Views

Author

Benedict Thekkel

Types of Views in Django

1. Function-Based Views (FBVs):

Simple functions that take a request and return a response.
Use decorators like @api_view to specify allowed methods (GET, POST, etc.).

from rest_framework.decorators import api_view
from rest_framework.response import Response

@api_view(['GET', 'POST'])
def my_view(request):
    if request.method == 'GET':
        data = {"message": "Hello, world!"}
        return Response(data)
    elif request.method == 'POST':
        data = request.data
        return Response(data)

2. Class-Based Views (CBVs):

Inherit from Django’s View or DRF’s APIView.
Provide more structure and functionality.

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response

class MyView(APIView):
    def get(self, request):
        data = {"message": "Hello, world!"}
        return Response(data)

    def post(self, request):
        data = request.data
        return Response(data)

Built-in Generic Views

Django provides a set of built-in generic views that handle common patterns. Examples include: - ListView: Display a list of objects. - DetailView: Display a single object. - CreateView: Display a form for creating a new object. - UpdateView: Display a form for updating an existing object. - DeleteView: Display a confirmation page for deleting an object.

Generic Views

Simplify common patterns (CRUD operations) by providing pre-built classes.
Example: ListAPIView, CreateAPIView, RetrieveAPIView, UpdateAPIView, DestroyAPIView

from rest_framework.generics import ListCreateAPIView
from .models import MyModel
from .serializers import MyModelSerializer

class MyModelListCreateView(ListCreateAPIView):
    queryset = MyModel.objects.all()
    serializer_class = MyModelSerializer

ViewSets

Combine logic for multiple views in a single class.
Automatically create URLs for CRUD operations using a Router.

from rest_framework import viewsets
from .models import MyModel
from .serializers import MyModelSerializer

class MyModelViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = MyModel.objects.all()
    serializer_class = MyModelSerializer

Common Actions in Viewsets

Viewsets provide a variety of standard actions:

list: Retrieves a collection of objects.
```
GET /products/
```
retrieve: Retrieves a single object based on its primary key.
```
GET /products/{id}/
```
create: Creates a new object.
```
POST /products/
```
update: Updates an existing object (entire object).
```
PUT /products/{id}/
```
partial_update: Partially updates an object (only changes specific fields).
```
PATCH /products/{id}/
```
destroy: Deletes an object.
```
DELETE /products/{id}/
```

Routing for Viewsets

Instead of manually defining URLs, DRF provides routers that automatically map viewsets to URL patterns.

Step 1: Use `DefaultRouter` to Automate URL Routing

from rest_framework.routers import DefaultRouter
from .views import ProductViewSet

router = DefaultRouter()
router.register(r'products', ProductViewSet, basename='product')

urlpatterns = router.urls

Resulting Routes:

GET /products/ → list
GET /products/{id}/ → retrieve
POST /products/ → create
PUT /products/{id}/ → update
PATCH /products/{id}/ → partial_update
DELETE /products/{id}/ → destroy

Customizing URL Paths: If you need to override or customize the URLs, you can use SimpleRouter or register with custom prefixes or basenames.

Custom Actions in Viewsets

Viewsets allow you to define custom actions that aren’t covered by the default CRUD operations using the @action decorator.

Example of Custom Action:

from rest_framework.decorators import action
from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework import viewsets

class ProductViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = Product.objects.all()
    serializer_class = ProductSerializer

    # Custom action that returns products on sale
    @action(detail=False, methods=['get'])
    def on_sale(self, request):
        products_on_sale = self.queryset.filter(on_sale=True)
        serializer = self.get_serializer(products_on_sale, many=True)
        return Response(serializer.data)

Key Features of @action: - detail=False: Means this is a collection-level action (works on the entire queryset, e.g., GET /products/on_sale/). - detail=True: For object-level actions (works on a single object, e.g., GET /products/{id}/related/).

You can also specify the HTTP methods allowed for the action (e.g., methods=['post'] for a POST request).

Mixins in Viewsets

Mixins provide reusable behavior for viewsets, allowing you to include only the actions you need.

Common Mixins:

ListModelMixin: Adds the list() action (returns a collection of objects).
CreateModelMixin: Adds the create() action.
RetrieveModelMixin: Adds the retrieve() action (retrieves a single object).
UpdateModelMixin: Adds the update() action (updates a single object).
DestroyModelMixin: Adds the destroy() action (deletes a single object).

Example Using Mixins:

from rest_framework import viewsets, mixins
from .models import Product
from .serializers import ProductSerializer

class ProductViewSet(mixins.ListModelMixin,
                     mixins.RetrieveModelMixin,
                     viewsets.GenericViewSet):
    queryset = Product.objects.all()
    serializer_class = ProductSerializer

In this example: - Only list and retrieve actions are available. - You can mix and match to implement only the behaviors needed for your viewset.

You can combine mixins with GenericAPIView for custom behavior:

from rest_framework import mixins, generics
from .models import MyModel
from .serializers import MyModelSerializer

class MyModelView(mixins.ListModelMixin, mixins.CreateModelMixin, generics.GenericAPIView):
    queryset = MyModel.objects.all()
    serializer_class = MyModelSerializer

    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        return self.list(request, *args, **kwargs)

    def post(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        return self.create(request, *args, **kwargs)

URL Routing

DRF’s routers automatically generate URL patterns for ViewSets. Common routers include:

SimpleRouter: Basic router for CRUD operations.
DefaultRouter: Extends SimpleRouter with additional functionality like a default API root view.

from rest_framework.routers import DefaultRouter
from .views import MyModelViewSet

router = DefaultRouter()
router.register(r'mymodel', MyModelViewSet)

urlpatterns = [
    path('', include(router.urls)),
]

Customizing Views

Permissions

Control access to views.
Use permission_classes attribute or override get_permissions method.

from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated

class MyView(APIView):
    permission_classes = [IsAuthenticated]

    def get(self, request):
        data = {"message": "Hello, authenticated user!"}
        return Response(data)

Throttling

Limit the rate of requests.
Use throttle_classes attribute or override get_throttles method.

from rest_framework.throttling import UserRateThrottle

class MyView(APIView):
    throttle_classes = [UserRateThrottle]

    def get(self, request):
        data = {"message": "Hello, throttled user!"}
        return Response(data)

Filtering, Searching, and Ordering

Use DjangoFilterBackend, SearchFilter, and OrderingFilter for filtering, searching, and ordering querysets.

from rest_framework import filters
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend

class MyModelListCreateView(ListCreateAPIView):
    queryset = MyModel.objects.all()
    serializer_class = MyModelSerializer
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend, filters.SearchFilter, filters.OrderingFilter]
    filterset_fields = ['field1', 'field2']
    search_fields = ['field1', 'field2']
    ordering_fields = ['field1', 'field2']