com/). To use any of the Bootswatch themes, simply download the theme's `bootstrap.min.css` file, add it to your project, and replace the default one as described above. + +You can also change the navbar variant, which by default is `navbar-inverse`, using the `bootstrap_navbar_variant` block. The empty `{% block bootstrap_navbar_variant %}{% endblock %}` will use the original Bootstrap navbar style. + +For more specific CSS tweaks, use the `extra_style` block instead. + + +### Blocks + +All of the blocks available in the browsable API base template that can be used in your `api.html`. + +* `blockbots` - `` tag that blocks crawlers +* `bodyclass` - (empty) class attribute for the `` +* `bootstrap_theme` - CSS for the Bootstrap theme +* `bootstrap_navbar_variant` - CSS class for the navbar +* `branding` - section of the navbar, see [Bootstrap components](http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/components.html#navbar) +* `breadcrumbs` - Links showing resource nesting, allowing the user to go back up the resources. It's recommended to preserve these, but they can be overridden using the breadcrumbs block. +* `extrastyle` - (empty) extra CSS for the page +* `extrahead` - (empty) extra markup for the page `` +* `footer` - Any copyright notices or similar footer materials can go here (by default right-aligned) +* `global_heading` - (empty) Use to insert content below the header but before the breadcrumbs. +* `title` - title of the page +* `userlinks` - This is a list of links on the right of the header, by default containing login/logout links. To add links instead of replace, use {{ block.super }} to preserve the authentication links. + +#### Components + +All of the [Bootstrap components](http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/components.html) are available. + +##### Tooltips + +The browsable API makes use of the Bootstrap tooltips component. Any element with the `js-tooltip` class and a `title` attribute has that title content displayed in a tooltip on hover after a 1000ms delay. + + +### Advanced Customization + +#### Context + +The context that's available to the template: + +* `allowed_methods` : A list of methods allowed by the resource +* `api_settings` : The API settings +* `available_formats` : A list of formats allowed by the resource +* `breadcrumblist` : The list of links following the chain of nested resources +* `content` : The content of the API response +* `description` : The description of the resource, generated from its docstring +* `name` : The name of the resource +* `post_form` : A form instance for use by the POST form (if allowed) +* `put_form` : A form instance for use by the PUT form (if allowed) +* `request` : The request object +* `response` : The response object +* `version` : The version of Django REST Framework +* `view` : The view handling the request +* `FORMAT_PARAM` : self._FORMAT_QUERY_PARAM +* `METHOD_PARAM` : getattr(self.view, '_METHOD_PARAM', None) + +#### Not using base.html + +For more advanced customization, such as not having a Bootstrap basis or tighter integration with the rest of your site, you can simply choose not to have `api.html` extend `base.html`. Then the page content and capabilities are entirely up to you. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/docs/tutorial/2-requests-and-responses.md b/docs/tutorial/2-requests-and-responses.md index 89f92c4b2..2c11d5efb 100644 --- a/docs/tutorial/2-requests-and-responses.md +++ b/docs/tutorial/2-requests-and-responses.md @@ -133,7 +133,12 @@ Now go and open the API in a web browser, by visiting [http://127.0.0.1:8000/][3 **Note: Right now the Browseable API only works with the CBV's. Need to fix that.** -**TODO: Describe browseable API awesomeness** +### Browsability + +Because the API chooses a return format based on what the client asks for, it will, by default, return an HTML-formatted representation of the resource when that resource is requested by a browser. This allows for the API to be easily browsable and usable by humans. + +See the [browsable api][4] topic for more information about the browsable API feature and how to customize it. + ## What's next? @@ -142,4 +147,5 @@ In [tutorial part 3][4], we'll start using class based views, and see how generi [json-url]: http://example.com/api/items/4.json [2]: 1-serialization.md [3]: http://127.0.0.1:8000/ -[4]: 3-class-based-views.md \ No newline at end of file +[4]: ../topics/browsable-api.md +[5]: 3-class-based-views.md \ No newline at end of file