passing object data through URL

Question

I know that I can pass object values through a URL pattern and use them in view functions. For instance: ``` (r'^edit/(?P<id>\w+)/', edit_entry), ``` can be utilized like: ``` def edit_entry(request, id): if request.method == 'POST': a=Entry.objects.get(pk=id) form = EntryForm(request.POST, instance=a) if form.is_valid(): form.save() return HttpResponseRedirect('/contact/display/%s/' % id) else: a=Entry.objects.get(pk=id) form = EntryForm(instance=a) return render_to_response('edit_contact.html', {'form': form}) ``` But how do I pass a value from a model field (other than "id") in the url? For instance, I have an abstract base model with a field "job_number" that is shared by child models "OrderForm" and "SpecReport". I want to click on the "job_number" on the order form and call the Spec Report for that same job number. I can create an ``` href="/../specifications/{{ record.job_number }} ``` to pass the info to the url, but I already know that this regex syntax is incorrect: ``` (r'^…

Accepted Answer

Yes, you are making this a little more complicated that it is. In your `urls.py` you have: ``` (r'^edit/(?P\w+)/', edit_entry), ``` Now you just need to add the almost identical expression for display_specs: ``` (r'^specifications/(?P\w+)/', display_specs), ``` Parenthesis in the regex identifies a group and the `(?P...)` defines a named group which will be named `name`. This name is the parameter to your view. Thus, your view will now look like: ``` def display_specs(request, job_number): ... ``` Finally, even though this will work, when you redirect to the view, instead of using: ``` HttpResponseRedirect('/path/to/view/%s/' % job_number) ``` Use the more DRY: ``` HttpResponseRedirect( reverse('display_specs', kwargs={'job_number': a.job_number})) ``` Now if you decide to change your resource paths your redirect won't break. For this to work you need to start using named urls in your urlconf like this: ``` url(r'^specifications/(?P\w+)/', display_specs, name='display_specs'), ```

passing object data through URL

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