Grouping embedded resources in HAL

[Anthony Pane]

Is it ok for embedded to be used in sub properties?  For example, this resource is for a work time card for a week.  Rather than just show all shifts as a single embedded list on the time card, group them by day and provide some summary data for each day. 

 

{
   "_links": {
      "self": {
         "href": "/timecard/2"
      }
   },
   "shiftsSummary": {
      "numberShiftsWorked": 9,
      "hoursWorked": 45.5,
      "hoursPaid": 48.5,
      "numberOfMissingPunches": 0
   },
   "numberOfEdits": 14,
   "startDate": "2016-07-26T00:00",
   "endDate": "2016-08-01T00:00",
   "days": [
      {
         "date": "2016-07-26",
         "totalHoursWorked": 8.0,
         "_embedded": {
            "shifts": [
               {
                  "date": "2016-07-26T00:00",
                  "startDateTime": "2016-07-26T09:00",
                  "endDateTime": "2016-07-26T10:00",
                  "paidHours": 6.0,
                  "_links": {
                     "self": {
                        "href": "/shift/123"
                     }
                  }
               }
            ]
         }
      },
      {
         "date": "2016-07-27",
         "totalHoursWorked": 8.0,
         "_embedded": {
            "shifts": [
               {
                  "date": "2016-07-27T00:00",
                  "startDateTime": "2016-07-27T09:00",
                  "endDateTime": "2016-07-27T10:00",
                  "paidHours": 4.0,
                  "_links": {
                     "self": {
                        "href": "/shift/124"
                     }
                  }
               },
               {
                  "date": "2016-07-27T00:00",
                  "startDateTime": "2016-07-27T16:00",
                  "endDateTime": "2016-07-27T20:00",
                  "paidHours": 4.0,
                  "_links": {
                     "self": {
                        "href": "/shift/125"
                     }
                  }
               }
            ]
         }
      }
   ]
}

[Doug Orleans]

I don't think you can use embedded in sub-properties; the "days" objects in your example are not HAL resources, although I suppose you could declare them to be so with a JSON Schema. The point is, clients wouldn't know that the sub-objects are resources and not just plain objects, unless you told them somehow.

You could just make "days" be an embedded array, though, no?

{

  "_links": {

    "self": {

      "href": "/timecard/2"

    }

  },

  "_embedded": {

    "days": [

      {

         "date": "2016-07-26",
         "totalHoursWorked": 8.0,
         "_embedded"

: {
            "shifts": [ ... ]

         }

       },

       { ... }

     ]

  }

}

The embedded objects are not required to have self links, though it would be nice to provide them if that's feasible, i.e. to promote "day" to be a first-class resource. (Perhaps as "/timecard/2/day/1", etc).

--Doug

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