drf-nested-fields

Extension for Django REST Framework 3 which allows for defining custom field serialization.

Setup

pip install drf-nested-fields

Requirement

• Python 2.7+
• Django 1.6+
• Django REST Framework 3

Features

In addition to the standard Django REST Framework Meta attribute depth, this framework provides the possibility to explicitly define which fields should be serialized. This can be achieved for the following model in two ways:

class RelatedResource1(models.Model):
	name = models.CharField(max_length=255)
	active = models.BooleanField(default=True)

class RelatedResource2(models.Model):
	name = models.CharField(max_length=255)
	active = models.BooleanField(default=True)
	related_resources_1 = models.ManyToManyField(RelatedResource1)

class TestResource(models.Model):
	related_resource_1 = models.ForeignKey(RelatedResource1)
	related_resource_2 = models.OneToOneField(RelatedResource2)
	name = models.CharField(max_length=255)

1. Use NestedFieldsSerializerMixin and set the Meta attribute nested_fields on the serializer.

    class TestResourceSerializer(NestedFieldsSerializerMixin, ModelSerializer):
    	class Meta:
    		model = TestResource
    		fields = ('id', 'name', 'related_resource_1')
    		nested_fields = {
        		'related_resource_2': (
            		['name'],
            		{
               			'related_resources_1': (
                   			['id', 'name'],
                    		{}
                		)
            		}
            	)
    		}
   

   Result:

    [
    	"id": 1,
    	"name": "Test-Resource",
    	"related_resource_1": 5,
    	"related_resource_2": {
    		"name": "Related-Resource-2",
    		"related_resources_1": [
    			{
    				"id": 234,
    				"name": "Nested-Related-Resource11",
    			},
    			{
    				"id": 235,
    				"name": "Nested-Related-Resource12",
    			}
    		]
    	}
    ]
   

2. Use CustomFieldsMixin in your view and set query parameter fields. The id is returned because of the attribute always_included_fields which can be overridden in your custom view.

    class TestResourceViewSet(CustomFieldsMixin, ModelViewSet):
    	serializer_class = TestResourceSerializer
    	queryset = TestResource.objects.all()
    	
    GET http://testserver/test-resources/?fields=related_resource_2.fields("
                           "related_resources_1.fields(active))
   

   Result:

    [
    	"id": 1,
    	"related_resource_2": {
    		"name": "Related-Resource-2",
    		"related_resources_1": [
    			{
    				"id": 234,
    				"active": true,
    			},
    			{
    				"id": 235,
    				"active": false,
    			}
    		]
    	}
    ]