Return as JSON string array instead of Key-Value array

Question

I am writing a web service using Django and is trying to create an API that returns all distinct categories in a table which I have in MySQL database. The table schema is provided below:

+---------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field         | Type         | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
+---------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| id            | int(11)      | NO   | PRI | NULL    | auto_increment |
| news_id       | int(11)      | YES  | MUL | NULL    |                |
| news_category | varchar(50)  | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
| publish_date  | varchar(50)  | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
| news_link     | varchar(255) | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
+---------------+--------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+

The news_category field here is not unique. I want the API to list all distinct categories in the following JSON format:

{
    "count": 22,
    "next": null,
    "previous": null,
    "results": ["apple", "google", "microsoft", "apps", "photography", "virtual-reality", "business"]
}

Following is my models.py:

from django.db import models
...
class NewsInfo(models.Model):
    news = models.ForeignKey(NewsContent, models.DO_NOTHING, blank=True, null=True)
    news_category = models.CharField(max_length=50, blank=True, null=True)
    publish_date = models.CharField(max_length=50, blank=True, null=True)
    news_link = models.CharField(max_length=255)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.news.news_title

    class Meta:
        managed = False
        db_table = 'news_info'

serializers.py:

from .models import NewsInfo
from rest_framework import serializers
...
class NewsInfoSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        fields = ['news_category', 'news_link', 'news']
        model = NewsInfo

class NewsCategorySerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        fields = ['news_category']
        model = NewsInfo

views.py:

from rest_framework import viewsets
from .models import NewsInfo
from .serializers import NewsCategorySerializer
...
class CategoryViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = NewsInfo.objects.values('news_category').distinct()
    serializer_class = NewsCategorySerializer

I am getting the response here, but as key value pairs like this:

{
    "count": 22,
    "next": null,
    "previous": null,
    "results": [{
        "news_category": "apple"
    }, {
        "news_category": "google"
    }, {
        "news_category": "microsoft"
    }, {
        "news_category": "apps"
    }, {
        "news_category": "photography"
    }, {
        "news_category": "virtual-reality"
    }, {
        "news_category": "business"
    }]
}

Whatever I try, I am not able to make the result as I want it. Please help.

JPG · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-12 06:20:27Z

4

Override to_representation() method of NewsCategorySerializer serializer as,

class NewsCategorySerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        fields = ['news_category']
        model = NewsInfo

    def to_representation(self, instance):
        return super().to_representation(instance)['news_category']

edited Aug 12, 2018 at 6:20

answered Aug 12, 2018 at 5:20

JPG

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5 Comments

Harikrishnan Over a year ago

Yo!!! Again nailed it.. I am just starting to learn, will ask for help again!!! :D

Harikrishnan Over a year ago

Just to know, what does this do anyway?

JPG Over a year ago

Actually, this is not a Django Rest framework Way.

JPG Over a year ago

the to_representation() is representing the data to API (to us). We override that

user2313067 Over a year ago

Too short for me to edit: to_represantion -> to_representation

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