I am currently working on an iphone app which needs the ability to consume a RESTful API to read (in it's simplest form) a directory of places and present them in a graphical format on the iphone.

The backend of this system must be able to manage (add/edit/delete etc) database records (places). There should be a lot of flexibility with the data as it will be quite custom - not all places will have the same meta data - and there could be quite complex categorisation of the places (country, place type, locale etc etc). This data should be accessible by the frontend app through a secure RESTful API as JSON/XML (There is no front facing website).

How suitable for a project like this would Drupal be for use as the backend? I imagine it won't have a problem with the actual information (I hear it manages data/taxonomy well) however, is it possible to use it solely as a data management tool with no HTML frontend? And are there any kind of API functions build in (or available as a module) which would allow us to control the JSON/XML output for specific SEF URL's for use with a RESTful API?

Thanks!

Comments

er.pushpinderrana’s picture

I would suggest you go with Services module, it gives you option of JSON/XML output response. In this you have some other options too that are very useful. But this module is little hard to understand initially, so I am sharing with you following link that will guide you how to use services module.

Basic Services Module Tutorial

Pushpinder Rana #pushpinderdrupal
Acquia Certified Drupal Expert

web_la’s picture

Looks like what I need. Will try it out.

Thanks for the info....