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DurationField output format #8532

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5723ba1
Allow format duration as ISO-8601
sevdog Jun 24, 2022
c3efa55
Update tests/test_fields.py
auvipy Apr 29, 2025
4377b08
Update tests/test_fields.py
auvipy Apr 29, 2025
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7 changes: 5 additions & 2 deletions docs/api-guide/fields.md
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Expand Up @@ -377,13 +377,16 @@ A Duration representation.
Corresponds to `django.db.models.fields.DurationField`

The `validated_data` for these fields will contain a `datetime.timedelta` instance.
The representation is a string following this format `'[DD] [HH:[MM:]]ss[.uuuuuu]'`.

**Signature:** `DurationField(max_value=None, min_value=None)`
**Signature:** `DurationField(format=api_settings.DURATION_FORMAT, max_value=None, min_value=None)`

* `format` - A string representing the output format. If not specified, this defaults to the same value as the `DURATION_FORMAT` settings key, which will be `'standard'` unless set. Setting to a format string indicates that `to_representation` return values should be coerced to string output. Format strings are described below. Setting this value to `None` indicates that Python `timedelta` objects should be returned by `to_representation`. In this case the date encoding will be determined by the renderer.
* `max_value` Validate that the duration provided is no greater than this value.
* `min_value` Validate that the duration provided is no less than this value.

#### `DurationField` format strings
Format strings may either be the special string `'iso-8601'`, which indicates that [ISO 8601][iso8601] style intervals should be used (eg `'P4DT1H15M20S'`), or the special string `'standard'`, which indicates that Django interval format `'[DD] [HH:[MM:]]ss[.uuuuuu]'` should be used (eg: `'4 1:15:20'`).
Comment on lines +383 to +388
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I find the use of the term "format string" very confusing here. The term means something else in Python, referring to string with placeholder variables that get filled in. That sounds like one could set format="%h:%m:%s" to get the duration in hours, minutes, seconds, but that is not the case. Please find another word, like "format family", "format variety", ... or something.

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Good point, how about format_name?

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sounds good!

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I used the "format" name just to keep uniformity with date/time fields, because to me it looked more elegant.

Since there is nothing like strftime/strptime for timedelta this may also just be a flag if it is clear/readable enough.


---

# Choice selection fields
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9 changes: 9 additions & 0 deletions docs/api-guide/settings.md
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Expand Up @@ -314,6 +314,15 @@ May be a list including the string `'iso-8601'` or Python [strftime format][strf

Default: `['iso-8601']`


#### DURATION_FORMAT

A format string that should be used by default for rendering the output of `DurationField` serializer fields. If `None`, then `DurationField` serializer fields will return Python `timedelta` objects, and the duration encoding will be determined by the renderer.
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If None, then DurationField serializer fields will return Python timedelta objects, and the duration encoding will be determined by the renderer.

What output style does this produce with the current JSONRenderer?

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Using the current JSONRenderer, which uses JSONEncoder it will output the string value of "total seconds" (doc).

django-rest-framework/rest_framework/utils/encoders.py

Lines 39 to 40 in 129890a

elif isinstance(obj, datetime.timedelta):
return str(obj.total_seconds())

Using the same example value will be:

from datetime import timedelta
d = timedelta(days=4, hours=1, minutes=15, seconds=20)
print(str(d.total_seconds())
# 350120.0


May be any of `None`, `'iso-8601'` or `'standard'` (the format accepted by `django.utils.dateparse.parse_duration`).

Default: `'standard'`

---

## Encodings
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions rest_framework/__init__.py
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Expand Up @@ -21,6 +21,7 @@

# Default datetime input and output formats
ISO_8601 = 'iso-8601'
STD_DURATION = 'standard'
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It turns out that this value isn't used anywhere; as long as format is set to anything else but ISO_8601, we end up with 'standard' behavior.

That's probably not intended. Can this be correct? Let's also add a test case for the behavior with an unknown format value.

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That value was placed just to be a placeholder for the default format. It may just be set to None in settings.py. I added the "standard" after this conversation just to improve readability. The format-as-ISO may also be a flag, however that pattern may be harder to read and would add a non-uniformity with other time-related fields.

