Design return values for RESTful API

Question

There is a lot of documentation for RESTful services. I need more Information about the returning representations.

What is the best way for design the return value for R

Answer 1

Using query parameters to request a subset of fields

You can return the same representation in both cases and support filtering the fields to be returned with a query parameter:

GET /api/cars?fields=color,year HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
Accept: application/json

Using custom media types to return a predefined set of fields

Another approach is to define a custom media type for a partial representation of your resource.

For example, you could use one of the following (or both) media types to retrieve a full representation of a collection of resources:

GET /api/cars HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
Accept: application/json

GET /api/cars HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
Accept: application/vnd.company.full+json

And the following to return a partial representation for your resource (the fields you will include in the partial representation are up to you):

GET /api/cars HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
Accept: application/vnd.company.partial+json