Is there a hook to process a backbone restful PUT request inside wordpress?

Question

I play around with Backbone.js (Great !) and want to synchronize my model data with the wordpress ajax api (3.6.1) on the server-side. Adapted to this http://addyosmani.github.io/backbone-fundamentals/#restful-persistence, here is my backbone example:

var new_posts;
var post;
(function($){
    var Post = Backbone.Model.extend({
        id: '',
        title: '',
    });
    var Posts = Backbone.Collection.extend({
        model: Post,
        url: APP.ajaxurl + '?action=postaction'  //APP.ajaxurl == http://localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
    });
    new_posts = new Posts();
    new_posts.add([{'id':0, 'title':'Hermann Hesse'}, {'id':1, 'title':'Wolfgang v. Goethe'}, {'id':2, 'title':'Friedrich Schiller'}]);
    post = new_posts.get(2);
    post.set('title','Honore de Balzac');

    post.save();

}(jQuery));

I pick the second element (model) from a collection, change the 'title' - attribute and want to save it on the server side.

Backbone now creates with a 'PUT' a RESTFUL Request and append the index of the model inside the collection ('2') to the url:

http://localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=postaction/2

...but i have NO IDEA how to handle the changed GET-Parameter 'action' (now: postaction/2), it seems that the standard wordpress approach with an action hook 'wp_ajax_' isn't the right one to handle this

add_action( 'wp_ajax_postaction', '<a function for handling>' );

Of course i cannot code an action hook for every possible parameter, which can be changed! Is there another wordpress approach to handle such PUT/Restful Request via Ajax ?

For any idea to this i thank in advance ! Thank you.

Answer 1

The dynamic wp_ajax_ hooks serve mostly organizational convenience on PHP side.

You could choose not to use it, then you would probably have to:

• hook into admin_init
• check that DOING_AJAX is true
• check that request ($_REQUEST['action'] and rest of it) is your special kind of request

Then either process your request and die() or let anything else through to normal handling.