Yii simple rest controller exemple

gistfile1.php

<?php

class ContactController extends RestController
{
	/**
	 * Displays a particular model.
	 * @param integer $id the ID of the model to be displayed
	 */
	public function actionShow($id)
	{
		$model= Contact::model()->findByPk($id);
		$this->sendResponse(200,CJSON::encode($model));
	}

	/**
	 * Creates a new model.
	 * If creation is successful, the browser will be redirected to the 'view' page.
	 */
	public function actionCreate()
	{
		$data = CJSON::decode(file_get_contents('php://input'));

		$model = new Contact();
		if (isset($data['firstname']))
			$model->lastname = $data['lastname']; 
		if (isset($data['content']))
			$model->email = $data['email']; 
		
		if (!$model->save()) {
			$errors = array();
			foreach ($model->getErrors() as $e) $errors = array_merge($errors, $e);
			$this->sendResponse(500, implode("<br />", $errors));
		} 
		
		$this->sendResponse(200);
	}

	/**
	 * Updates a particular model.
	 * If update is successful, the browser will be redirected to the 'view' page.
	 * @param integer $id the ID of the model to be updated
	 */
	public function actionEdit($id)
	{
		$data = CJSON::decode(file_get_contents('php://input'));

		$model = Contact::model()->findByPk($id);
		
		$model->firstname   = $data['firstname'];
		$model->lastname = $data['lastname'];
		$model->email = $data['email'];

		if (!$model->save()) {
			$errors = array();
			foreach ($model->getErrors() as $e) $errors = array_merge($errors, $e);
			$this->sendResponse(500, implode("<br />", $errors));
		} 
		
		$this->sendResponse(200);
	}

	/**
	 * Deletes a particular model.
	 * If deletion is successful, the browser will be redirected to the 'admin' page.
	 * @param integer $id the ID of the model to be deleted
	 */
	public function actionDelete($id)
	{
		$model = Contact::model()->findByPk($id);

		if (!$model->delete() && count($model->getErrors())) {
			$errors = array();
			foreach ($model->getErrors() as $e) {
				$errors = array_merge($errors, $e);
			}
			$this->sendResponse(500, implode("<br />", $errors));
		} 
		
		$this->sendResponse(200);
	}

	/**
	 * Lists all models.
	 */
	public function actionList()
	{
		$models=Contact::model()->findAll();
		$this->sendResponse(200,CJSON::encode($models));
	}

}

main.php

<?php

// uncomment the following to define a path alias
// Yii::setPathOfAlias('local','path/to/local-folder');

// This is the main Web application configuration. Any writable
// CWebApplication properties can be configured here.
return array(
	'basePath'=>dirname(__FILE__).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'..',
	'name'=>'My Web Application',

	// preloading 'log' component
	'preload'=>array('log'),

	// autoloading model and component classes
	'import'=>array(
		'application.models.*',
		'application.components.*',
	),

	'modules'=>array(
		// uncomment the following to enable the Gii tool
		
		'gii'=>array(
			'class'=>'system.gii.GiiModule',
			'password'=>'aa',
		 	// If removed, Gii defaults to localhost only. Edit carefully to taste.
			'ipFilters'=>array('127.0.0.1','::1'),
		),
		
	),

	// application components
	'components'=>array(
		'user'=>array(
			// enable cookie-based authentication
			'allowAutoLogin'=>true,
		),
		// uncomment the following to enable URLs in path-format
		
		'urlManager'=>array(
			'urlFormat'=>'path',
			'rules'=>array(
				array('contact/show'	,	'pattern'=>'contact/<id\d+>'	,	'verb'=>'GET'),
				array('contact/list'	,	'pattern'=>'contact/'			,	'verb'=>'GET'),
				array('contact/create'	,	'pattern'=>'contact'				,	'verb'=>'POST'),
				array('contact/edit'	,	'pattern'=>'contact/<id\d+>'		,	'verb'=>'PUT'),
				array('contact/delete'	,	'pattern'=>'contact/<id\d+>'		,	'verb'=>'DELETE'),
				
				/*'<controller:\w+>/<id:\d+>'=>'<controller>/view',
				'<controller:\w+>/<action:\w+>/<id:\d+>'=>'<controller>/<action>',
				'<controller:\w+>/<action:\w+>'=>'<controller>/<action>',*/
			),
		),
		
		/*'db'=>array(
			'connectionString' => 'sqlite:'.dirname(__FILE__).'/../data/testdrive.db',
		),*/
		// uncomment the following to use a MySQL database
		
