django-rest-framework/topics/writable-nested-serializers.html
2013-11-18 15:50:29 +00:00

276 lines
15 KiB
HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Django REST framework - Writable nested serializers</title>
<link href="http://django-rest-framework.org/img/favicon.ico" rel="icon" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="canonical" href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/writable-nested-serializers"/>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<meta name="description" content="Django, API, REST, Writable nested serializers">
<meta name="author" content="Tom Christie">
<!-- Le styles -->
<link href="http://django-rest-framework.org/css/prettify.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="http://django-rest-framework.org/css/bootstrap.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="http://django-rest-framework.org/css/bootstrap-responsive.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="http://django-rest-framework.org/css/default.css" rel="stylesheet">
<!-- Le HTML5 shim, for IE6-8 support of HTML5 elements -->
<!--[if lt IE 9]>
<script src="http://html5shim.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/html5.js"></script>
<![endif]-->
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-18852272-2']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>
</head>
<body onload="prettyPrint()" class="writable-nested-serializers-page">
<div class="wrapper">
<div class="navbar navbar-inverse navbar-fixed-top">
<div class="navbar-inner">
<div class="container-fluid">
<a class="repo-link btn btn-primary btn-small" href="https://github.com/tomchristie/django-rest-framework/tree/master">GitHub</a>
<a class="repo-link btn btn-inverse btn-small disabled" href="#">Next <i class="icon-arrow-right icon-white"></i></a>
<a class="repo-link btn btn-inverse btn-small disabled" href="#"><i class="icon-arrow-left icon-white"></i> Previous</a>
<a class="repo-link btn btn-inverse btn-small" href="#searchModal" data-toggle="modal"><i class="icon-search icon-white"></i> Search</a>
<a class="btn btn-navbar" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".nav-collapse">
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
</a>
<a class="brand" href="http://django-rest-framework.org">Django REST framework</a>
<div class="nav-collapse collapse">
<ul class="nav">
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org">Home</a></li>
<li class="dropdown">
<a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">Tutorial <b class="caret"></b></a>
<ul class="dropdown-menu">
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/quickstart">Quickstart</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/1-serialization">1 - Serialization</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/2-requests-and-responses">2 - Requests and responses</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/3-class-based-views">3 - Class based views</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/4-authentication-and-permissions">4 - Authentication and permissions</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/5-relationships-and-hyperlinked-apis">5 - Relationships and hyperlinked APIs</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/6-viewsets-and-routers">6 - Viewsets and routers</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="dropdown">
<a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">API Guide <b class="caret"></b></a>
<ul class="dropdown-menu">
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/requests">Requests</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/responses">Responses</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/views">Views</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/generic-views">Generic views</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/viewsets">Viewsets</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/routers">Routers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/parsers">Parsers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/renderers">Renderers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/serializers">Serializers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/fields">Serializer fields</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/relations">Serializer relations</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/authentication">Authentication</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/permissions">Permissions</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/throttling">Throttling</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/filtering">Filtering</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/pagination">Pagination</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/content-negotiation">Content negotiation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/format-suffixes">Format suffixes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/reverse">Returning URLs</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/exceptions">Exceptions</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/status-codes">Status codes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/testing">Testing</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/settings">Settings</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="dropdown">
<a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">Topics <b class="caret"></b></a>
<ul class="dropdown-menu">
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/documenting-your-api">Documenting your API</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/ajax-csrf-cors">AJAX, CSRF & CORS</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/browser-enhancements">Browser enhancements</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/browsable-api">The Browsable API</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/rest-hypermedia-hateoas">REST, Hypermedia & HATEOAS</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/rest-framework-2-announcement">2.0 Announcement</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/2.2-announcement">2.2 Announcement</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/2.3-announcement">2.3 Announcement</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/release-notes">Release Notes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://django-rest-framework.org/topics/credits">Credits</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul class="nav pull-right">
