Serializer returns object instead fields - django

Question

Using Django 2.1/Django Rest Framework.
I am receiving the Model object output from DRF instead of the actual fields.
I would like to recieve all the items for both the audio_links and release_artists tables.
Here's what I have.
Output
{
"title": "Attack The Dancefloor Volume Two",
"audiolinks": [
"AudioLinks object (55708)",
"AudioLinks object (55709)",
"AudioLinks object (55710)",
"AudioLinks object (55711)"
],
"releaseartists": [
"ReleaseArtists object (140)",
"ReleaseArtists object (141)"
]
}
models.py
class AudioLinks(models.Model):
release = models.ForeignKey('ReleasesAll', models.DO_NOTHING, db_column='release_id', related_name='audiolinks')
track_number = models.IntegerField()
class Meta:
managed = False
db_table = 'audio_links'
class ReleaseArtists(models.Model):
release = models.ForeignKey('ReleasesAll', models.DO_NOTHING, db_column='release_id', related_name='releaseartists')
artists = models.CharField(max_length=100)
class Meta:
managed = False
db_table = 'release_artists'
views.py
class ListReleaseDetailView(generics.RetrieveUpdateDestroyAPIView):
queryset = ReleasesAll.objects.all()
serializer_class = ReleasesSerializer
def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
try:
a_release = self.queryset.prefetch_related('releaseartists','audiolinks').get(pk=kwargs['release_id'])
return Response(ReleasesSerializer(a_release).data)
except ReleasesAll.DoesNotExist:
return Response(
data = {
"message": "{} does not exist".format(kwargs["release_id"])
},
status=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND
)
serializers.py
class ReleasesSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
audiolinks = serializers.StringRelatedField(many=True)
releaseartists = serializers.StringRelatedField(many=True)
class Meta:
model = ReleasesAll
fields = ('title','audiolinks','releaseartists')

Answer 1

serializers.stringRelatedField gives the output of the __str__ method defined on the Model.
Hence you are getting this "AudioLinks object (55708)" and ReleaseArtists object (141), which is the default __str__ representation of any model.
In order to get all fields, you must define serializers for every other model that is related to the required fields as such:
class AudioLinksSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = AudioLinks
fields = ('__all__')
class ReleaseArtistsSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
audiolinks = serializers.StringRelatedField(many=True)
releaseartists = serializers.StringRelatedField(many=True)
class Meta:
model = ReleaseArtists
fields = ('__all__')
and then:
class ReleasesSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
audiolinks = AudioLinksSerializer(many=True)
releaseartists = ReleaseArtistsSerializer(many=True)
class Meta:
model = ReleasesAll
fields = ('title','audiolinks','releaseartists')
That would do enough for you to get all fields.
***And also as of Django convention, you need to name the models as in singular form i.e, AudioLink, ReleaseArtist. This way you see the model as a single object. And it will be easier when you try to get audiolinks as you will be thinking like "there are many AudioLink objects and I am getting few of them"