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Views

Writing Views

If your plugin will provide its own page or pages within the NetBox web UI, you'll need to define views. A view is a piece of business logic which performs an action and/or renders a page when a request is made to a particular URL. HTML content is rendered using a template. Views are typically defined in views.py, and URL patterns in urls.py.

As an example, let's write a view which displays a random animal and the sound it makes. We'll use Django's generic View class to minimize the amount of boilerplate code needed.

from django.shortcuts import render
from django.views.generic import View
from .models import Animal

class RandomAnimalView(View):
    """
    Display a randomly-selected animal.
    """
    def get(self, request):
        animal = Animal.objects.order_by('?').first()
        return render(request, 'netbox_animal_sounds/animal.html', {
            'animal': animal,
        })

This view retrieves a random Animal instance from the database and passes it as a context variable when rendering a template named animal.html. HTTP GET requests are handled by the view's get() method, and POST requests are handled by its post() method.

Our example above is extremely simple, but views can do just about anything. They are generally where the core of your plugin's functionality will reside. Views also are not limited to returning HTML content: A view could return a CSV file or image, for instance. For more information on views, see the Django documentation.

URL Registration

To make the view accessible to users, we need to register a URL for it. We do this in urls.py by defining a urlpatterns variable containing a list of paths.

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('random/', views.RandomAnimalView.as_view(), name='random_animal'),
]

A URL pattern has three components:

  • route - The unique portion of the URL dedicated to this view
  • view - The view itself
  • name - A short name used to identify the URL path internally

This makes our view accessible at the URL /plugins/animal-sounds/random/. (Remember, our AnimalSoundsConfig class sets our plugin's base URL to animal-sounds.) Viewing this URL should show the base NetBox template with our custom content inside it.

View Classes

NetBox provides several generic view classes (documented below) to facilitate common operations, such as creating, viewing, modifying, and deleting objects. Plugins can subclass these views for their own use.

View Class Description
ObjectView View a single object
ObjectEditView Create or edit a single object
ObjectDeleteView Delete a single object
ObjectChildrenView A list of child objects within the context of a parent
ObjectListView View a list of objects
BulkImportView Import a set of new objects
BulkEditView Edit multiple objects
BulkDeleteView Delete multiple objects

Warning

Please note that only the classes which appear in this documentation are currently supported. Although other classes may be present within the views.generic module, they are not yet supported for use by plugins.

Example Usage

# views.py
from netbox.views.generic import ObjectEditView
from .models import Thing

class ThingEditView(ObjectEditView):
    queryset = Thing.objects.all()
    template_name = 'myplugin/thing.html'
    ...

Object Views

Below are the class definitions for NetBox's object views. These views handle CRUD actions for individual objects. The view, add/edit, and delete views each inherit from BaseObjectView, which is not intended to be used directly.

BaseObjectView (ObjectPermissionRequiredMixin, View)

Base class for generic views which display or manipulate a single object.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
queryset

Django QuerySet from which the object(s) will be fetched

template_name

The name of the HTML template file to render

get_queryset(self, request)

Return the base queryset for the view. By default, this returns self.queryset.all().

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
request

The current request

required

get_object(self, **kwargs)

Return the object being viewed or modified. The object is identified by an arbitrary set of keyword arguments gleaned from the URL, which are passed to get_object_or_404(). (Typically, only a primary key is needed.)

If no matching object is found, return a 404 response.

get_extra_context(self, request, instance)

Return any additional context data to include when rendering the template.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
request

The current request

required
instance

The object being viewed

required

ObjectView (BaseObjectView)

Retrieve a single object for display.

Note: If template_name is not specified, it will be determined automatically based on the queryset model.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
tab

A ViewTab instance for the view

get_template_name(self)

Return self.template_name if defined. Otherwise, dynamically resolve the template name using the queryset model's app_label and model_name.

