Django REST Framework: define fields in nested object? - django

Question

I got events that happen at locations:
class Event(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
date_published = models.DateTimeField('published date',default=datetime.now, blank=True)
date_start = models.DateTimeField('start date')
date_end = models.DateTimeField('end date')
def __unicode__(self):
return self.title
description = models.TextField()
price = models.IntegerField(null=True, blank=True)
tags = TaggableManager()
location = models.ForeignKey(Location, blank=False)
class Location(models.Model):
location_title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
location_date_published = models.DateTimeField('published date',default=datetime.now, blank=True)
location_latitude = models.CharField(max_length=200)
location_longitude = models.CharField(max_length=200)
location_address = models.CharField(max_length=200)
location_city = models.CharField(max_length=200)
location_zipcode = models.CharField(max_length=200)
location_state = models.CharField(max_length=200)
location_country = models.CharField(max_length=200)
location_description = models.TextField()
def __unicode__(self):
return u'%s' % (self.location_title)
I can get the results of all via:
class EventSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
id = serializers.Field()
class Meta:
model = Event
depth = 2
fields = ('url','id','title','date_start','date_end','description', 'price', 'location')
Which outputs:
{
"url": "http://localhost:8000/api/event/3/",
"id": 3,
"title": "Testing",
"date_start": "2013-03-10T20:19:00Z",
"date_end": "2013-03-10T20:19:00Z",
"description": "fgdgdfg",
"price": 10,
"location": {
"id": 2,
"location_title": "Mighty",
"location_date_published": "2013-03-10T20:16:00Z",
"location_latitude": "37.767475",
"location_longitude": "-122.406878",
"location_address": "119 Utah St, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA",
"location_city": "San Francisco",
"location_zipcode": "94103",
"location_state": "California",
"location_country": "United States",
"location_description": "Some place"
}
},
However, I don't want it to grab all fields, as I don't need all of them. How can I define what fields should be retrieved from my nested object? Thanks!

Answer 1

Serializers can be nested, so do something like this...
class LocationSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Location
fields = (...)
class EventSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
id = serializers.Field()
location = LocationSerializer()
class Meta:
model = Event
fields = ('url','id','title','date_start','date_end','description', 'price', 'location')

Answer 2

I have been to this and did not get a perfect solution, But I did something you may check for it.
This method will not create nested serializers
**class LocationSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):**
class Meta:
model = Location
fields = (...) #does not matter
exclude = (...) #does not matter
class EventSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):**
loc_field_1 = serializers.CharField(required=False,*source='location.loc_field_1'*)
loc_field_2 = serializers.CharField(required=False,*source='location.loc_field_2'*)
***#ADD YOUR DESIRE FIELD YOU WANT TO ACCESS FROM OTHER SERIALIZERS***
class Meta:
model = Event
fields =('url','id','title','date_start','date_end','description', 'price', 'location')

Answer 3

I found this question when I was trying to figure out how to exclude certain fields from a serializer only when it was being nested. Looks like Tasawer Nawaz had that question as well. You can do that by overriding get_field_names. Here's an example based on Tom Christie's answer:
class LocationSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Location
fields = (...)
exclude_when_nested = {'location_title', 'location_date_published'} # not an official DRF meta attribute ...
def get_field_names(self, *args, **kwargs):
field_names = super(LinkUserSerializer, self).get_field_names(*args, **kwargs)
if self.parent:
field_names = [i for i in field_names if i not in self.Meta.exclude_when_nested]
return field_names
class EventSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
id = serializers.Field()
location = LocationSerializer()
class Meta:
model = Event
fields = ('url','id','title','date_start','date_end','description', 'price', 'location')