Overview

REST, short for Representational State Transfer, is a kind of software architectural style.

As a Resource-Oriented Architecture (ROA), REST emphasizes observing the entire network from the perspective of resources. These resources could be specific data or services for achieving certain functions. The resources are uniquely identified by URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers), through which the application on the client can get the representation of resources and the state of application on the client changes.

REST usually employs the popular protocols and standards like HTTP, URI, XML and HTML.

SuperMap iServer provides REST-based application programming interfaces--SuperMap iServer REST APIs, which have encapsulated most of the GIS functions. SuperMap iServer provides the clients with these functions through SuperMap iServer REST APIs, and the clients can get the corresponding GIS capabilities.

Please refer to REST API to know more about SuperMap iServer REST Services. The RESTful services and resource list are introduced. Also, the parameters need to be transferred, the response structure of the resource are also introduced.

Below is the three steps for using SuperMap iServer Rest API:

1. Look up SuperMap iServer REST API Help to determine the REST resource needed, the parameters to be transferred, and the response structure.

2. Access the resource by constructing the HTTP request.

3. Parse the response and extract the information needed according to the response structure of the resource.