Edit Endpoint & Deserialization
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Login SubscribeI want more fancy! Seriously, we're going to add pretty much everything we can think of to make this a sweet, flexible, sort of, file "gallery". What about allowing the user to update a file reference?
Okay, well, we're not going to allow the user to update the actual attached file, there's just no point. Want to upload a newer version of a file? Just delete the old one and upload the new one. Feature, done!
But we could allow them to change the filename. Remember: this is the original filename. And, yea, if they uploaded a file called astronaut.jpeg, it would be totally cool to let them change that to something else after. Let's do it!
The Update API Endpoint
Let's keep thinking about our ArticleReference routes as a set of nice, RESTful API endpoints. We already have an endpoint to create and delete an ArticleReference. This will be an endpoint to edit a reference... except that the only field the user will be allowed to edit will be the originalFilename.
Copy the beginning of our delete endpoint, paste, close it up and we'll call this updateArticleReference(). Keep the same URL, but change the route name to admin_article_update_reference - it should be reference, not references, let's fix that in both places - I don't think I'm referencing that route name anywhere. And instead of methods={"DELETE"}, use methods={"PUT"}.
| // ... lines 1 - 19 | |
| class ArticleReferenceAdminController extends BaseController | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 22 - 132 | |
| /** | |
| * @Route("/admin/article/references/{id}", name="admin_article_update_reference", methods={"PUT"}) | |
| */ | |
| public function updateArticleReference(ArticleReference $reference, UploaderHelper $uploaderHelper, EntityManagerInterface $entityManager) | |
| { | |
| $article = $reference->getArticle(); | |
| $this->denyAccessUnlessGranted('MANAGE', $article); | |
| } | |
| } |
Cool! Let's think about how we want this endpoint to work. First, our JavaScript will send a request with a JSON body that contains the data that should be updated on the ArticleReference. In this case, the data will have only one field: originalFilename.
Deserializing JSON
So far, we've been using $this->json() to turn an object or multiple objects into JSON. This uses Symfony's serializer behind the scenes. Now we're going to use the serializer to do the opposite: to turn JSON back into an ArticleReference object. That's called deserialization and... it's... pretty freakin' awesome!
Let's add a few more arguments: SerializerInterface $serializer and Request - the one from HttpFoundation - so we can read the raw JSON body.
| // ... lines 1 - 15 | |
| use Symfony\Component\Serializer\SerializerInterface; | |
| // ... lines 17 - 20 | |
| class ArticleReferenceAdminController extends BaseController | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 23 - 136 | |
| public function updateArticleReference(ArticleReference $reference, EntityManagerInterface $entityManager, SerializerInterface $serializer, Request $request) | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 139 - 162 | |
| } | |
| } |
To automagically turn the JSON into an ArticleReference object, say $serializer->deserialize(). The serializer only has these two methods: serialize() and deserialize().
| // ... lines 1 - 20 | |
| class ArticleReferenceAdminController extends BaseController | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 23 - 136 | |
| public function updateArticleReference(ArticleReference $reference, EntityManagerInterface $entityManager, SerializerInterface $serializer, Request $request) | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 139 - 141 | |
| $serializer->deserialize( | |
| // ... lines 143 - 149 | |
| ); | |
| // ... lines 151 - 162 | |
| } | |
| } |
This method needs the raw JSON from the request - that's $request->getContent(), what type of object to turn this into - ArticleReference::class - and the format of the data: json, because the serializer can also handle XML or any crazy format you dream up.
| // ... lines 1 - 20 | |
| class ArticleReferenceAdminController extends BaseController | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 23 - 136 | |
| public function updateArticleReference(ArticleReference $reference, EntityManagerInterface $entityManager, SerializerInterface $serializer, Request $request) | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 139 - 141 | |
| $serializer->deserialize( | |
| $request->getContent(), | |
| ArticleReference::class, | |
| 'json', | |
| // ... lines 146 - 149 | |
| ); | |
| // ... lines 151 - 162 | |
| } | |
| } |
Finally, we can pass some options - called "context". By default, deserialize() will always create a new object... but we want it to update an existing object. To do that, pass an option called object_to_populate set to $reference.
