Corkboard Server is a simple Sinatra app using Datamapper and SQLite that allows the saving, updating and retrieval of simple 'notes'. It's intended as an example for learning how to use Sinatra as a fast-to-make web app approach for iOS developers. Corkboard Server goes with Corkboard client to make a small, functional mobile application.
- Illustrates creation of an API with Sinatra
- Shows how to create a data model using Datamapper and SQLite
- Shows how to write tests for the web application
You'll need Ruby 2.2.2 to run, and Bundler to install the necessary gems.
$ git clone https://github.com/oisin/corkboard_server_example.git
$ bundle
$ rackup
>> Thin web server (v1.5.0 codename Knife)
>> Maximum connections set to 1024
>> Listening on 0.0.0.0:9292, CTRL+C to stop
Your simple corkboard server is now running on port 9292 on your local machine.
Once you have the code installed, running the tests is a simple as
$ bundle
$ bundle exec ruby tests/corkboard_test.rb
Running the tests will produce a test coverage file coverage/index.html which shows
all the pieces of code that were hit during the test run.
This example code has a simple API for creating, updating and deleting 'notes'.
Add a note to the database:
$ curl -X PUT -d '{"subject": "bacon", "content": "chunky"}' http://localhost:9292/note
if you get a 400 back, it means that you missed out on sending the right JSON. If you get a 201, then look for a single string in the response body - it will be the id of the note that was just created. You can use the id in the GET to retrieve what you just created.
Retrieve a note from the database:
$ curl -X GET http://localhost:9292/note/1
returns JSON representation of note with id '1':
{
"subject" : "Wibble wibble",
"content" : "Must dismantle wardrobe in spare room",
"date" : "2013-02-24T13:36:12+00:00"
}
The marshalling code for the Note is embedded in the Note model class, it's cunningly stored in a to_json method. If the note isn't in the database, you'll get a 404. A 200 means go unmarshal the JSON returned.
Updating a note in the database:
$ curl -X POST -d "subject=wibble&content=chunky" http://localhost:9292/note/1
will update the content of note 1. If you get a 404, there isn't a note 1. If you get a 400, then you haven't given any arguments in the body of the request, i.e. changes to be made to the note. It should be along the lines of
{
"subject" : "Wibble wibble",
"content" : "Must dismantle wardrobe in spare room",
}
or even
{
"subject" : "Wibble wibble",
}
or
{
"content" : "Must dismantle wardrobe in spare room",
}
i.e., you can change the subject or the content. Any other stuff in the request will be ignored if it is not understood.
If you get a 500, then the database hasn't managed to save the update. Doh. You are looking for a 200 here to say everything is fine.
Deleting a note from the database:
curl -X DELETE http://localhost:9292/note/1
Will remove note 1 from the database. If you are running this little example thru a webserver, and there is no reason why you should, so don't, then you might have an issue because many webservers aren't configured by default to DELETEs and even PUTs. You can workaround this by using a POST with an _method parameter on Rails and some other platforms, but for this trivial example, don't bother. Just run it natively as instructed.
If you get a 204 back, the note is gone. If you get a 404 back, then that note has been gone already. If you get a 500, then the database destroy operation failed, ho hum.
- Maintained by Oisín Hurley
- Updated for Portland Code School by Chuck Lauer Vose
Copyright (c) 2010-2015 Oisin Hurley
See LICENSE.txt in this directory.
