Save Instance Nested Serializers in Django Rest Framework

Question

I have problem with saving instance Live_In Nested Serializers in Django Rest Framework. Hope your guys help me! I think just a basic issue.

My Serializers:

I think it comes error when I write saving instance

class CityLiveInSerializer(ModelSerializer):
    country = CharField(required=False, source='country.name')
    class Meta:
        model = City
        fields = [
            'name',
            'slug',
            'country'
        ]    

class UserEditSerializer(ModelSerializer):
    live_in = CityLiveInSerializer(source='profile.live_in')
    about = serializers.CharField(source='profile.about')
    class Meta:
        model = User
        fields = [
            'username',
            'live_in',
            'about',
        ]

    def update(self, instance, validated_data):
        instance.username = validated_data.get('username', instance.username)
        instance.save()
        # Update Serializers Profile
        if (validated_data.get('profile') is not None):
            profile_data = validated_data.pop('profile')
            profile = instance.profile
            profile.about = profile_data.get('about', profile.about)
            profile.save()

        if (validated_data.get('live_in') is not None):
          live_in_data = validated_data.pop('live_in')
          try:
              city = City.objects.get(name=live_in_data['name'])
          except City.DoesNotExist:   
              city = City.objects.create(**live_in_data)
          instance.profile.live_in = city
          instance.profile.save()
        return instance

My City Model (Live_in)

class City(BaseCity):
    class Meta(BaseCity.Meta):
        swappable = swapper.swappable_setting('cities', 'City')

class BaseCity(Place, SlugModel):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=200, db_index=True, verbose_name="standard name")
    country = models.ForeignKey(swapper.get_model_name('cities', 'Country'), related_name='cities', null=True, blank=True)

My Profile Model

class Profile(models.Model):
    # Extend User
    user = models.OneToOneField(User, unique=True)
    about = models.TextField(max_length=1000, default='', blank=True, null=True)
    live_in = models.ForeignKey(City, null=True, blank=True, related_name="live_in")

Data sent by Postman (Json)

{ "live_in": { "name": "Encamp" } }

TraceError:

File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/rest_framework/serializers.py" in data 263. self._data = self.to_representation(self.instance)

File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/rest_framework/serializers.py" in to_representation 488. attribute = field.get_attribute(instance)

File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/rest_framework/fields.py" in get_attribute 463. raise type(exc)(msg)

Exception Type: AttributeError at /api/v1/users/account/edit/ Exception Value: Got AttributeError when attempting to get a value for field live_in on serializer UserEditSerializer . The serializer field might be named incorrectly and not match any attribute or key on the User instance. Original exception text was: 'User' object has no attribute 'live_in'.

Answer 1

First of all you dont need many=True in this case. It required for related objects list, but you will pass only one city. Secondly live_in is attribute of profile model so you need to update profile and add source argument:

live_in = CityLiveInSerializer(source="profile.live_in")

def update(self, instance, validated_data):
    instance.username = validated_data.get('username', instance.username)
    instance.save()
    # Update Serializers Profile
    if (validated_data.get('profile') is not None):
        profile_data = validated_data.pop('profile')
        profile = instance.profile
        profile.about = profile_data.get('about', profile.about)
        if (profile_data.get('live_in') is not None):
            live_in_data = profile_data.pop('live_in')
            try:
                city = City.objects.get(name=live_in_data["name"])
            except City.DoesNotExist:   
                city = City.objects.create(**live_in_data)
        profile.live_in = city 
        profile.save()

    return instance

In this case you need to allow create city without country, so you need to add null=True, blank=True to country attribute:

class BaseCity(Place, SlugModel):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=200, db_index=True, verbose_name="standard name")
    country = models.ForeignKey(swapper.get_model_name('cities', 'Country'),
                            related_name='cities', null=True, blank=True)