Robust JSON

posts.md

Accept json posts in the following formats:

POST /posts

jsonapi.org plural rooted document:

{"things":[{"name": "My Name", "location": "here"}]}

rails rooted document:

{"thing":{"name":"My Name", "location": "here"}}

top level document:

{"name": "My Name", "location": "here"}

---

"Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you accept" - Robustness Principle

things_controller.rb

class ThingsController 

  def update
    # ... 
    @thing.update_attributes(thing_params)
    # ...
  end
  
  # Use strong params to mangle the incoming json and handle all the different formats
  def thing_params
    # Adjust the hash for the rooted array:
    if params[:thing].empty?
      params[:thing] = params[:things].first
    end

    params.require(:thing).permit :name, :location
  end
end