It is true that django itself does not provide much flexibility with duration representation, which also comes from stdlib timedelta which has no implementation with to-str or from-str like date/time does.

Which way do you prefer for completing this?



class RemovedInDRF317Warning(PendingDeprecationWarning):
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13 changes: 11 additions & 2 deletions rest_framework/fields.py
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Expand Up @@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
from django.utils.dateparse import (
parse_date, parse_datetime, parse_duration, parse_time
)
from django.utils.duration import duration_string
from django.utils.duration import duration_iso_string, duration_string
from django.utils.encoding import is_protected_type, smart_str
from django.utils.formats import localize_input, sanitize_separators
from django.utils.ipv6 import clean_ipv6_address
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1351,9 +1351,11 @@ class DurationField(Field):
'overflow': _('The number of days must be between {min_days} and {max_days}.'),
}

def __init__(self, **kwargs):
def __init__(self, format=empty, **kwargs):
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We should disallow specifying this as positional argument: DurationField('iso-8601') (we don't want that).

All other options come from the **kwargs...

self.max_value = kwargs.pop('max_value', None)
self.min_value = kwargs.pop('min_value', None)
if format is not empty:
self.format = format
super().__init__(**kwargs)
if self.max_value is not None:
message = lazy_format(self.error_messages['max_value'], max_value=self.max_value)
Expand All @@ -1376,6 +1378,13 @@ def to_internal_value(self, value):
self.fail('invalid', format='[DD] [HH:[MM:]]ss[.uuuuuu]')

def to_representation(self, value):
output_format = getattr(self, 'format', api_settings.DURATION_FORMAT)

if output_format is None or isinstance(value, str):
return value

if output_format.lower() == ISO_8601:
return duration_iso_string(value)
return duration_string(value)


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4 changes: 3 additions & 1 deletion rest_framework/settings.py
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Expand Up @@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
from django.core.signals import setting_changed
from django.utils.module_loading import import_string

from rest_framework import ISO_8601
from rest_framework import ISO_8601, STD_DURATION

DEFAULTS = {
# Base API policies
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -109,6 +109,8 @@
'TIME_FORMAT': ISO_8601,
'TIME_INPUT_FORMATS': [ISO_8601],

'DURATION_FORMAT': STD_DURATION,

# Encoding
'UNICODE_JSON': True,
'COMPACT_JSON': True,
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25 changes: 24 additions & 1 deletion tests/test_fields.py
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Expand Up @@ -1773,8 +1773,31 @@ class TestDurationField(FieldValues):
field = serializers.DurationField()


# Choice types...
class TestNoOutputFormatDurationField(FieldValues):
"""
Values for `TimeField` with a no output format.
"""
valid_inputs = {}
invalid_inputs = {}
outputs = {
datetime.timedelta(1): datetime.timedelta(1)
}
field = serializers.DurationField(format=None)


class TestISOOutputFormatDurationField(FieldValues):
"""
Values for `TimeField` with a custom output format.
"""
valid_inputs = {}
invalid_inputs = {}
Comment on lines +1792 to +1793
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Would be nice to add test coverage for parsing duration in ISO format, as I would expect it to work both ways

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Currently the parse_duration method of django, which is used inside DurationField, already parses ISO-8601 format and the format specific to postgres by its own.

This could be added to the TestDurationField testcase.

Where do you prefer these tests to be added?

PS:
From this point of view the current error message "Use one of these formats instead: [DD] [HH:[MM:]]ss[.uuuuuu]" is not (completely) right, however changing it would be a breaking change.

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I'm not sure where that an extension of this error message should be considered a breaking change; the wording "one of" already hints that the application should not rely the one specific format being given in the message.

outputs = {
datetime.timedelta(days=3, hours=8, minutes=32, seconds=1, microseconds=123): 'P3DT08H32M01.000123S'
}
field = serializers.DurationField(format='iso-8601')


# Choice types...
class TestChoiceField(FieldValues):
"""
Valid and invalid values for `ChoiceField`.
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