Representational State Transfer (REST) is an architectural style for interaction over the Internet, built on top of the HTTP protocol. OneData REST web services provide an easier means for third party applications to access data hosted in OneData.

Traditional web services use SOAP as the standard for serving XML data in an SOA environment, which is often regarded to be highly complex and rigid. REST, while using the same underlying HTTP protocol, offers a simpler request response model with easier integration options. OneData supports two HTTP methods—GET and POST—in REST services, whereas, JSON supports only one HTTP method— POST.

The RESTful web service in OneData supports all CRUD (create, read, update and delete) actions for data objects and conceptual objects. Through the REST web service URL, you can perform all operations (insert, update, delete, restore, and purge) on an object. The REST web service is linked through the acquisition layer for all operations other than data retrieval. For this reason, existing functionalities of the acquisition layer, such as Decode, Exception Queue support, and enhanced performance are part of RESTful web services, as well.

OneData supports data retrieval for remote objects through the RESTful web service.

You can use Apache HttpClient to consume the service. You can also use web browsers to access the server directly. If you want to define a filter condition in the request, it must be URL encoded to enable the use of special characters in data values or object attributes.