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apichallenges >solutions > get-todos-200-xml

How to complete the challenge GET /todos XML (200)

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When we issue a GET request we can use the Accept header to request a specific format of result from the API. In this case we will ask for XML to successfully GET all the todos in XML format.

GET /todos XML (200)

Issue a GET request on the /todos end point with an Accept header of application/xml to receive results in XML format

  • GET request will receive a response with all the todo items
    • e.g. GET /todos to get all the todo items
  • 200 is a success code, in this case it means the end point exists and the todo items were returned
  • Accept means that an Accept header was added to specify that the todos should be returned in XML format
  • add the X-CHALLENGER header to track progress

Basic Instructions

  • Issue a GET request to end point "/todos"
    • if running locally that endpoint would be
      • https://apichallenges.com/todos
  • The request should have an Accept header specifying XML format by using a value of application/xml
  • The request should have an X-CHALLENGER header to track challenge completion
  • The response status code should be 200 when all the details are valid.
  • Check the body of the message has XML format data
  • Check the content-type header in the response has application/xml

Try it now

GET /todos with Accept: application/xml to request XML

Example Request

> GET /todos HTTP/1.1
> Host: apichallenges.com
> User-Agent: rest-client
> X-CHALLENGER: x-challenger-guid
> Accept: application/xml

Example Response

< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< Connection: close
< Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2021 16:49:31 GMT
< Content-Type: application/xml
< Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
< Access-Control-Allow-Headers: *
< X-Challenger: x-challenger-guid
< Server: Jetty(9.4.z-SNAPSHOT)
< Via: 1.1 vegur

Example Response body:

<todos>
  <todo>
    <doneStatus>false</doneStatus>
    <description/>
    <id>273</id>
    <title>scan paperwork</title>
  </todo>
  <todo>
    <doneStatus>false</doneStatus>
    <description/>
    <id>277</id>
    <title>pay invoices</title>
  </todo>
</todos>

Overview Video

Watch on YouTube: "Solution to Get all Todos in XML format"

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Lessons Learned

  • Accept: application/xml asks for an XML representation of the same /todos collection.
  • The resource stays the same even though element names, nesting, and parsing rules change from JSON to XML.
  • A successful XML response should be checked with an XML parser, not just by spotting angle brackets.

Suggested Experiments

  • Compare Accept: application/xml with Accept: application/json and confirm the todo count is the same in both representations.
  • Remove the Accept header after the XML request and note whether the server falls back to application/json.
  • Try Accept: text/xml and check whether the API treats the older generic XML media type as acceptable.
  • Try Accept: application/*+xml to see whether structured +xml suffix negotiation is supported.
  • Try a vendor-style header such as Accept: application/vnd.apichallenges.todo+xml and record whether it is treated as todo XML or rejected.
  • Try Accept: application/problem+xml and confirm that an error-document media type is not treated as a normal todo-list representation.
Experiment with this endpoint

 

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