some docs for Request/Response/mixins

djangorestframework/mixins.py

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ __all__ = (
 
 class RequestMixin(object):
     """
-    `Mixin` class to enhance API of Django's standard `request`.
+    `Mixin` class enabling the use of :class:`request.Request` in your views.
     """
 
     parser_classes = ()
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ class RequestMixin(object):
 
     def prepare_request(self, request):
         """
-        Prepares the request for the request cycle. Returns a custom request instance,
-        with data and attributes copied from the original request.
+        Prepares the request cycle. Returns an instance of :class:`request.Request`,
+        wrapping the original request object.
         """
         parsers = self.get_parsers()
         request = self.request_class(request, parsers=parsers)
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class RequestMixin(object):
     @property
     def _parsed_media_types(self):
         """
-        Return a list of all the media types that this view can parse.
+        Returns a list of all the media types that this view can parse.
         """
         return [p.media_type for p in self.parser_classes]
         
@@ -83,11 +83,7 @@ class RequestMixin(object):
 
 class ResponseMixin(object):
     """
-    Adds behavior for pluggable `renderers` to a :class:`views.View` class.
-
-    Default behavior is to use standard HTTP Accept header content negotiation.
-    Also supports overriding the content type by specifying an ``_accept=`` parameter in the URL.
-    Ignores Accept headers from Internet Explorer user agents and uses a sensible browser Accept header instead.
+    `Mixin` class enabling the use of :class:`response.Response` in your views.
     """
 
     renderer_classes = ()
@@ -108,7 +104,7 @@ class ResponseMixin(object):
 
     def prepare_response(self, response):
         """
-        Prepares the response for the response cycle, and returns the prepared response. 
+        Prepares and returns `response`. 
         This has no effect if the response is not an instance of :class:`response.Response`.
         """
         if hasattr(response, 'request') and response.request is None:

djangorestframework/request.py

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 """
-The :mod:`request` module provides a :class:`Request` class that can be used 
-to wrap the standard `request` object received in all the views, and upgrade its API.
+The :mod:`request` module provides a :class:`Request` class used to wrap the standard `request`
+object received in all the views.
 
-The wrapped request then offer the following :
+The wrapped request then offers a richer API, in particular :
 
     - content automatically parsed according to `Content-Type` header, and available as :meth:`.DATA<Request.DATA>`
     - full support of PUT method, including support for file uploads
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@ __all__ = ('Request',)
 
 class Request(object):
     """
-    A wrapper allowing to enhance Django's standard HttpRequest.
+    Wrapper allowing to enhance a standard `HttpRequest` instance.
+
+    Kwargs:
+        - request(HttpRequest). The original request instance.
+        - parsers(list/tuple). The parsers to use for parsing the request content.
     """
 
     _USE_FORM_OVERLOADING = True
@@ -33,10 +37,6 @@ class Request(object):
     _CONTENT_PARAM = '_content'
 
     def __init__(self, request=None, parsers=None):
-        """
-        `parsers` is a list/tuple of parser instances and represents the set of psrsers
-        that the response can handle.
-        """
         self.request = request
         if parsers is not None:
             self.parsers = parsers
@@ -185,9 +185,6 @@ class Request(object):
         return self.parsers[0]
 
     def _get_parsers(self):
-        """
-        This just provides a default when parsers havent' been set.
-        """
         if hasattr(self, '_parsers'):
             return self._parsers
         return ()

djangorestframework/response.py

@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 The :mod:`response` module provides :class:`Response` and :class:`ImmediateResponse` classes.
 
 `Response` is a subclass of `HttpResponse`, and can be similarly instantiated and returned
-from any view. It is a bit smarter than Django's `HttpResponse` though, for it knows how
-to use :mod:`renderers` to automatically render its content to a serial format.
-This is achieved by :
+from any view. It is a bit smarter than Django's `HttpResponse`, for it renders automatically
+its content to a serial format by using a list of :mod:`renderers`.
 
-    - determining the accepted types by checking for an overload or an `Accept` header in the request
-    - looking for a suitable renderer and using it on the content given at instantiation
+To determine the content type to which it must render, default behaviour is to use standard
+HTTP Accept header content negotiation. But `Response` also supports overriding the content type 
+by specifying an ``_accept=`` parameter in the URL. Also, `Response` will ignore `Accept` headers
+from Internet Explorer user agents and use a sensible browser `Accept` header instead.
 
 
 `ImmediateResponse` is an exception that inherits from `Response`. It can be used
@@ -29,19 +30,17 @@ __all__ = ('Response', 'ImmediateResponse')
 class Response(SimpleTemplateResponse):
     """
     An HttpResponse that may include content that hasn't yet been serialized.
+
+    Kwargs: 
+        - content(object). The raw content, not yet serialized. This must be simple Python \
+        data that renderers can handle (e.g.: `dict`, `str`, ...)
+        - renderers(list/tuple). The renderers to use for rendering the response content.
     """
 
     _ACCEPT_QUERY_PARAM = '_accept'        # Allow override of Accept header in URL query params
     _IGNORE_IE_ACCEPT_HEADER = True
 
     def __init__(self, content=None, status=None, request=None, renderers=None):
-        """
-        `content` is the raw content, not yet serialized. This must be simple Python
-        data that renderers can handle (cf: dict, str, ...)
-
-        `renderers` is a list/tuple of renderer instances and represents the set of renderers
-        that the response can handle.
-        """
         # First argument taken by `SimpleTemplateResponse.__init__` is template_name,
         # which we don't need
         super(Response, self).__init__(None, status=status)
@@ -132,9 +131,6 @@ class Response(SimpleTemplateResponse):
                         renderers=self.renderers)
 
     def _get_renderers(self):
-        """
-        This just provides a default when renderers havent' been set.
-        """
         if hasattr(self, '_renderers'):
             return self._renderers
         return ()

docs/howto/requestmixin.rst

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Using the enhanced request in all your views
 ==============================================
 
-This example shows how you can use Django REST framework's enhanced `request` in your own views, without having to use the full-blown :class:`views.View` class. 
+This example shows how you can use Django REST framework's enhanced `request` - :class:`request.Request` - in your own views, without having to use the full-blown :class:`views.View` class.
 
 What can it do for you ? Mostly, it will take care of parsing the request's content, and handling equally all HTTP methods ... 
 
@@ -64,13 +64,12 @@ Now that you're convinced you need to use the enhanced request object, here is h
         Base view enabling the usage of enhanced requests with user defined views.
         """
 
-        parsers = parsers.DEFAULT_PARSERS
+        parser_classes = parsers.DEFAULT_PARSERS
 
         def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
-            self.request = request
-            request = self.get_request()
+            request = self.prepare_request(request)
             return super(MyBaseViewUsingEnhancedRequest, self).dispatch(request, *args, **kwargs)
 
 And then, use this class as a base for all your custom views.
 
-.. note:: you can also check the request example. 
+.. note:: you can see this live in the examples. 

examples/requestexample/views.py

@@ -21,11 +21,10 @@ class MyBaseViewUsingEnhancedRequest(RequestMixin, View):
     Base view enabling the usage of enhanced requests with user defined views.
     """
 
-    parsers = parsers.DEFAULT_PARSERS
+    parser_classes = parsers.DEFAULT_PARSERS
 
     def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.request = request
-        request = self.get_request()
+        request = self.prepare_request(request)
         return super(MyBaseViewUsingEnhancedRequest, self).dispatch(request, *args, **kwargs)