Class DS.ActiveModelSerializer

The ActiveModelSerializer is a subclass of the RESTSerializer designed to integrate with a JSON API that uses an underscored naming convention instead of camelCasing. It has been designed to work out of the box with the active_model_serializers Ruby gem. This Serializer expects specific settings using ActiveModel::Serializers, embed :ids, embed_in_root: true which sideloads the records.

This serializer extends the DS.RESTSerializer by making consistent use of the camelization, decamelization and pluralization methods to normalize the serialized JSON into a format that is compatible with a conventional Rails backend and Ember Data.

JSON Structure

The ActiveModelSerializer expects the JSON returned from your server to follow the REST adapter conventions substituting underscored keys for camelcased ones.

Conventional Names

Attribute names in your JSON payload should be the underscored versions of the attributes in your Ember.js models.

For example, if you have a Person model:

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App.FamousPerson = DS.Model.extend({
  firstName: DS.attr('string'),
  lastName: DS.attr('string'),
  occupation: DS.attr('string')
});

The JSON returned should look like this:

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{
  "famous_person": {
    "id": 1,
    "first_name": "Barack",
    "last_name": "Obama",
    "occupation": "President"
  }
}

Let's imagine that Occupation is just another model:

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App.Person = DS.Model.extend({
  firstName: DS.attr('string'),
  lastName: DS.attr('string'),
  occupation: DS.belongsTo('occupation')
});

App.Occupation = DS.Model.extend({
  name: DS.attr('string'),
  salary: DS.attr('number'),
  people: DS.hasMany('person')
});

The JSON needed to avoid extra server calls, should look like this:

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{
  "people": [{
    "id": 1,
    "first_name": "Barack",
    "last_name": "Obama",
    "occupation_id": 1
  }],

  "occupations": [{
    "id": 1,
    "name": "President",
    "salary": 100000,
    "person_ids": [1]
  }]
}

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import DS from 'ember-data';

export default DS.Model.extend({
  firstName: DS.attr('string'),
  lastName: DS.attr('string'),
  occupation: DS.attr('string'),
  admin: DS.attr('boolean')
});

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import DS from 'ember-data';

export default DS.JSONSerializer.extend({
  attrs: {
    admin: 'is_admin',
    occupation: { key: 'career' }
  }
});

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import DS from 'ember-data';

export default DS.JSONSerializer.extend({
  attrs: {
    admin: {serialize: false},
    occupation: { key: 'career' }
  }
});

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{
  "firstName": "Harry",
  "lastName": "Houdini",
  "career": "magician"
}

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import DS from 'ember-data';

export default DS.JSONSerializer.extend({
  primaryKey: '_id'
});