{"id":22183,"date":"2018-07-19T12:15:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T09:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webcodegeeks.com\/?p=22183"},"modified":"2018-07-23T12:21:15","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T09:21:15","slug":"part-1-sqlalchemy-models-to-json","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webcodegeeks.com\/python\/part-1-sqlalchemy-models-to-json\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 1: SQLAlchemy Models to JSON"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the first of three posts about building a JSON API with Flask. Part 2<\/a> and part 3<\/a> arrive tomorrow and the day after.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve seen<\/a> a<\/a> lot<\/a> of<\/a> questions<\/a> on StackOverflow about how to turn SQLAlchemy models into JSON. When building a JSON API with Flask and SQLAlchemy<\/a>, you end up writing a lot of boilerplate api code just to serialize your models into JSON. Since I encountered this problem early on at WakaTime, I decided to share my solution here. You have some libraries available to help such as Flask-RESTful<\/a>, Flask-Restless<\/a>, or flask-restutils<\/a>. However, back in 2013 when I started WakaTime these either weren\u2019t available or weren\u2019t stable. Thankfully it was trivial to loop through the columns of an SQLAlchemy model and produce a dict<\/code>. That dict<\/code> object could then be jsonified with json.dumps<\/code> and returned from an API.<\/p>\n

SQLAlchemy Model to Dictionary<\/h2>\n

To add a serialization method have all your SQLAlchemy models inherit from an abstract base class. This base class defines the to_dict<\/code> method that loops through the model\u2019s columns and returns a dictionary.<\/p>\n

from flask import json\r\nfrom flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy\r\nfrom sqlalchemy.orm.attributes import QueryableAttribute\r\nfrom wakatime_website import app\r\n\r\ndb = SQLAlchemy(app)\r\n\r\nclass BaseModel(db.Model):\r\n    __abstract__ = True\r\n\r\n    def to_dict(self, show=None, _hide=[], _path=None):\r\n        \"\"\"Return a dictionary representation of this model.\"\"\"\r\n\r\n        show = show or []\r\n\r\n        hidden = self._hidden_fields if hasattr(self, \"_hidden_fields\") else []\r\n        default = self._default_fields if hasattr(self, \"_default_fields\") else []\r\n        default.extend(['id', 'modified_at', 'created_at'])\r\n\r\n        if not _path:\r\n            _path = self.__tablename__.lower()\r\n\r\n            def prepend_path(item):\r\n                item = item.lower()\r\n                if item.split(\".\", 1)[0] == _path:\r\n                    return item\r\n                if len(item) == 0:\r\n                    return item\r\n                if item[0] != \".\":\r\n                    item = \".%s\" % item\r\n                item = \"%s%s\" % (_path, item)\r\n                return item\r\n\r\n            _hide[:] = [prepend_path(x) for x in _hide]\r\n            show[:] = [prepend_path(x) for x in show]\r\n\r\n        columns = self.__table__.columns.keys()\r\n        relationships = self.__mapper__.relationships.keys()\r\n        properties = dir(self)\r\n\r\n        ret_data = {}\r\n\r\n        for key in columns:\r\n            if key.startswith(\"_\"):\r\n                continue\r\n            check = \"%s.%s\" % (_path, key)\r\n            if check in _hide or key in hidden:\r\n                continue\r\n            if check in show or key in default:\r\n                ret_data[key] = getattr(self, key)\r\n\r\n        for key in relationships:\r\n            if key.startswith(\"_\"):\r\n                continue\r\n            check = \"%s.%s\" % (_path, key)\r\n            if check in _hide or key in hidden:\r\n                continue\r\n            if check in show or key in default:\r\n                _hide.append(check)\r\n                is_list = self.__mapper__.relationships[key].uselist\r\n                if is_list:\r\n                    items = getattr(self, key)\r\n                    if self.__mapper__.relationships[key].query_class is not None:\r\n                        if hasattr(items, \"all\"):\r\n                            items = items.all()\r\n                    ret_data[key] = []\r\n                    for item in items:\r\n                        ret_data[key].append(\r\n                            item.to_dict(\r\n                                show=list(show),\r\n                                _hide=list(_hide),\r\n                                _path=(\"%s.