How to represent `self` url in django-rest-framework - django

Question

I want to add a link to a single resource representation which is an URL to itself, self. Like (taken from documentation):
class AlbumSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Album
fields = ('album_name', 'artist', 'track_listing')
{
'album_name': 'The Eraser',
'artist': 'Thom Yorke',
'self': 'http://www.example.com/api/album/2/',
}
How should this be done?

Answer 1

If you inherit serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer all you need to do is pass a url field to fields. See the docs here:
http://www.django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/5-relationships-and-hyperlinked-apis/

Answer 2

Alright, this solved my problem but if you have a better solution please post an answer:
from django.urls import reverse
from rest_framework import serializers
self_url = serializers.SerializerMethodField('get_self')
def get_self(self, obj):
request = self.context['request']
return reverse('album-detail', kwargs={'id': obj.id}, request=request)

Answer 3

here is my solution,
in your view methods create serilizer object like this:
album = AlbumSerializer(data=data, {"request":request})
in your serilizer class override to_representation method (you can read about this method on DRF docs
class AlbumSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
def to_representation(self, obj):
data = super().to_representation(obj)
request = self.context["request"]
return data

Answer 4

According to this issue, you can just add 'url' in the list of fields.

Answer 5

Here is a little more context than you got in the other answers so far. The key is the context argument passed to the serializer constructor and the 'url' in fields.
http://www.django-rest-framework.org/tutorial/5-relationships-and-hyperlinked-apis/
In your viewset:
class AlbumViewSet(viewsets.ViewSet):
def list(self, request):
queryset = Album.objects.all()
serializer = AlbumSerializer(queryset, many=True,
context={'request': request})
return Response(serializer.data)
In the serializer:
class AlbumSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Album
fields = ('album_name', 'artist', 'track_listing', 'url')

Answer 6

As stated above the HyperlinkedModelSerializer will convert all your related fields and remove the ID of the resource as well. I use one of the following solutions, depending on the situation.
Solution 1: import api settings and add the url field:
For more details see URL_FIELD_NAME.
from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
class AlbumSerializer(SelfFieldMixin, serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Album
fields = ('album_name', 'artist', 'track_listing', api_settings.URL_FIELD_NAME)
Solution 2: a simple mixin, which only works if default fields are used:
class SelfFieldMixin:
"""
Adds the self link without converting all relations to HyperlinkedRelatedField
"""
def get_default_field_names(self, declared_fields, model_info):
"""
Return the default list of field names that will be used if the
`Meta.fields` option is not specified.
"""
default_fields = super().get_default_field_names(declared_fields, model_info)
return [self.url_field_name, *default_fields]
And it can be used like
class AlbumSerializer(SelfFieldMixin, serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Album
fields = '__all__'
NOTE: It requires Python 3 due to the super() call, the a mixin must be placed before any of the serializer classes!
P.S.: To achieve the required response in the question one must also set the URL_FIELD_NAME to 'self'.
Edit: get_default_field_names must return a list object for Meta.exclude to work on ModelSerializers.

Answer 7

You can use the HyperlinkedIdentityField like so:
class ThingSerializer(ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Thing
fields = ['self_link', ...]
self_link = HyperlinkedIdentityField(view_name='thing-detail')
You need to have your routes named appropriately but the Default routers do so automatically (documented here).
As others have pointed out the HyperlinkedModelSerializer also works. This is because it uses this field automatically. See here.