Tor FrancisIf you've ever wanted to want to have your data return specific kinds of data from different paths using Active Record with out having to write a lot of extra code serializers are the solution. They provide a way of reacting a custom json object.
This is what our data looks like now:
{
"id": 1,
"title": "Top Gun",
"year": 1986,
"length": 154,
"summary": "As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.",
"poster_url": "https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt0092099%2F&psig=AOvVaw0uR8BYBdnNmkTirteXeQzJ&ust=1674849371237000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCIj9-Z6C5vwCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE",
"created_at": "2022-05-21T13:12:35.682Z",
"updated_at": "2022-05-21T19:11:11.682Z"
}
use the command below to have it installed in the gem file
gem 'active_model_serializers'
Once you run a bundle install then run:
rails g serializer model_name
it gets created in #app/serializers/model_name_serializer.rb
class ModelNameSerializer < ActiveModel::Serializer
attributes :id, :title, :year, :length, :director, :description, :poster_url, :summary
end
after the serializer is created, it should now look like this:
{
"id": 1,
"title": "Top Gun",
"year": 1986,
"length": 154,
"summary": "As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.",
"poster_url": "https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt0092099%2F&psig=AOvVaw0uR8BYBdnNmkTirteXeQzJ&ust=1674849371237000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCIj9-Z6C5vwCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE"
}
If you wanted to u wanted to create a custom method to return specific data based on what you have now, you could say:
def MovieCaption
"#{self.object.title} - #{self.object.description}..."
end
and add that method to the attributes to return.
If you had an array of objects you have specify which serializer to use:
render json: movies, each_serializer: ModelNameSerializer, status: :ok
Something to be mindful is that serializers override when you want to specify what you return in the controller.
Here is a link to the Docs to read more on it.
Thank you.