<!-- TODO
<li class="dropdown">
<a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">Version: 2.0.0 <b class="caret"></b></a>
<ul class="dropdown-menu">
<li><a href="#">Trunk</a></li>
<li><a href="#">2.0.0</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
-->
</ul>
</div><!--/.nav-collapse -->
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="body-content">
<div class="container-fluid">
<!-- Search Modal -->
<div id="searchModal" class="modal hide fade" tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="myModalLabel" aria-hidden="true">
<div class="modal-header">
<button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal" aria-hidden="true">&times;</button>
<h3 id="myModalLabel">Documentation search</h3>
</div>
<div class="modal-body">
<!-- Custom google search -->
<script>
(function() {
var cx = '015016005043623903336:rxraeohqk6w';
var gcse = document.createElement('script');
gcse.type = 'text/javascript';
gcse.async = true;
gcse.src = (document.location.protocol == 'https:' ? 'https:' : 'http:') +
'//www.google.com/cse/cse.js?cx=' + cx;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(gcse, s);
})();
</script>
<gcse:search></gcse:search>
</div>
<div class="modal-footer">
<button class="btn" data-dismiss="modal" aria-hidden="true">Close</button>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row-fluid">
<div class="span3">
<!-- TODO
<p style="margin-top: -12px">
<a class="btn btn-mini btn-primary" style="width: 60px">&laquo; previous</a>
<a class="btn btn-mini btn-primary" style="float: right; margin-right: 8px; width: 60px;">next &raquo;</a>
</p>
-->
<div id="table-of-contents">
<ul class="nav nav-list side-nav well sidebar-nav-fixed">
<li class="main"><a href="#writable-nested-serializers">Writable nested serializers</a></li>
<li><a href="#one-to-many-data-structures">One-to-many data structures</a></li>
<div>
<hr>
<p><strong>The team behind REST framework are launching a new API service.</strong></p>
<p>If you want to be first in line when we start issuing invitations, please sign up here:</p>
<!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form -->
<link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/slim-081711.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<style type="text/css">
#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
</style>
<div id="mc_embed_signup" style="background: rgb(245, 245, 245)">
<form action="http://dabapps.us1.list-manage1.com/subscribe/post?u=cf73a9994eb5b8d8d461b5dfb&amp;id=cb6af8e8bd" method="post" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" class="validate" target="_blank" novalidate>
<!-- <label for="mce-EMAIL">Keep me posted!</label>
--> <input style="width: 90%" type="email" value="" name="EMAIL" class="email" id="mce-EMAIL" placeholder="email address" required>
<div class="clear"><input class="btn btn-success" type="submit" value="Yes, keep me posted!" name="subscribe" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" class="button"></div>
</form>
</div>
</style></div>
</ul>
<!--End mc_embed_signup-->
</div>
</div>
<div id="main-content" class="span9">
<blockquote>
<p>To save HTTP requests, it may be convenient to send related documents along with the request.</p>
<p>&mdash; <a href="http://jsonapi.org/format/#url-based-json-api">JSON API specification for Ember Data</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<h1 id="writable-nested-serializers">Writable nested serializers</h1>
<p>Although flat data structures serve to properly delineate between the individual entities in your service, there are cases where it may be more appropriate or convenient to use nested data structures.</p>
<p>Nested data structures are easy enough to work with if they're read-only - simply nest your serializer classes and you're good to go. However, there are a few more subtleties to using writable nested serializers, due to the dependancies between the various model instances, and the need to save or delete multiple instances in a single action.</p>
<h2 id="one-to-many-data-structures">One-to-many data structures</h2>
<p><em>Example of a <strong>read-only</strong> nested serializer. Nothing complex to worry about here.</em></p>
<pre class="prettyprint lang-py"><code>class ToDoItemSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = ToDoItem
fields = ('text', 'is_completed')
class ToDoListSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
items = ToDoItemSerializer(many=True, read_only=True)
class Meta:
model = ToDoList
fields = ('title', 'items')
</code></pre>
<p>Some example output from our serializer.</p>
<pre class="prettyprint lang-py"><code>{
'title': 'Leaving party preperations',
'items': {
{'text': 'Compile playlist', 'is_completed': True},
{'text': 'Send invites', 'is_completed': False},
{'text': 'Clean house', 'is_completed': False}
}
}
</code></pre>
<p>Let's take a look at updating our nested one-to-many data structure.</p>
<h3 id="validation-errors">Validation errors</h3>
<h3 id="adding-and-removing-items">Adding and removing items</h3>
<h3 id="making-patch-requests">Making PATCH requests</h3>
</div><!--/span-->
</div><!--/row-->
</div><!--/.fluid-container-->
</div><!--/.body content-->
<div id="push"></div>
</div><!--/.wrapper -->
<footer class="span12">
<p>Sponsored by <a href="http://dabapps.com/">DabApps</a>.</a></p>
</footer>
<!-- Le javascript
================================================== -->
<!-- Placed at the end of the document so the pages load faster -->
<script src="http://django-rest-framework.org/js/jquery-1.8.1-min.js"></script>
<script src="http://django-rest-framework.org/js/prettify-1.0.js"></script>
<script src="http://django-rest-framework.org/js/bootstrap-2.1.1-min.js"></script>
<script>
//$('.side-nav').scrollspy()
var shiftWindow = function() { scrollBy(0, -50) };
if (location.hash) shiftWindow();
window.addEventListener("hashchange", shiftWindow);
$('.dropdown-menu').on('click touchstart', function(event) {
event.stopPropagation();
});
// Dynamically force sidenav to no higher than browser window
$('.side-nav').css('max-height', window.innerHeight - 130);
$(function(){
$(window).resize(function(){
$('.side-nav').css('max-height', window.innerHeight - 130);
});
});
</script>
</body></html>