This repository holds the django library that StarFields uses for the django-rest-framework generic views.

Differences with the DRF generic views

It changes the generic lifecycles of all the CRUD operations to fit within them automated caching functionality. Caching and deleting cache keys is handled by the library in a way that the cache keys have no duplicates. The generic views offered include single item CRUD and list-based CRUD. To manage automated caching this the library replaces (and appends to) the DRF filters. These filters need a get_unique_dict method in order to avoid the duplicate cache keys problem.

Usage

Ensure that the module is in the INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'starfields_drf_generics',
]

Making views in views.py:

from starfields_drf_generics import generics
from starfields_drf_generics import filters as libfilters

class CategoriesView(generics.CachedListRetrieveAPIView):
    """
    This view lists all the categories. Usually this API is called on the shop initialization and the result is saved on the front-end for use shop-wide.
    """
    cache_prefix = "shop.products.categories"
    cache_vary_on_user = False
    cache_timeout_mins = ShopSettings.get_solo().cache_timeout
    queryset = Category.objects.all()
    serializer_class = CategorySerializer
    paged = False
    filter_backends = []
    logger = logger
    cache = cache
    
class SearchView(generics.CachedListRetrieveAPIView):
    """
    This view lists the gallery pictures with extensive searching and filtering features. You can use this API to get the latest pictures, perform picture searches among others.
    """
    cache_prefix = "gallery.search"
    cache_vary_on_user = False
    cache_timeout_mins = GallerySettings.get_solo().cache_timeout
    queryset = Picture.objects.filter(published=True)
    serializer_class = PictureSerializer
    ordering_fields = ('similarity','date_added','updated')
    category_class = Category
    search_fields = ['name','slug','tag__name','tag__slug']
    paged = True
    default_page_size = 20
    filter_backends = (libfilters.CategoryFilter,
                       libfilters.TrigramSearchFilter,
                       libfilters.OrderingFilter,
                       )
    logger = logger
    cache = cache

New class attributes that are used

cache_prefix: defines the prefix that the module will use when saving values in the cache cache_vary_on_user: defines whether keys saved in the cache are different for each user, in which case extra user information will be added to the cache prefix cache_timeout_mins: the cache key timeout filter_backends: the filters that you want the view to have, each can be configured with view class attributes ordering_fields: if you use the OrderingFilter you must indicate what fields the user can order by, the first element is used as the default order search_fields: if you use the TrigramSearchFilter you must indicate the fields to search through paged: your generic view can have a pager for the user to choose pages or it can be a full listing default_page_size: the default size of the pages if a user has not indicated a page size logger: you should register a logger in order to get error feedback in your deployments cache: the main feature of this module is automated and organized caching, you should register your cache here

Extras

The source code is similar to the django-rest-framework's generic classes and related objects, it should be eminently readable. A new method is added in each filter named get_unique_dict that aids in fixing the duplicate key problem.