Determine Future of RelationshipsToUpdate

[Fireblade954]

_jsonApiContext.RelationshipsToUpdate is not set for HasMany relations on PATCH requests?

in function SetHasOneRelationship _jsonApiContext.RelationshipsToUpdate is set.

JsonApiDotNetCore/src/JsonApiDotNetCore/Serialization/JsonApiDeSerializer.cs

Line 232 in 271693a

_jsonApiContext.RelationshipsToUpdate[relationshipAttr] = convertedValue;

in function SetHasManyRelationship _jsonApiContext.RelationshipsToUpdate is NOT set.

is this by design? or forgotten?

[jaredcnance]

The RelationshipsToUpdate dictionary is used to set the FK properties on HasOne relationships:

JsonApiDotNetCore/src/JsonApiDotNetCore/Serialization/JsonApiDeSerializer.cs

Lines 229 to 232 in 271693a

	var newValue = rio?.Id ?? null;
	var convertedValue = TypeHelper.ConvertType(newValue, foreignKeyProperty.PropertyType);
	_jsonApiContext.RelationshipsToUpdate[relationshipAttr] = convertedValue;

In the case of HasMany, there are no FK properties to update since the HasMany attribute should exist on the independent side of the relationship. Instead, we track pointers to the relationship through HasManyRelationshipPointers/HasOneRelationshipPointers

JsonApiDotNetCore/src/JsonApiDotNetCore/Serialization/JsonApiDeSerializer.cs

Line 281 in 271693a

_jsonApiContext.HasManyRelationshipPointers.Add(attr.Type, convertedCollection);

JsonApiDotNetCore/src/JsonApiDotNetCore/Data/DefaultEntityRepository.cs

Lines 94 to 114 in 4481147

	protected virtual void AttachRelationships()
	{
	AttachHasManyPointers();
	AttachHasOnePointers();
	}
	/// <summary>
	/// This is used to allow creation of HasMany relationships when the
	/// dependent side of the relationship already exists.
	/// </summary>
	private void AttachHasManyPointers()
	{
	var relationships = _jsonApiContext.HasManyRelationshipPointers.Get();
	foreach(var relationship in relationships)
	{
	foreach(var pointer in relationship.Value)
	{
	_context.Entry(pointer).State = EntityState.Unchanged;
	}
	}
	}

JsonApiDotNetCore/src/JsonApiDotNetCore/Services/IJsonApiContext.cs

Lines 54 to 107 in 4481147

	/// <summary>
	/// Stores information to set relationships for the request resource.
	/// These relationships must already exist and should not be re-created.
	/// By default, it is the responsibility of the repository to use the
	/// relationship pointers to persist the relationship.
	///
	/// The expected use case is POST-ing or PATCH-ing an entity with HasMany
	/// relaitonships:
	/// <code>
	/// {
	/// "data": {
	/// "type": "photos",
	/// "attributes": {
	/// "title": "Ember Hamster",
	/// "src": "http://example.com/images/productivity.png"
	/// },
	/// "relationships": {
	/// "tags": {
	/// "data": [
	/// { "type": "tags", "id": "2" },
	/// { "type": "tags", "id": "3" }
	/// ]
	/// }
	/// }
	/// }
	/// }
	/// </code>
	/// </summary>
	HasManyRelationshipPointers HasManyRelationshipPointers { get; }
	/// <summary>
	/// Stores information to set relationships for the request resource.
	/// These relationships must already exist and should not be re-created.
	///
	/// The expected use case is POST-ing or PATCH-ing
	/// an entity with HasOne relationships:
	/// <code>
	/// {
	/// "data": {
	/// "type": "photos",
	/// "attributes": {
	/// "title": "Ember Hamster",
	/// "src": "http://example.com/images/productivity.png"
	/// },
	/// "relationships": {
	/// "photographer": {
	/// "data": { "type": "people", "id": "2" }
	/// }
	/// }
	/// }
	/// }
	/// </code>
	/// </summary>
	HasOneRelationshipPointers HasOneRelationshipPointers { get; }

Perhaps the oversight is not deprecating the RelationshipsToUpdate dictionary. It looks like we should be able to use HasOneRelationshipPointers only.

This change was made in v2.3.2 via #314. Was this a breaking change for you?

[Fireblade954]

Not necessarily a breaking change just did the assumption RelationshipsToUpdate contained all relations send in a PATCH request. We are not directly connected to the dbContext so i need to process the relations send in the patch request manually.

Ill use HasOneRelationshipPointers and HasManyRelationshipPointers to update my entities.

[jaredcnance]

@Fireblade954 I understand the confusion. I'm going to leave this issue open so we can track plans on improving this experience. I've also created json-api-dotnet/json-api-dotnet.github.io#6 to track documentation improvements.

[maurei]

Outdated