7 Representation builder

7.1 What is a representation

Kauri has a flexible system for producing resource representations. For developers familiar with other frameworks, this is similar to what is often called the "view", the V in the MVC pattern.

Here is a nice description of what a representation is:

"REST components perform actions on a resource by using a representation to capture the current or intended state of that resource and transferring that representation between components. A representation is a sequence of bytes, plus representation metadata to describe those bytes. Other commonly used but less precise names for a representation include: document, file, and HTTP message entity, instance, or variant." (Fielding)

So for example, a representation is both the HTML page transferred to your browser when doing a GET request, as well as the body of a form posted towards the server.

The representation builder system described here focuses on the production of representations served towards the client, and not handling of representations submitted towards the server.