[Django]-Django rest framework. raise_exception=True

41👍

Usually when validating a serializer we do something like this

if not serializer.is_valid():
raise ValidationError(serializer.errors)

restapi catch this exception and return 400 response with the provided errors in form of list or dictionary.
A cleaner way for writing the code above is

serializer.is_valid(raise_exception=True)

80% of the time u will want to use raise_exception=True unless you need to handle serializer’s errors in your code rather than simply telling the user his input is wrong.

👤Ramast

0👍

In Django REST Framework (DRF), the serializer.is_valid(raise_exception=True) pattern is often used when dealing with data validation during API requests. This pattern helps streamline error handling and provides a more convenient way to respond to validation errors.
Example:

from rest_framework import serializers, status
from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework.views import APIView

class MyAPIView(APIView):
    def post(self, request):
        serializer = MySerializer(data=request.data)
        
        # Using is_valid with raise_exception=True
        serializer.is_valid(raise_exception=True)
        
        # Continue with processing the valid data
        # ...
        
        return Response({"message": "Data processed successfully"}, status=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)

Why use serializer.is_valid(raise_exception=True) :

Simplifies Error Handling: When you set raise_exception=True, DRF will automatically raise a serializers.ValidationError exception if the data validation fails. This simplifies your code because you don’t need to manually check the validity of the serializer and handle the error cases.

Consistency in Response Format: When an exception is raised due to invalid data, DRF generates a consistent error response format. This makes it easier for clients to understand and handle errors.

Avoids Redundant Code: By using raise_exception=True, you can avoid writing repetitive code to handle validation errors for each view. Instead, you can let DRF handle the exception and return an appropriate error response.

However, there might be cases where you want to handle validation errors differently or provide custom error responses. In such cases, you can opt to use is_valid(raise_exception=False) and handle the validation errors manually. This gives you more control over how the errors are presented in the response.

Leave a comment