java - Store @PathParam values from REST call in a list or array

Question

My function looks like this:

    @PUT
    @Path("property/{uuid}/{key}/{value}")
    @Produces("application/xml")    
    public Map<String,ValueEntity> updateProperty(@Context HttpServletRequest request,
            @PathParam("key") String key,
            @PathParam("value") String value,
            @PathParam("uuid") String uuid) throws Exception {
                                       ...
                             }

I have to modify it, so it accepts indefinite(or many) list of key-value pairs from REST call, something like

@Path("property/{uuid}/{key1}/{value1}/{key2}/{value2}/{key3}/{value3}/...")

Is it possible to store them in an array or list, so I do not list dozens of @PathParams and parameters, to avoid this:

@PathParam("key1") String key1,
@PathParam("key2") String key2,
@PathParam("key3") String key3,

Answer 1

Might be a good opportunity to rethink this design. By using /s, we are in a way signifying, with each / that we are trying to locate a different resource. Key/Value pairs (in the context of the URL) are mainly for query parameters or matrix parameters.

If /property/{uuid} is the path to a main resource, and we just want to offer some parameters to the client for accessing this resource, then we could allow matrix parameters or query parameters

Matrix Parameters (in a request url) will look something like

/12345;key1=value1;key2=value2;key3=value3

A resource method to obtain the values might look something like

@GET
@Path("/property/{uuid}")
public Response getMatrix(@PathParam("uuid") PathSegment pathSegment) {
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();

    // Get the {uuid} value
    System.out.println("Path: " + pathSegment.getPath());

    MultivaluedMap matrix = pathSegment.getMatrixParameters();
    for (Object key : matrix.keySet()) {
        builder.append(key).append(":")
               .append(matrix.getFirst(key)).append("
");
    }
    return Response.ok(builder.toString()).build();
}

• See PathSegment

Query Parameters (in a request url) might look something like

/12345?key1=value1&key2=value2&key3=value3

A resource method to obtain the values might look something like

@GET
@Path("/property/{uuid}")
public Response getQuery(@PathParam("uuid") String uuid, 
                         @Context UriInfo uriInfo) {

    MultivaluedMap params = uriInfo.getQueryParameters();
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
    for (Object key : params.keySet()) {
        builder.append(key).append(":")
               .append(params.getFirst(key)).append("
");
    }
    return Response.ok(builder.toString()).build();
}

• See UriInfo

The difference is that Matrix parameters can be embedded into path segments, while query parameters must be placed at the end of the URL. You can also notice a little difference in syntax.

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Some Resources

• Query String (Wikipedia)
• When to use query parameters versus matrix parameters?
• URL matrix parameters vs. request parameters

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UPDATE

Also looking at the PUT in you method signature, it appears you are trying update a resource using the path as the values for which you are trying to update, as I don't see any parameters in your method for an entity body. When PUTting, you should be sending the representation in the the entity body, not as as path segments or parameters.