Transform JSON to an appropriate format for RESTAdapter EmberJS - json

Question

I receive a JSON from our API that has the following format
[
{
"id": 45,
"name": "Pasta",
"_order": 0,
"is_hidden": null,
"is_list": false
},
{
"id": 46,
"name": "Salads",
"_order": 1,
"is_hidden": null,
"is_list": false
},
{
"id": 47,
"name": "Dessert",
"_order": 2,
"is_hidden": null,
"is_list": false
}
];
I see that it has invalid format for standard RESTAdapter and I need to put the name of the model first. In my example it should probably be like:
{
"category":
[
{
"id": 45,
"name": "Pasta",
"_order": 0,
"is_hidden": null,
"is_list": false
},
{
"id": 46,
"name": "Salads",
"_order": 1,
"is_hidden": null,
"is_list": false
},
{
"id": 47,
"name": "Dessert",
"_order": 2,
"is_hidden": null,
"is_list": false
}
]
}
So how to make it look this way in my adapter? It seems like I should use DS.RESTSerializer, but I can't figure out which method I should override...

Answer 1

I ran into this issue earlier today. A nice clean way to fix it is to define a
normalizePayload method for your ApplicationSerializer. It's made to be overwritten, so you aren't affecting anything else.
E.g.
App.ApplicationSerializer = DS.RESTSerializer.extend({
normalizePayload: function(type, payload) {
return { category: payload };
}
}
If you want to do this on only some of the payloads processed then you just add a conditional inside it.
App.ApplicationSerializer = DS.RESTSerializer.extend({
normalizePayload: function(type, payload) {
if (type.toString() === 'App.Category') {
return { category: payload };
}
}
}
For more info on the normalizePayload method see http://emberjs.com/api/data/classes/DS.RESTSerializer.html#method_normalizePayload

Answer 2

In general, you'll probably want to implement a couple of methods in your serializer if you have to tweak your JSON:
App.ApplicationSerializer = DS.RESTSerializer.extend({
normalize: function(type, hash, prop) {
// change your incoming JSON to ember-style here
},
serialize: function(record, options) {
// change your outgoing ember-data record to your server's JSON here
}
});
EDIT:
You may also in your case need to override extractArray as well: http://emberjs.com/api/data/classes/DS.RESTSerializer.html#method_extractArray

Answer 3

Neither normalizePayload nor normalize is working for me. What I am doing is:
// app/serializers/application.js
import DS from 'ember-data';
export default DS.RESTSerializer.extend({
extractArray: function(store, type, payload) {
var payloadTemp = {}
payloadTemp[type.typeKey] = payload;
return this._super(store, type, payloadTemp);
},
extractSingle: function(store, type, payload, id) {
var payloadTemp = {}
payloadTemp[type.typeKey] = [payload];
return this._super(store, type, payloadTemp, id);
}
});

Answer 4

Just nest the object represented by your JSON string inside a new object which adds the new property needed and then convert back to JSON. Like this:
var yourInitialJSONString; // your JSON from API
var obj = JSON.parse(yourInitialJSONString);
var newObj = {
category: obj
};
var finalJSON = JSON.stringify(newObj);
Alternatively, though probably only best for simple case and not as universally useful as working with actual objects, you could simply concatenate to your JSON:
var yourInitialJSONString; // your JSON from API
var finalJSON = '{"category":' + yourInitialJSONString + '}';
These might prove faster for simple use cases as you avoid deserialization and serialization. I just don't like it as much as I would rather work with actual objects represented by the data. If you need to do a more complex transformation it would probably prove to be more understandable in real word terms than doing a bunch of string concatenation/manipulation.