How do I create multiple model instances with Djan

Question

I would like to save and update multiple instances using the Django Rest Framework with one API call. For example, let's say I have a "Classroom" model that can have multiple "Teachers". If I wanted to create multiple teachers and later update all of their classroom numbers how would I do that? Do I have to make an API call for each teacher?

I know currently we can't save nested models, but I would like to know if we can save it at the teacher level. Thanks!

Answer 1

Here's another solution, you don't need to override your serializers __init__ method. Just override your view's (ModelViewSet) 'create' method. Notice many=isinstance(request.data,list). Here many=True when you send an array of objects to create, and False when you send just the one. This way, you can save both an item and a list!

from rest_framework import status, viewsets
from rest_framework.response import Response

class ThingViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):

"""This view snippet provides both list and item create functionality."""

    #I took the liberty to change the model to queryset
    queryset = Thing.objects.all()
    serializer_class = ThingSerializer

    def create(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        serializer = self.get_serializer(data=request.data, many=isinstance(request.data,list))
        serializer.is_valid(raise_exception=True)
        self.perform_create(serializer)
        headers = self.get_success_headers(serializer.data)
        return Response(serializer.data, status=status.HTTP_201_CREATED, headers=headers)

Answer 2

I came up with simple example in post

Serializers.py

from rest_framework import serializers
from movie.models import Movie

class MovieSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):

    class Meta:
        model = Movie
        fields = [
            'popularity',
            'director',
            'genre',
            'imdb_score',
            'name',
        ]  

Views.py

from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework import generics
from .serializers import MovieSerializer
from movie.models import Movie
from rest_framework import status
from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated

class MovieList(generics.ListCreateAPIView):
    queryset = Movie.objects.all().order_by('-id')[:10]
    serializer_class = MovieSerializer
    permission_classes = (IsAuthenticated,)

    def list(self, request):
        queryset = self.get_queryset()
        serializer = MovieSerializer(queryset, many=True)
        return Response(serializer.data)

    def post(self, request, format=None):
        data = request.data
        if isinstance(data, list):  # <- is the main logic
            serializer = self.get_serializer(data=request.data, many=True)
        else:
            serializer = self.get_serializer(data=request.data)
        if serializer.is_valid():
            serializer.save()
            return Response(serializer.data, status=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)
        return Response(serializer.errors, status=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST)

These line are the actual logic of Multiple Instance -

data = request.data
if isinstance(data, list):  # <- is the main logic
      serializer = self.get_serializer(data=request.data, many=True)
else:
      serializer = self.get_serializer(data=request.data)

If you are confused with many=True, see this

When we send data it will be inside list somewhat like this -

[
    {
        "popularity": 84.0,
        "director": "Stanley Kubrick",
        "genre": [
            1,
            6,
            10
        ],
        "imdb_score": 8.4,
        "name": "2001 : A Space Odyssey"
    },
    {
        "popularity": 84.0,
        "director": "Stanley Kubrick",
        "genre": [
            1,
            6,
            10
        ],
        "imdb_score": 8.4,
        "name": "2001 : A Space Odyssey"
    }
]

Answer 3

I came to a similar conclusion as Daniel Albarral, but here's a more succinct solution:

class CreateListModelMixin(object):

    def get_serializer(self, *args, **kwargs):
        """ if an array is passed, set serializer to many """
        if isinstance(kwargs.get('data', {}), list):
            kwargs['many'] = True
        return super(CreateListModelMixin, self).get_serializer(*args, **kwargs)