Automatically Enabling REST Access to a Schema, Table, or View (AutoREST)

If Oracle REST Data Services has been installed on the system associated with a database connection, and if the connection is open in SQL Developer, you can use the AutoREST feature to conveniently enable or disable Oracle REST Data Services access for specified tables and views in the schema associated with that database connection. Enabling REST access to a table or view allows it to be accessed through RESTful services.

AutoREST is a quick and easy way to expose database tables as REST resources. You sacrifice some flexibility and customizability to gain ease of effort. AutoRest lets you quickly expose data but (metaphorically) keeps you on a set of guide rails. For example, you cannot customize the output formats or the input formats, or do extra validation.

On the other hand, manually created resource modules require you to specify the SQL and PL/SQL to support the REST resources. Using resource modules requires more effort, but offers more flexibility; for example, you can customize what fields are included, do joins across multiple tables, and validate the incoming data using PL/SQL.

So, as an application developer you must make a choice: use the "guide rails" of AutoREST, or create a resource module to do exactly what you need. If you choose AutoREST, you can just enable a table (or set of tables) within a schema.

Note that enabling a schema is not equivalent to enabling all tables and views in the schema. It just means making Oracle REST Data Services aware that the schema exists and that it may have zero or more resources to expose to HTTP. Those resources may be AutioREST resources or resource module resources.

To enable Oracle REST Data Services access to one or more specified tables or views, you must do the following:

1. Enable the schema (the one associated with the connection) for REST access.

   Schema level: To enable Oracle REST Data Services access to selected objects (that you specify in the next step) in the schema associated with a connection, right-click its name in the Connections navigator and select REST Services, then Enable REST Services.

   (To drop support for Oracle REST Data Services access to objects in the schema associated with a connection, right-click its name in the Connections navigator and select REST Services, then Drop REST Services.)

2. Individually enable REST access for the desired objects.

   Table or view level: To enable Oracle REST Data Services access to a specified table or view, right-click its name in the Connections navigator and select Enable REST Services.

Follow the instructions in the RESTful Services Wizard (Auto-Enable REST Access).