REST and the Kimono

I love the new TRESTClient components in XE5. Especially the ability to visual bind a REST datasource with the use of the TRESTResponseDataSetAdapter. Now I find I’m always on the look out for new REST datasources. The REST Debugger makes the whole process really easy too.

The other day I hit the mother-load of REST datasources with Kimono Labs. It is a creative web service that makes it easy to scrape a web site and turn it into a REST data source. It looks for repeating data on the page. Their free service is enough to get you started. I created a simple REST datasource of San Francisco 49ers games from their schedule on their web site.

A few tips for working with the Kimonolabs REST API.

• Make sure the web data doesn't include hyperlinks - if it does, then the REST data will include objects containing the href and the text, which doesn't map to a grid well.
• Use results.collection1 as your root element in the TRESTResponseDataSetAdapter and you are off to the races.
• It doesn't work with every web page because of malformed pages, but it works with a lot of them.
• There is no way to edit your API once you've finished it (yet), so you end up deleting and recreating it a few times.

They have a lot of videos and tutorials on their site walking you through how to use their service. Take a look and I’m looking forward to your REST enabled apps!