Content Negotiation Module

The content negotiation module helps using content types which are not directly supported by the Play! framework. For this it provides a list of default types which are automatically mapped to the correct template. You can also define your own mappings using a simple properties file.

Enable the content negotiation module

In the /conf/application.conf file, enable the content negotiation module by adding this line:

# The content negotiation module
module.cnm=${play.path}/modules/cnm

Using built-in content types

The content negotiation module comes with several content types enabled by default . To make use of them you only have to enable the module (see above).

Define a your own content type

When you want to use your own content type you have to create a single properties file which holds the mapping between the content type and the template format you wish to use for that content type. Then you have to specify that file in your /conf/application.conf file using the content.types key.

Example

For example if you want to map the content type application/vnd.com.example.play+xml to the .play format you add the following line

application/vnd.com.example.play+xml=play

to an empty file. Save the file inside the /conf/ directory and name it types. Then reference it in your /conf/application.conf file as shown below:

# Allowed content types
content.types=conf/types

Default file name

If you have called your properties file, holding the mapping between content types and their template format, types like in the example above you can actually skip referencing it in your /conf/application.conf file since the module internal default mapping file is called types too and the virtual filesystem provided by Play! will automatically search your /conf folder first and then follow up with the module folder after that.

Request a specific content type

Besides defining your own content type and the corresponding template format, you may want at some point to actually use it. To do so change the Accept header of your HTTP request to be exactly like the content type you want. Defining more then one content type in the accept header is not yet supported as I’ve not yet found an elegant way to determine if a template format is available or not. So this

Accept: application/vnd.com.example.play+xml

will work but this will not:

Accept: application/vnd.com.example.play+xml;q=1.0, application/vnd.com.example.play+json;q=0.9

Issue tracking

If you wish to report a bug or wish for a new feature, please use the issue tracker