| // ... lines 1 - 20 | |
| class ArticleReferenceAdminController extends BaseController | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 23 - 136 | |
| public function updateArticleReference(ArticleReference $reference, EntityManagerInterface $entityManager, SerializerInterface $serializer, Request $request) | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 139 - 141 | |
| $serializer->deserialize( | |
| $request->getContent(), | |
| ArticleReference::class, | |
| 'json', | |
| [ | |
| 'object_to_populate' => $reference, | |
| // ... line 148 | |
| ] | |
| ); | |
| // ... lines 151 - 162 | |
| } | |
| } |
Oh, and when we've been serializing, we've been passing a groups option, which tells the serializer to put the properties from the "main" group into the JSON. We can do the same thing here: we don't want a clever user to be able to update the internal filename or the id: we need to restrict their power to changing the originalFilename.
Above $originalFilename, turn the groups value into an array and give it a second group: input.
| // ... lines 1 - 11 | |
| class ArticleReference | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 14 - 33 | |
| /** | |
| // ... line 35 | |
| * @Groups({"main", "input"}) | |
| */ | |
| private $originalFilename; | |
| // ... lines 39 - 100 | |
| } |
In the controller, way back down here, set groups to input. So if any other fields or passed, they'll just be ignored.
| // ... lines 1 - 20 | |
| class ArticleReferenceAdminController extends BaseController | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 23 - 136 | |
| public function updateArticleReference(ArticleReference $reference, EntityManagerInterface $entityManager, SerializerInterface $serializer, Request $request) | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 139 - 141 | |
| $serializer->deserialize( | |
| $request->getContent(), | |
| ArticleReference::class, | |
| 'json', | |
| [ | |
| 'object_to_populate' => $reference, | |
| 'groups' => ['input'] | |
| ] | |
| ); | |
| // ... lines 151 - 162 | |
| } | |
| } |
And... yea, that's it! We do need to think about validation - but, pff, we'll handle that later - like in 2 minutes. Right now we can celebrate with $entityManager->persist($reference)... which we technically don't need because this isn't a new object, but I usually add it, and $entityManager->flush().
| // ... lines 1 - 20 | |
| class ArticleReferenceAdminController extends BaseController | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 23 - 136 | |
| public function updateArticleReference(ArticleReference $reference, EntityManagerInterface $entityManager, SerializerInterface $serializer, Request $request) | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 139 - 151 | |
| $entityManager->persist($reference); | |
| $entityManager->flush(); | |
| // ... lines 154 - 162 | |
| } | |
| } |
What should we return? Typically after you edit a resource in an API, we return that resource again. Scroll all the way up to our upload endpoint and steal the JSON logic. We could also refactor this into a private method if we wanted to avoid duplication. Back down in our method, paste, rename the variable to $reference and use 200 as the status code: we're not creating a resource in this case.
| // ... lines 1 - 20 | |
| class ArticleReferenceAdminController extends BaseController | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 23 - 136 | |
| public function updateArticleReference(ArticleReference $reference, EntityManagerInterface $entityManager, SerializerInterface $serializer, Request $request) | |
| { | |
| // ... lines 139 - 154 | |
| return $this->json( | |
| $reference, | |
| 200, | |
| [], | |
| [ | |
| 'groups' => ['main'] | |
| ] | |
| ); | |
| } | |
| } |
Ok, that endpoint should be good! Or at least, we're ready to hook up our JavaScript so we can find out if it explodes when we use it! That's next.
Hi Ryan, thank you for the video. This block is not updating the passed reference obj
If I dump $reference right after, I get the same old values and the file name is not updated. Any thoughts?
P.S. I even copy/pasted your code to make sure I hadn't mistyped something, but it's the same thing.
Your help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks