How to map both json and form submit requests to the same controller? - spring

Question

If I send data like this :
$.ajax({
url: $fooForm.action,
data: $fooForm.serialize(),
type: 'POST',
success: function(data) { console.log(data); }
});
This can be received by a controller that has the following signature :
public ResponseEntity<Map<String, Object>> checkEligibility( Person person )
At another instance, I am sending the request like this :
$.ajax({
url: $fooForm.action,
data: $fooForm.serialize(),
dataType: 'json',
type: 'POST',
success: function(data) { console.log(data); }
});
This can be received by a controller with the following signature :
public ResponseEntity<Map<String, Object>> checkEligibility(#RequestBody Person person )
I want to write a single method that can accept both the json POST as well as the simple POST, and give me the same Person object

Answer 1

If the x-www-form-urlencoded POST is part of a browser-based HTML forms application, DO NOT DO THIS
You should be using the POST-Redirect-GET pattern with HTML forms. Otherwise, when a user hits refresh in their browser they get that annoying popup.
And this is fundamentally at odds with patterns of a REST API

Answer 2

You can use polymorphism to make this feature work.
So, you need to create a BaseController.
#Controller
public class BaseController
public ResponseEntity<Map<String, Object>> checkEligibility(final Person person) {
Map<String, Object> body = new HashMap<String, Object>();
body.put("person", person);
ResponseEntity<Map<String, Object>> entity = new ResponseEntity<Map<String,Object>>(body, HttpStatus.OK);
// write some logic here ...
return entity;
}
Next, you need to create RestController
#Controller
#RequestMapping(value = "/eligibility")
public class RestController extends BaseController {
#Override
#ResponseBody
#RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.POST, headers = { "content-type=application/json" })
public ResponseEntity<Map<String, Object>> checkEligibility(final #RequestBody Person person) {
return super.checkEligibility(person);
}
}
After that, create Standart controller
#Controller
#RequestMapping(value = "/eligibility")
public class StandartController extends BaseController {
#Override
#ResponseBody
#RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.POST)
public ResponseEntity<Map<String, Object>> checkEligibility(final #ModelAttribute Person person) {
return super.checkEligibility(person);
}
}
Now this should work.