%s\" % (_path, key.lower())),\r\n                            )\r\n                        )\r\n                else:\r\n                    if (\r\n                        self.__mapper__.relationships[key].query_class is not None\r\n                        or self.__mapper__.relationships[key].instrument_class\r\n                        is not None\r\n                    ):\r\n                        item = getattr(self, key)\r\n                        if item is not None:\r\n                            ret_data[key] = item.to_dict(\r\n                                show=list(show),\r\n                                _hide=list(_hide),\r\n                                _path=(\"%s.%s\" % (_path, key.lower())),\r\n                            )\r\n                        else:\r\n                            ret_data[key] = None\r\n                    else:\r\n                        ret_data[key] = getattr(self, key)\r\n\r\n        for key in list(set(properties) - set(columns) - set(relationships)):\r\n            if key.startswith(\"_\"):\r\n                continue\r\n            if not hasattr(self.__class__, key):\r\n                continue\r\n            attr = getattr(self.__class__, key)\r\n            if not (isinstance(attr, property) or isinstance(attr, QueryableAttribute)):\r\n                continue\r\n            check = \"%s.%s\" % (_path, key)\r\n            if check in _hide or key in hidden:\r\n                continue\r\n            if check in show or key in default:\r\n                val = getattr(self, key)\r\n                if hasattr(val, \"to_dict\"):\r\n                    ret_data[key] = val.to_dict(\r\n                        show=list(show),\r\n                        _hide=list(_hide), _path=(\"%s.%s\" % (_path, key.lower()))\r\n                        _path=('%s.%s' % (path, key.lower())),\r\n                    )\r\n                else:\r\n                    try:\r\n                        ret_data[key] = json.loads(json.dumps(val))\r\n                    except:\r\n                        pass\r\n\r\n        return ret_data\r\n<\/pre>\n
Now we use this base class to print a User<\/code> as a dictionary.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
class User(BaseModel):\r\n    id = db.Column(UUID(), primary_key=True, default=uuid.uuid4)\r\n    username = db.Column(db.String(), nullabe=False, unique=True)\r\n    password = db.Column(db.String())\r\n    email_confirmed = db.Column(db.Boolean())\r\n    modified_at = db.Column(db.DateTime())\r\n    created_at = db.Column(db.DateTime(), nullable=False, default=datetime.utcnow)\r\n\r\n    _default_fields = [\r\n        \"username\",\r\n        \"joined_recently\",\r\n    ]\r\n    _hidden_fields = [\r\n        \"password\",\r\n    ]\r\n    _readonly_fields = [\r\n        \"email_confirmed\",\r\n    ]\r\n\r\n    @property\r\n    def joined_recently(self):\r\n        return self.created_at > datetime.utcnow() - timedelta(days=3)\r\n\r\nuser = User(username=\"zzzeek\")\r\ndb.session.add(user)\r\ndb.session.commit()\r\n\r\nprint(user.to_dict())<\/pre>\n
Which prints:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
{\r\n    'id': UUID('488345de-88a1-4c87-9304-46a1a31c9414'),\r\n    'username': 'zzzeek',\r\n    'joined_recently': True,\r\n    'modified_at': None,\r\n    'created_at': datetime.datetime(2018, 7, 11, 6, 28, 56, 905379),\r\n}<\/pre>\n
And is easily jsonified with:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
json.dumps(user.to_dict())<\/pre>\n
Defaults and hidden fields<\/h2>\n
You might have noticed the attributes on User<\/code> listing default and hidden fields. These allow you to customize which columns from User<\/code> are included in the returned dictionary. For example, if you want to include email_confirmed<\/code> in your serialized user you would do:<\/p>\n
print(user.to_dict(show=['email_confirmed', 'password']))<\/pre>\n
Which prints:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
{\r\n    'id': UUID('488345de-88a1-4c87-9304-46a1a31c9414'),\r\n    'username': 'zzzeek',\r\n    'email_confirmed': None,\r\n    'joined_recently': True,\r\n    'modified_at': None,\r\n    'created_at': datetime.datetime(2018, 7, 11, 6, 28, 56, 905379),\r\n}<\/pre>\n
Also notice that password<\/code> was not included, since it\u2019s listed as hidden on User<\/code>.<\/p>\n
Updating an SQLAlchemy Model from a Dictionary<\/h2>\n