ObjectEditView (GetReturnURLMixin, BaseObjectView)

Create or edit a single object.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
form

The form used to create or edit the object

alter_object(self, obj, request, url_args, url_kwargs)

Provides a hook for views to modify an object before it is processed. For example, a parent object can be defined given some parameter from the request URL.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
obj

The object being edited

required
request

The current request

required
url_args

URL path args

required
url_kwargs

URL path kwargs

required

ObjectDeleteView (GetReturnURLMixin, BaseObjectView)

Delete a single object.

ObjectChildrenView (ObjectView, ActionsMixin, TableMixin)

Display a table of child objects associated with the parent object. For example, NetBox uses this to display the set of child IP addresses within a parent prefix.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
child_model

The model class which represents the child objects

table

The django-tables2 Table class used to render the child objects list

filterset

A django-filter FilterSet that is applied to the queryset

actions

A mapping of supported actions to their required permissions. When adding custom actions, bulk action names must be prefixed with bulk_. (See ActionsMixin.)

get_children(self, request, parent)

Return a QuerySet of child objects.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
request

The current request

required
parent

The parent object

required

prep_table_data(self, request, queryset, parent)

Provides a hook for subclassed views to modify data before initializing the table.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
request

The current request

required
queryset

The filtered queryset of child objects

required
parent

The parent object

required

Multi-Object Views

Below are the class definitions for NetBox's multi-object views. These views handle simultaneous actions for sets objects. The list, import, edit, and delete views each inherit from BaseMultiObjectView, which is not intended to be used directly.

BaseMultiObjectView (ObjectPermissionRequiredMixin, View)

Base class for generic views which display or manipulate multiple objects.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
queryset

Django QuerySet from which the object(s) will be fetched

table

The django-tables2 Table class used to render the objects list

template_name

The name of the HTML template file to render

get_queryset(self, request)

Return the base queryset for the view. By default, this returns self.queryset.all().

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
request

The current request

required

get_extra_context(self, request)

Return any additional context data to include when rendering the template.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
request

The current request

required

ObjectListView (BaseMultiObjectView, ActionsMixin, TableMixin)

Display multiple objects, all the same type, as a table.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
filterset

A django-filter FilterSet that is applied to the queryset

filterset_form

The form class used to render filter options

actions

A mapping of supported actions to their required permissions. When adding custom actions, bulk action names must be prefixed with bulk_. (See ActionsMixin.)

export_table(self, table, columns=None, filename=None)

Export all table data in CSV format.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
table

The Table instance to export

required
columns

A list of specific columns to include. If None, all columns will be exported.

None
filename

The name of the file attachment sent to the client. If None, will be determined automatically from the queryset model name.

None

export_template(self, template, request)

Render an ExportTemplate using the current queryset.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
template

ExportTemplate instance

required
request

The current request

required

BulkImportView (GetReturnURLMixin, BaseMultiObjectView)

Import objects in bulk (CSV format).

Attributes:

Name Type Description
model_form

The form used to create each imported object

save_object(self, object_form, request)

Provide a hook to modify the object immediately before saving it (e.g. to encrypt secret data).

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
object_form

The model form instance

required
request

The current request

required

BulkEditView (GetReturnURLMixin, BaseMultiObjectView)

Edit objects in bulk.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
filterset

FilterSet to apply when deleting by QuerySet

form

The form class used to edit objects in bulk

BulkDeleteView (GetReturnURLMixin, BaseMultiObjectView)

Delete objects in bulk.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
filterset

FilterSet to apply when deleting by QuerySet

table

The table used to display devices being deleted

get_form(self)

Provide a standard bulk delete form if none has been specified for the view

Feature Views

These views are provided to enable or enhance certain NetBox model features, such as change logging or journaling. These typically do not need to be subclassed: They can be used directly e.g. in a URL path.

ObjectChangeLogView (View)

Present a history of changes made to a particular object. The model class must be passed as a keyword argument when referencing this view in a URL path. For example:

path('sites/<int:pk>/changelog/', ObjectChangeLogView.as_view(), name='site_changelog', kwargs={'model': Site}),

Attributes:

Name Type Description
base_template

The name of the template to extend. If not provided, "{app}/{model}.html" will be used.

