converting QuerySet to list in concise way for test purposes

[stark glade]

Hello. I am stumbled over issue of correct assigning value to field with m2m relation.
So, in the essense I have such problem – how to convert in concise and clean way Queryset into list of ids of object from such Queryset
So, basic syntax I implemented now –

original_data['assignees'] = list(task.assignees.values_list('id', flat=True))[0],

looks very cumbersome and terrible.
Best option I discovered as of now it just do like this –

original_data['assignees'] = [worker1.id, worker2.id][0],

But it still looks strange and not good from my perspective.
So, could you please help me, how to do it in more clean and concise way?

[bitter cairn]

what is this trailing , ?

[stark glade]

Ok, I corrected, it's my fault

[stark glade]

But in case of converting QuerySet to list of ids, is there a concise way to do it?

[stark glade]

I mean if I don't want to use dictionary syntax as I did above

[craggy harness]

task.assignees.values_list(“id”, flat=True) is a list

Well. Functions as one. You can call list on it, as you did above, if you must have it as an exact list type

[stark glade]

So, only function as alternative? In my case function makes no sense. And I don't want to use values list method as well

[craggy harness]

No, by “functions as a list” I mean the result of values_list works exactly like a list in the vast majority of places you would need it.

[stark glade]

No other other options?

[craggy harness]

Why do you want other options?

[stark glade]

Because this one is not concise and clean

[craggy harness]

[x.id for x in task.assignees.all()] is another option, but less efficient.

[stark glade]

And I don't want to use dictionary key for assigning

[craggy harness]

It’s fine, it does exactly what you’re asking it to do and is exactly what that function is designed for.

[craggy harness]

What?

[stark glade]

This I don't want to use

original_data['assignees'] = task.assignees.values_list('id', flat=True)

[craggy harness]

Care to elaborate on why? Or just because you don’t feel like it?

I’m honestly a bit lost.

[stark glade]

Because I want that once I did this - task.assignees.add(worker1,worker2), I am expecting when subsequently I converted task to dictionary this field should be automatically turned to list of workers ids without any explicit actions

[craggy harness]

Right, well as this is the first time you’re telling us you’re converting an object to a dictionary, it’s very difficult to follow what you’re asking

Why are you converting it to a dictionary, and how are you expecting Django to just automatically know that you want the IDs?

[stark glade]

Because method post in test function accepts input data for updating an object as a dictionary (it's like payload in DRF)

[craggy harness]

Honestly, I think your entire approach to testing causes these weird problems.

Can you summarise, in one sentence, what exactly you're testing with this test case?

[stark glade]

Successful update task object with valid data

[stark glade]

Point is that I encounter issue with assigning value to field with m2m relationship

[craggy harness]

Isn't that what you fixed in the other question you posted?

My suggestion would probably be something along the lines of:

1. Have a dictionary that describes the object you want to update
2. Create that object in setUp or the test itself using the data in the dict
3. Make a copy of the dict with the updated data you want
4. Post that data to the endpoint
5. Fetch the object and assert that the updates applied

There is no way around crafting a dictionary of data to send to the update endpoint. Thats literally how the API works, so that's what you need to do in the test.