We have a to_dict<\/code> method, but to support POST, PUT, and PATCH methods we need a from_dict<\/code> method that takes a dictionary and updates the model\u2019s columns with the provided data. Let\u2019s add the from_dict<\/code> method like this:<\/p>\n
from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import not_\r\n\r\nclass BaseModel(db.Model):\r\n    __abstract__ = True\r\n\r\n    def __init__(self, **kwargs):\r\n        kwargs[\"_force\"] = True\r\n        self.from_dict(**kwargs)\r\n\r\n    def to_dict(self, show=None, _hide=[], _path=None):\r\n        ...\r\n\r\n    def from_dict(self, **kwargs):\r\n        \"\"\"Update this model with a dictionary.\"\"\"\r\n\r\n        _force = kwargs.pop(\"_force\", False)\r\n\r\n        readonly = self._readonly_fields if hasattr(self, \"_readonly_fields\") else []\r\n        if hasattr(self, \"_hidden_fields\"):\r\n            readonly += self._hidden_fields\r\n\r\n        readonly += [\"id\", \"created_at\", \"modified_at\"]\r\n\r\n        columns = self.__table__.columns.keys()\r\n        relationships = self.__mapper__.relationships.keys()\r\n        properties = dir(self)\r\n\r\n        changes = {}\r\n\r\n        for key in columns:\r\n            if key.startswith(\"_\"):\r\n                continue\r\n            allowed = True if _force or key not in readonly else False\r\n            exists = True if key in kwargs else False\r\n            if allowed and exists:\r\n                val = getattr(self, key)\r\n                if val != kwargs[key]:\r\n                    changes[key] = {\"old\": val, \"new\": kwargs[key]}\r\n                    setattr(self, key, kwargs[key])\r\n\r\n        for rel in relationships:\r\n            if key.startswith(\"_\"):\r\n                continue\r\n            allowed = True if _force or rel not in readonly else False\r\n            exists = True if rel in kwargs else False\r\n            if allowed and exists:\r\n                is_list = self.__mapper__.relationships[rel].uselist\r\n                if is_list:\r\n                    valid_ids = []\r\n                    query = getattr(self, rel)\r\n                    cls = self.__mapper__.relationships[rel].argument()\r\n                    for item in kwargs[rel]:\r\n                        if (\r\n                            \"id\" in item\r\n                            and query.filter_by(id=item[\"id\"]).limit(1).count() == 1\r\n                        ):\r\n                            obj = cls.query.filter_by(id=item[\"id\"]).first()\r\n                            col_changes = obj.from_dict(**item)\r\n                            if col_changes:\r\n                                col_changes[\"id\"] = str(item[\"id\"])\r\n                                if rel in changes:\r\n                                    changes[rel].append(col_changes)\r\n                                else:\r\n                                    changes.update({rel: [col_changes]})\r\n                            valid_ids.append(str(item[\"id\"]))\r\n                        else:\r\n                            col = cls()\r\n                            col_changes = col.from_dict(**item)\r\n                            query.append(col)\r\n                            db.session.flush()\r\n                            if col_changes:\r\n                                col_changes[\"id\"] = str(col.id)\r\n                                if rel in changes:\r\n                                    changes[rel].append(col_changes)\r\n                                else:\r\n                                    changes.update({rel: [col_changes]})\r\n                            valid_ids.append(str(col.id))\r\n\r\n                    # delete rows from relationship that were not in kwargs[rel]\r\n                    for item in query.filter(not_(cls.id.in_(valid_ids))).all():\r\n                        col_changes = {\"id\": str(item.id), \"deleted\": True}\r\n                        if rel in changes:\r\n                            changes[rel].append(col_changes)\r\n                        else:\r\n                            changes.update({rel: [col_changes]})\r\n                        db.session.delete(item)\r\n\r\n                else:\r\n                    val = getattr(self, rel)\r\n                    if self.