Django optional url parameters

I have a Django URL like this:

url(
    r'^project_config/(?P<product>\w+)/(?P<project_id>\w+)/$',
    'tool.views.ProjectConfig',
    name='project_config'
),

views.py:

def ProjectConfig(request, product, project_id=None, template_name='project.html'):
    ...
    # do stuff

The problem is that I want the project_id parameter to be optional.

I want /project_config/ and /project_config/12345abdce/ to be equally valid URL patterns, so that if project_id is passed, then I can use it.

As it stands at the moment, I get a 404 when I access the URL without the project_id parameter.

Solution 1:

There are several approaches.

One is to use a non-capturing group in the regex: (?:/(?P<title>[a-zA-Z]+)/)?
Making a Regex Django URL Token Optional

Another, easier to follow way is to have multiple rules that matches your needs, all pointing to the same view.

urlpatterns = patterns('',
    url(r'^project_config/$', views.foo),
    url(r'^project_config/(?P<product>\w+)/$', views.foo),
    url(r'^project_config/(?P<product>\w+)/(?P<project_id>\w+)/$', views.foo),
)

Keep in mind that in your view you'll also need to set a default for the optional URL parameter, or you'll get an error:

def foo(request, optional_parameter=''):
    # Your code goes here

Solution 2:

Django > 2.0 version:

The approach is essentially identical with the one given in Yuji 'Tomita' Tomita's Answer. Affected, however, is the syntax:

# URLconf
...

urlpatterns = [
    path(
        'project_config/<product>/',
        views.get_product, 
        name='project_config'
    ),
    path(
        'project_config/<product>/<project_id>/',
        views.get_product,
        name='project_config'
    ),
]


# View (in views.py)
def get_product(request, product, project_id='None'):
    # Output the appropriate product
    ...

Using path() you can also pass extra arguments to a view with the optional argument kwargs that is of type dict. In this case your view would not need a default for the attribute project_id:

    ...
    path(
        'project_config/<product>/',
        views.get_product,
        kwargs={'project_id': None},
        name='project_config'
    ),
    ...

For how this is done in the most recent Django version, see the official docs about URL dispatching.

Solution 3:

You can use nested routes

Django <1.8

urlpatterns = patterns(''
    url(r'^project_config/', include(patterns('',
        url(r'^$', ProjectConfigView.as_view(), name="project_config")
        url(r'^(?P<product>\w+)$', include(patterns('',
            url(r'^$', ProductView.as_view(), name="product"),
            url(r'^(?P<project_id>\w+)$', ProjectDetailView.as_view(), name="project_detail")
        ))),
    ))),
)

Django >=1.8

urlpatterns = [
    url(r'^project_config/', include([
        url(r'^$', ProjectConfigView.as_view(), name="project_config")
        url(r'^(?P<product>\w+)$', include([
            url(r'^$', ProductView.as_view(), name="product"),
            url(r'^(?P<project_id>\w+)$', ProjectDetailView.as_view(), name="project_detail")
        ])),
    ])),
]

This is a lot more DRY (Say you wanted to rename the product kwarg to product_id, you only have to change line 4, and it will affect the below URLs.

Edited for Django 1.8 and above