`meta` property in relationship is dropped when deserializing

According to the spec, a relationship’s data can contain meta, i.e. jsonApiObject.data[*].relationships.<field>.data[*].meta can exists. (Also applies to singular data/response object)

Or more formally, according to the specification:

1. Top Level contains data, which must be either single or array of “resource objects”
2. Resource Objects may contain relationships, which is a “relationships object”
3. (Each) Relationship Object contains data, which is a “resource linkage”
4. Resource Linkage can be either single or array of “resource identifier object”
5. Resource Identifier Objects may include meta

In my case which uses Jsona with Drupal, problem arises because Drupal uses individual relationship object’s meta to transmit image alt texts. As a result the alt text is lost.

As an example, this is a stripped JSON:API response from Drupal:

{
  "jsonapi": {
    "version": "1.0",
    "meta": {
      "links": {
        "self": {
          "href": "http://jsonapi.org/format/1.0/"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "data": [{
    "type": "node--site_configuration",
    "id": "f8895943-7f51-451b-bb8f-a479853f1b4b",
    "links": {
      "self": {
        "href": "http://acmecorp-cms.lndo.site/en/jsonapi/node/site_configuration/f8895943-7f51-451b-bb8f-a479853f1b4b?resourceVersion=id%3A230"
      }
    },
    "attributes": {
      "langcode": "en",
      "title": "Site Configuration"
    },
    "relationships": {
      "field_logo": {
        "data": {
          "type": "file--file",
          "id": "551ec1b9-b0c6-4649-bb7c-b6ebb09354ff",
          "meta": {
            "alt": "ACME Corp Logo",
            "title": "",
            "width": 206,
            "height": 278
          }
        },
        "links": {
          "related": {
            "href": "http://acmecorp-cms.lndo.site/en/jsonapi/node/site_configuration/f8895943-7f51-451b-bb8f-a479853f1b4b/field_logo?resourceVersion=id%3A230"
          },
          "self": {
            "href": "http://acmecorp-cms.lndo.site/en/jsonapi/node/site_configuration/f8895943-7f51-451b-bb8f-a479853f1b4b/relationships/field_logo?resourceVersion=id%3A230"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }],
  "included": [{
    "type": "file--file",
    "id": "551ec1b9-b0c6-4649-bb7c-b6ebb09354ff",
    "links": {
      "self": {
        "href": "http://acmecorp-cms.lndo.site/en/jsonapi/file/file/551ec1b9-b0c6-4649-bb7c-b6ebb09354ff"
      }
    },
    "attributes": {
      "langcode": "en",
      "uri": {
        "value": "public://2020-07/acmecorp-logo-colour-2x.png",
        "url": "http://acmecorp.oss-cn-hongkong.aliyuncs.com/s3fs-public/2020-07/acmecorp-logo-colour-2x.png"
      },
      "filemime": "image/png",
      "filesize": 54952
    }
  }]
}

Notice there is alt: "ACME Corp Logo" in meta object in data[0].relationships.field_logo.data.

If we try to parse it with a simple Jsona code, i.e.

const Jsona = require('jsona').default;

const dataFormatter = new Jsona();

const data = require('./drupal-jsonapi-response.json');

console.log(JSON.stringify(dataFormatter.deserialize(data), null, 2));

The output is

[
  {
    "type": "node--site_configuration",
    "id": "f8895943-7f51-451b-bb8f-a479853f1b4b",
    "langcode": "en",
    "title": "Site Configuration",
    "links": {
      "self": {
        "href": "http://acmecorp-cms.lndo.site/en/jsonapi/node/site_configuration/f8895943-7f51-451b-bb8f-a479853f1b4b?resourceVersion=id%3A230"
      }
    },
    "field_logo": {
      "type": "file--file",
      "id": "551ec1b9-b0c6-4649-bb7c-b6ebb09354ff",
      "langcode": "en",
      "uri": {
        "value": "public://2020-07/acmecorp-logo-colour-2x.png",
        "url": "http://acmecorp.oss-cn-hongkong.aliyuncs.com/s3fs-public/2020-07/acmecorp-logo-colour-2x.png"
      },
      "filemime": "image/png",
      "filesize": 54952,
      "links": {
        "self": {
          "href": "http://acmecorp-cms.lndo.site/en/jsonapi/file/file/551ec1b9-b0c6-4649-bb7c-b6ebb09354ff"
        }
      }
    },
    "relationshipNames": [
      "field_logo"
    ]
  }
]

As seen, the meta object along with alt: "ACME Corp Logo" is gone.

[olosegres]

@ericwong3 Sorry, I got confused and added meta processing at the wrong level. Meta that you want will store in resourceIdObjMeta field. Upgrade to 1.8.0 please

[coatezy]

Hey @olosegres! Thanks for checking! 😄 As per my latest comment, I’ve found the issue and I can get the resourceIdObjMeta to work. My issue is probably due to the way that I’m trying to use the JSON API to create reusable fragments to mock scenarios in a mock API to carry out E2E tests in a native application.

I’ve attached a better example so you can see my data object. You will notice that user2 relation contains the resourceIdObjMeta attribute, but user1 does not as it is being included in another relationship one level higher without the meta attribute being set.

https://runkit.com/5f99eba543333e001aae7d26/5f99ebb0508e820013d737a8