ObjectJournalView (View)

Show all journal entries for an object. The model class must be passed as a keyword argument when referencing this view in a URL path. For example:

path('sites/<int:pk>/journal/', ObjectJournalView.as_view(), name='site_journal', kwargs={'model': Site}),

Attributes:

Name Type Description
base_template

The name of the template to extend. If not provided, "{app}/{model}.html" will be used.

Extending Core Views

Additional Tabs

Plugins can "attach" a custom view to a core NetBox model by registering it with register_model_view(). To include a tab for this view within the NetBox UI, declare a TabView instance named tab:

from dcim.models import Site
from myplugin.models import Stuff
from netbox.views import generic
from utilities.views import ViewTab, register_model_view

@register_model_view(Site, name='myview', path='some-other-stuff')
class MyView(generic.ObjectView):
    ...
    tab = ViewTab(
        label='Other Stuff',
        badge=lambda obj: Stuff.objects.filter(site=obj).count(),
        permission='myplugin.view_stuff'
    )

register_model_view(model, name='', path=None, kwargs=None)

This decorator can be used to "attach" a view to any model in NetBox. This is typically used to inject additional tabs within a model's detail view. For example, to add a custom tab to NetBox's dcim.Site model:

@register_model_view(Site, 'myview', path='my-custom-view')
class MyView(ObjectView):
    ...

This will automatically create a URL path for MyView at /dcim/sites/<id>/my-custom-view/ which can be resolved using the view name `dcim:site_myview'.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
model

The Django model class with which this view will be associated.

required
name

The string used to form the view's name for URL resolution (e.g. via reverse()). This will be appended to the name of the base view for the model using an underscore. If blank, the model name will be used.

''
path

The URL path by which the view can be reached (optional). If not provided, name will be used.

None
kwargs

A dictionary of keyword arguments for the view to include when registering its URL path (optional).

None

ViewTab

ViewTabs are used for navigation among multiple object-specific views, such as the changelog or journal for a particular object.

Parameters:

Name Type Description Default
label

Human-friendly text

required
badge

A static value or callable to display alongside the label (optional). If a callable is used, it must accept a single argument representing the object being viewed.

None
weight

Numeric weight to influence ordering among other tabs (default: 1000)

1000
permission

The permission required to display the tab (optional).

None
hide_if_empty

If true, the tab will be displayed only if its badge has a meaningful value. (Tabs without a badge are always displayed.)

False

render(self, instance)

Return the attributes needed to render a tab in HTML.

Extra Template Content

Plugins can inject custom content into certain areas of core NetBox views. This is accomplished by subclassing PluginTemplateExtension, designating a particular NetBox model, and defining the desired method(s) to render custom content. Five methods are available:

Method View Description
left_page() Object view Inject content on the left side of the page
right_page() Object view Inject content on the right side of the page
full_width_page() Object view Inject content across the entire bottom of the page
buttons() Object view Add buttons to the top of the page
list_buttons() List view Add buttons to the top of the page

Additionally, a render() method is available for convenience. This method accepts the name of a template to render, and any additional context data you want to pass. Its use is optional, however.

When a PluginTemplateExtension is instantiated, context data is assigned to self.context. Available data include:

  • object - The object being viewed (object views only)
  • model - The model of the list view (list views only)
  • request - The current request
  • settings - Global NetBox settings
  • config - Plugin-specific configuration parameters

For example, accessing {{ request.user }} within a template will return the current user.

Declared subclasses should be gathered into a list or tuple for integration with NetBox. By default, NetBox looks for an iterable named template_extensions within a template_content.py file. (This can be overridden by setting template_extensions to a custom value on the plugin's PluginConfig.) An example is below.

from netbox.plugins import PluginTemplateExtension
from .models import Animal

class SiteAnimalCount(PluginTemplateExtension):
    model = 'dcim.site'

    def right_page(self):
        return self.render('netbox_animal_sounds/inc/animal_count.html', extra_context={
            'animal_count': Animal.objects.count(),
        })

template_extensions = [SiteAnimalCount]