How to call a RESTful web service from Android?

Question

I have written a REST web service in Netbean IDE using Jersey Framework and Java.

For every request the user needs to provide a username and a password, I know that this authentication is not a best practice (using a curl command like: curl -u username:password -X PUT http://localhsot:8080/user).

Now I want to call a REST web service from an Android Class.

How should I do it?

I have an Android Class which uses DefaultHttpClient and CredentialUsernameAndPassword, but when I run it in Eclipse, sometimes I get a runtime exception or SDK exception.

Answer 1

What back-end? If JAVA then you can use REST with Java (JAX-RS) using Jersey.

On the Android side you can use this simple RestClient to work with that REST service.

For JSON <--> Object mapping on both sides (Android, Java back-end) you can use GSON.

Answer 2

Follow the below steps to consume RestFul in android.

Step1

Create a android blank project.

Step2

Need internet access permission. write the below code in AndroidManifest.xml file.

 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET">
</uses-permission>

Step3

Need RestFul url which is running in another server or same machine.

Step4

Make a RestFul Client which will extends AsyncTask. See RestFulPost.java.

Step5

Make DTO class for RestFull Request and Response.

RestFulPost.java

package javaant.com.consuming_restful.restclient;
import android.app.ProgressDialog;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.util.Log;
import com.google.gson.Gson;
import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
import org.apache.http.entity.StringEntity;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
import org.apache.http.util.EntityUtils;
import java.util.Map;
import javaant.com.consuming_restful.util.Util;
/**
 * Created by Nirmal Dhara on 29-10-2015.
 */
public class RestFulPost extends AsyncTask<map, void,="" string=""> {
    RestFulResult restFulResult = null;
    ProgressDialog Asycdialog;
    String msg;
    String task;
    public RestFulPost(RestFulResult restFulResult, Context context, String msg,String task) {
        this.restFulResult = restFulResult;
        this.task=task;
        this.msg = msg;
        Asycdialog = new ProgressDialog(context);
    }
    @Override
    protected String doInBackground(Map... params) {
        String responseStr = null;
        Object dataMap = null;
        HttpPost httpost = new HttpPost(params[0].get("url").toString());

        try {
            dataMap = (Object) params[0].get("data");
            Gson gson = new Gson();
            Log.d("data  map", "data map------" + gson.toJson(dataMap));
            httpost.setEntity(new StringEntity(gson.toJson(dataMap)));
            httpost.setHeader("Accept", "application/json");
            httpost.setHeader("Content-type", "application/json");
            DefaultHttpClient httpclient= Util.getClient();
            HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httpost);
            int statusCode = response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();
            Log.d("resonse code", "----------------" + statusCode);

            if (statusCode == 200)
                responseStr = EntityUtils.toString(response.getEntity());
            if (statusCode == 404) {
                responseStr = "{\n" +
                        "\"status\":\"fail\",\n" +
                        " \"data\":{\n" +
                        "\"ValidUser\":\"Service not available\",\n" +
                        "\"code\":\"404\"\n" +
                        "}\n" +
                        "}";
            }

        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        return responseStr;
    }
    @Override
    protected void onPreExecute() {
        Asycdialog.setMessage(msg);
        //show dialog
        Asycdialog.show();
        super.onPreExecute();
    }
    @Override
    protected void onPostExecute(String s) {
        Asycdialog.dismiss();
        restFulResult.onResfulResponse(s,task);
    }
}

For more details and complete code please visit http://javaant.com/consume-a-restful-webservice-in-android/#.VwzbipN96Hs

Answer 3

Perhaps am late or maybe you've already used it before but there is another one called ksoap and its pretty amazing.. It also includes timeouts and can parse any SOAP based webservice efficiently. I also made a few changes to suit my parsing.. Look it up

Answer 4

Here is my Library That I have created for simple Webservice Calling,

You can use this by adding a one line gradle dependency -

compile 'com.scantity.ScHttpLibrary:ScHttpLibrary:1.0.0'

Here is the demonstration of using.

https://github.com/vishalchhodwani1992/httpLibrary

Answer 5

I used OkHttpClient to call restful web service. It's very simple.

OkHttpClient httpClient = new OkHttpClient();
Request request = new Request.Builder()
                .url(url)
                .build();

Response response = httpClient.newCall(request).execute();
String body = response.body().string()