__mapper__.relationships[rel].query_class is not None:\r\n                        if val is not None:\r\n                            col_changes = val.from_dict(**kwargs[rel])\r\n                            if col_changes:\r\n                                changes.update({rel: col_changes})\r\n                    else:\r\n                        if val != kwargs[rel]:\r\n                            setattr(self, rel, kwargs[rel])\r\n                            changes[rel] = {\"old\": val, \"new\": kwargs[rel]}\r\n\r\n        for key in list(set(properties) - set(columns) - set(relationships)):\r\n            if key.startswith(\"_\"):\r\n                continue\r\n            allowed = True if _force or key not in readonly else False\r\n            exists = True if key in kwargs else False\r\n            if allowed and exists and getattr(self.__class__, key).fset is not None:\r\n                val = getattr(self, key)\r\n                if hasattr(val, \"to_dict\"):\r\n                    val = val.to_dict()\r\n                changes[key] = {\"old\": val, \"new\": kwargs[key]}\r\n                setattr(self, key, kwargs[key])\r\n\r\n        return changes<\/pre>\n
Using the new from_dict<\/code> method we update our user with a dictionary:<\/p>\n
updates = {\r\n    \"username\": \"zoe\",\r\n    \"email_confirmed\": True,\r\n}\r\nuser.from_dict(**updates)\r\ndb.session.commit()\r\n\r\nprint(user.to_dict(show=['email_confirmed']))<\/pre>\n
Which prints:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
{\r\n    'id': UUID('488345de-88a1-4c87-9304-46a1a31c9414'),\r\n    'username': 'zoe',\r\n    'email_confirmed': None,\r\n    'joined_recently': True,\r\n    'modified_at': datetime.datetime(2018, 7, 11, 6, 36, 47, 939084),\r\n    'created_at': datetime.datetime(2018, 7, 11, 6, 28, 56, 905379),\r\n}<\/pre>\n
Notice that email_confirmed<\/code> is still None<\/code> because it\u2019s marked as read only.<\/p>\n
Relationships<\/h2>\n
Our to_dict<\/code> and from_dict<\/code> methods also work for relationships. For example, when our User<\/code> model has many Goal<\/code> models we can serialize Goal<\/code> by default or with show<\/code>:<\/p>\n
class User(BaseModel):\r\n    ...\r\n    goals = db.relationship('Goal', backref='user', lazy='dynamic')\r\n\r\nclass Goal(BaseModel):\r\n    id = db.Column(UUID(), primary_key=True, default=uuid.uuid4)\r\n    title = db.Column(db.String(), nullabe=False)\r\n    accomplished = db.Column(db.Boolean())\r\n    created_at = db.Column(db.DateTime(), nullable=False, default=datetime.utcnow)\r\n\r\n    _default_fields = [\r\n        \"title\",\r\n    ]\r\n\r\ngoal = Goal(title=\"Mountain\", accomplished=True)\r\nuser.goals.append(goal)\r\ndb.session.commit()\r\n\r\nprint(user.to_dict(show=['goals', 'goals.accomplished']))<\/pre>\n
Which prints:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
{\r\n    'id': UUID('488345de-88a1-4c87-9304-46a1a31c9414'),\r\n    'username': 'zoe',\r\n    'goals': [\r\n        {\r\n            'id': UUID('c72cfef0-0988-45e4-9f4b-8a4a7d4f8d8f'),\r\n            'title': 'Mountain',\r\n            'accomplished': True,\r\n            'created_at': datetime.datetime(2018, 7, 11, 6, 45, 18, 299924),\r\n        },\r\n    ],\r\n    'joined_recently': True,\r\n    'modified_at': datetime.datetime(2018, 7, 11, 6, 36, 47, 939084),\r\n    'created_at': datetime.datetime(2018, 7, 11, 6, 28, 56, 905379),\r\n}<\/pre>\n
It even allows customizing columns of relationships, for ex: goals.accomplished<\/code>.<\/p>\n
To see how this all fits into a RESTful API continue with Part 2: Building a Flask RESTful API<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n
Published on Web Code Geeks with permission by Alan Hamlett, partner at our WCG program<\/a>. See the original article here: Part 1: SQLAlchemy Models to JSON<\/a><\/p>\n
Opinions expressed by Web Code Geeks contributors are their own.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is the first of three posts about building a JSON API with Flask. Part 2 and part 3 arrive tomorrow and the day after. I’ve seen a lot of questions on StackOverflow about how to turn SQLAlchemy models into JSON. When building a JSON API with Flask and SQLAlchemy, you end up writing a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7205,"featured_media":1651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[465,40],"class_list":["post-22183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-python","tag-flask","tag-json"],"yoast_head":"\nPart 1: SQLAlchemy Models to JSON - Web Code Geeks - 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Interested to learn more about sqlalchemy models? 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