		'db'=>array(
			'connectionString' => 'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=testdrive',
			'emulatePrepare' => true,
			'username' => 'root',
			'password' => '',
			'charset' => 'utf8',
			'tablePrefix'=>'tbl_',
		),
		
		'errorHandler'=>array(
			// use 'site/error' action to display errors
            'errorAction'=>'site/error',
        ),
		'log'=>array(
			'class'=>'CLogRouter',
			'routes'=>array(
				array(
					'class'=>'CFileLogRoute',
					'levels'=>'error, warning',
				),
				// uncomment the following to show log messages on web pages
				
				/*array(
					'class'=>'CWebLogRoute',
				),*/
				
			),
		),
	),

	// application-level parameters that can be accessed
	// using Yii::app()->params['paramName']
	'params'=>array(
		// this is used in contact page
		'adminEmail'=>'webmaster@example.com',
	),
);

RestController.php

<?php
/**
 * Controller is the customized base controller class.
 * All controller classes for this application should extend from this base class.
 */
class RestController extends CController
{
	/**
	 * @var string the default layout for the controller view. Defaults to '//layouts/column1',
	 * meaning using a single column layout. See 'protected/views/layouts/column1.php'.
	 */
	public $layout='//layouts/main';
	/**
	 * @var array context menu items. This property will be assigned to {@link CMenu::items}.
	 */
	public $menu=array();
	/**
	 * @var array the breadcrumbs of the current page. The value of this property will
	 * be assigned to {@link CBreadcrumbs::links}. Please refer to {@link CBreadcrumbs::links}
	 * for more details on how to specify this property.
	 */
	public $breadcrumbs=array();
	
	
	/**
	 * Send raw HTTP response
	 * @param int $status HTTP status code
	 * @param string $body The body of the HTTP response
	 * @param string $contentType Header content-type
	 * @return HTTP response 
	 */
	protected function sendResponse($status = 200, $body = '', $contentType = 'application/json')
	{
		// Set the status
		$statusHeader = 'HTTP/1.1 ' . $status . ' ' . $this->getStatusCodeMessage($status);
		header($statusHeader);
		// Set the content type
		header('Content-type: ' . $contentType);
	 
		echo $body;
		Yii::app()->end();
	}
	
	/**
	 * Return the http status message based on integer status code
	 * @param int $status HTTP status code
	 * @return string status message
	 */
	protected function getStatusCodeMessage($status)
	{
	    $codes = array(
			100 => 'Continue',
			101 => 'Switching Protocols',
			200 => 'OK',
			201 => 'Created',
			202 => 'Accepted',
			203 => 'Non-Authoritative Information',
			204 => 'No Content',
			205 => 'Reset Content',
			206 => 'Partial Content',
			300 => 'Multiple Choices',
			301 => 'Moved Permanently',
			302 => 'Found',
			303 => 'See Other',
			304 => 'Not Modified',
			305 => 'Use Proxy',
			306 => '(Unused)',
			307 => 'Temporary Redirect',
			400 => 'Bad Request',
			401 => 'Unauthorized',
			402 => 'Payment Required',
			403 => 'Forbidden',
			404 => 'Not Found',
			405 => 'Method Not Allowed',
			406 => 'Not Acceptable',
			407 => 'Proxy Authentication Required',
			408 => 'Request Timeout',
			409 => 'Conflict',
			410 => 'Gone',
			411 => 'Length Required',
			412 => 'Precondition Failed',
			413 => 'Request Entity Too Large',
			414 => 'Request-URI Too Long',
			415 => 'Unsupported Media Type',
			416 => 'Requested Range Not Satisfiable',
			417 => 'Expectation Failed',
			500 => 'Internal Server Error',
			501 => 'Not Implemented',
			502 => 'Bad Gateway',
			503 => 'Service Unavailable',
			504 => 'Gateway Timeout',
			505 => 'HTTP Version Not Supported',

	    );
	    return (isset($codes[$status])) ? $codes[$status] : '';
	}
}

Thank you very, very much for this. Found a typo: in your config file you have a urlManager rule for 'contact/view' but there's no "view" action in the controller. That rule should read 'contact/show' instead, since the controller action is actually named 'show'

@dougfelton Thank you

Thanks for the example on returning correct status information. I couldn't find it in the Yii framework documentation. In my opinion, returning the correct status by setting headers is a process in which the framework should play a role.

Nice thx