Snippets by mhalle

JSON-compatible query filter specification

This function is designed to make it easier to specify client-side query filtering options using JSON. Django has a great set of query operators as part of its database API. However, there's no way I know of to specify them in a way that's serializable, which means they can't be created on the client side or stored. `build_query_filter_from_spec()` is a function that solves this problem by describing query filters using a vaguely LISP-like syntax. Query filters consist of lists with the filter operator name first, and arguments following. Complicated query filters can be composed by nesting descriptions. Read the doc string for more information. To use this function in an AJAX application, construct a filter description in JavaScript on the client, serialize it to JSON, and send it over the wire using POST. On the server side, do something like: > `from django.utils import simplejson` > `filterString = request.POST.get('filter', '[]')` > `filterSpec = simplejson.loads(filterString)` > `q = build_query_filter_from_spec(filterSpec)` > `result = Thing.objects.filter(q)` You could also use this technique to serialize/marshall a query and store it in a database.