Force.com JavaScript REST Toolkit
=================================
This minimal toolkit allows JavaScript in web pages to call the Force.com REST API in a number of different ways.
Background
----------
Due to the [same origin policy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same_origin_policy), JavaScript running in Visualforce pages may not use [XmlHttpRequest](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHttpRequest) to directly invoke the REST API, since Visualforce pages have hostnames of the form abc.na1.visual.force.com, and the REST API endpoints are of the form na1.salesforce.com.
The RemoteTK Visualforce Custom Component (comprising RemoteTK.component and RemoteTKController.cls) provides an abstraction very similar to the REST API, implemented via `@RemoteAction` methods in the component's controller. The advantage of this mechanism is that no API calls are consumed.
Alternatively, the ForceTK JavaScript library works around the same origin restriction by using the [AJAX Proxy](http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/ajax/Content/sforce_api_ajax_queryresultiterator.htm#ajax_proxy) to give full access to the REST API. Since the AJAX proxy is present on all
Visualforce hosts with an endpoint of the form https://abc.na1.visual.force.com/services/proxy, our Visualforce-hosted JavaScript can invoke it, passing the desired resource URL in an HTTP header. A drawback here is that using the REST API, even from a Visualforce page, consumes API calls.
To host JavaScript *outside* the Force.com platform, we can deploy a simple PHP proxy to perform the same function as the AJAX proxy.
[PhoneGap](http://www.phonegap.com/) provides a way for HTML5/JavaScript apps to run as native applications; in this configuration a proxy is not required - the toolkit simply provides a convenient abstraction of the REST API.
Dependencies
------------
The toolkit uses [jQuery](http://jquery.com/). It has been tested on jQuery 1.4.4 and 1.5.2, but other versions may also work.
Configuration
-------------
RemoteTK requires no configuration.
ForceTK requires that you add the correct REST endpoint hostname for your instance (i.e. https://na1.salesforce.com/ or similar) as a remote site in *Your Name > Administration Setup > Security Controls > Remote Site Settings*.
Using RemoteTK in a Visualforce page
------------------------------------
Add RemoteTKController.cls and RemoteTK.component to your org by creating an Apex Class and a Component and pasting in the respective content, pasting the files into a [Force.com IDE](http://wiki.developerforce.com/page/Force.com_IDE) project, or by using the [Force.com Migration Tool](http://wiki.developerforce.com/page/Migration_Tool_Guide).
Your Visualforce page will need to include the component and create a client object. An absolutely minimal sample is:
The first account I see is . The first account I see is .
Click here.
More fully featured samples are provided in [example.html](Force.com-JavaScript-REST-Toolkit/blob/master/example.html) and [mobile.html](Force.com-JavaScript-REST-Toolkit/blob/master/mobile.html). Using the Toolkit in a PhoneGap app ----------------------------------- Your HTML page will need to include jQuery, the toolkit, PhoneGap and the ChildBrowser plugin, then create a client object, passing a session ID to the constructor. You can use __https://login.salesforce.com/services/oauth2/success__ as the redirect URI and catch the page load in ChildBrowser. An absolutely minimal sample using OAuth to obtain a session ID is:Click here.
A fully featured sample (including persistence of the OAuth refresh token to the iOS Keychain) is provided in [phonegap.html](Force.com-JavaScript-REST-Toolkit/blob/master/phonegap.html).