Hi,

sorry but I don't understand the benefit of this pull request.
Basically everything acts_as_api does is it constructs a hash for you, that you can render as xml or json.
If you already have a hash, there is no need for acts_as_api.

If you set default responder in controller to ActsAsApi::Responder you cannot use respond_with with hash like in ActionController::Responder. With this feature I can send non-resourceful data as simple hash.

Of course without this patch I can basically execute in other way

respond_with [:simple => :hash]

Usecase

def where_i_should_redirect
  respond_with :redirect_to => some_dynamic_url
end

Hey,
I really appreciate your interest in acts_as_api, but I won't merge this into master.

I think providing a method as_api_response(api_template) for a class that only returns self and doesn't consider the passed param at all is misleading and not a good idea.

As I said before, there is no need to use acts_as_apiif you already have a hash ready.

Btw: Maybe you're interested in this wiki article, it explains how to use acts_as_api with any class: https://github.com/fabrik42/acts_as_api/wiki/Declaring-api-templates-for-any-class%21-%28no-orms%29