Django Sorcery - Django Framework integration with SQLAlchemy

• Free software: MIT license
• GitHub: https://github.com/shosca/django-sorcery

SQLAlchemy is an excellent orm. And Django is a great framework, until you decide not to use Django ORM. This library provides utilities, helpers and configurations to ease the pain of using SQLAlchemy with Django. It aims to provide a similar development experience to building a Django application with Django ORM, except with SQLAlchemy.

Installation

pip install django-sorcery

Quick Start

Lets start by creating a site:

$ django-admin startproject mysite

And lets create an app:

$ cd mysite
$ python manage.py startapp polls

This will create a polls app with standard django app layout:

$ tree
.
├── manage.py
├── polls
│   ├── admin.py
│   ├── apps.py
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── migrations
│   │   └── __init__.py
│   ├── models.py
│   ├── tests.py
│   └── views.py
└── mysite
   ├── __init__.py
   ├── settings.py
   ├── urls.py
   └── wsgi.py

3 directories, 12 files

And lets add our polls app and django_sorcery in INSTALLED_APPS in mysite/settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
   'django.contrib.admin',
   'django.contrib.auth',
   'django.contrib.contenttypes',
   'django.contrib.sessions',
   'django.contrib.messages',
   'django.contrib.staticfiles',
   'django_sorcery',
   'polls.apps.PollsConfig',
]

Now we're going to make a twist and start building our app with sqlalchemy. Lets define our models in polls/models.py:

from django_sorcery.db import databases


db = databases.get("default")


class Question(db.Model):
   pk = db.Column(db.Integer(), autoincrement=True, primary_key=True)
   question_text = db.Column(db.String(length=200))
   pub_date = db.Column(db.DateTime())


class Choice(db.Model):
   pk = db.Column(db.Integer(), autoincrement=True, primary_key=True)
   choice_text = db.Column(db.String(length=200))
   votes = db.Column(db.Integer(), default=0)

   question = db.ManyToOne(Question, backref=db.backref("choices", cascade="all, delete-orphan"))

Now that we have some models, lets create a migration using alembic integration:

$ python manage.py sorcery revision -m "Add question and poll models" polls
  Generating ./polls/migrations/3983fc419e10_add_question_and_poll_models.py ... done

Let's take a look at the generated migration file ./polls/migrations/3983fc419e10_add_question_and_poll_models.py:

"""
Add question and poll models

Revision ID: 3983fc419e10
Revises:
Create Date: 2019-04-16 20:57:48.154179
"""

from alembic import op
import sqlalchemy as sa


# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
revision = '3983fc419e10'
down_revision = None
branch_labels = None
depends_on = None


def upgrade():
   # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
   op.create_table('question',
   sa.Column('pk', sa.Integer(), autoincrement=True, nullable=False),
   sa.Column('question_text', sa.String(length=200), nullable=True),
   sa.Column('pub_date', sa.DateTime(), nullable=True),
   sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('pk')
   )
   op.create_table('choice',
   sa.Column('pk', sa.Integer(), autoincrement=True, nullable=False),
   sa.Column('choice_text', sa.String(length=200), nullable=True),
   sa.Column('votes', sa.Integer(), nullable=True),
   sa.Column('question_pk', sa.Integer(), nullable=True),
   sa.ForeignKeyConstraint(['question_pk'], ['question.pk'], ),
   sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint('pk')
   )
   # ### end Alembic commands ###


def downgrade():
   # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
   op.drop_table('choice')
   op.drop_table('question')
   # ### end Alembic commands ###

Let's take a look at generated sql:

$ python manage.py sorcery upgrade --sql polls

CREATE TABLE alembic_version_polls (
   version_num VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL,
   CONSTRAINT alembic_version_polls_pkc PRIMARY KEY (version_num)
);

-- Running upgrade  -> d7d86e07cc8e

CREATE TABLE question (
   pk INTEGER NOT NULL,
   question_text VARCHAR(200),
   pub_date DATETIME,
   PRIMARY KEY (pk)
);

CREATE TABLE choice (
   pk INTEGER NOT NULL,
   choice_text VARCHAR(200),
   votes INTEGER,
   question_pk INTEGER,
   PRIMARY KEY (pk),
   FOREIGN KEY(question_pk) REFERENCES question (pk)
);

INSERT INTO alembic_version_polls (version_num) VALUES ('d7d86e07cc8e');

Let's bring our db up to date:

$ python manage.py sorcery upgrade
Running migrations for polls on database default

Right now, we have enough to hop in django shell:

$ python manage.py shell

>>> from polls.models import Choice, Question, db  # Import the model classes and the db

# we have no choices or questions in db yet
>>> Choice.query.all()
[]
>>> Question.query.all()
[]

# Lets create a new question
>>> from django.utils import timezone
>>> q = Question(question_text="What's new?", pub_date=timezone.now())
>>> q
Question(pk=None, pub_date=datetime.datetime(2018, 5, 19, 0, 54, 20, 778186, tzinfo=<UTC>), question_text="What's new?")

# lets save our question, we need to add our question to the db
>>> db.add(q)

# at this point the question is in pending state
>>> db.new
IdentitySet([Question(pk=None, pub_date=datetime.datetime(2018, 5, 19, 0, 54, 20, 778186, tzinfo=<UTC>), question_text="What's new?")])

# lets flush to the database
>>> db.flush()

# at this point our question is in persistent state and will receive a primary key
>>> q.pk
1

# lets change the question text
>>> q.question_text = "What's up?"
>>> db.flush()

# Question.objects and Question.query are both query properties that return a query object bound to db
>>> Question.objects
<django_sorcery.db.query.Query at 0x7feb1c7899e8>
>>> Question.query
<django_sorcery.db.query.Query at 0x7feb1c9377f0>

# and lets see all the questions
>>> Question.objects.all()
[Question(pk=1, pub_date=datetime.datetime(2018, 5, 19, 0, 54, 20, 778186, tzinfo=<UTC>), question_text="What's up?")]

>>> exit()

Let's add a couple of views in polls/views.py, starting with a list view:

from django.shortcuts import render
from django.template import loader
from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
from django.urls import reverse

from django_sorcery.shortcuts import get_object_or_404

from .models import Question, Choice, db

def index(request):
   latest_question_list = Question.objects.order_by(Question.pub_date.desc())[:5]
   context = {'latest_question_list': latest_question_list}
   return render(request, 'polls/index.html', context)


def detail(request, question_id):
   question = get_object_or_404(Question, pk=question_id)
   return render(request, 'polls/detail.html', {'question': question})


def results(request, question_id):
   question = get_object_or_404(Question, pk=question_id)
   return render(request, 'polls/results.html', {'question': question})


def vote(request, question_id):
   question = get_object_or_404(Question, pk=question_id)

   selected_choice = Choice.query.filter(
      Choice.question == question,
      Choice.pk == request.POST['choice'],
   ).one_or_none()

   if not selected_choice:
      return render(request, 'polls/detail.html', {
            'question': question,
            'error_message': "You didn't select a choice.",
      })

   selected_choice.votes += 1
   db.flush()
   return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse('polls:results', args=(question.pk,)))

and register the view in polls/urls.py:

from django.urls import path

from . import views


app_name = 'polls'
urlpatterns = [
   path('', views.index, name='index'),
   path('<int:question_id>/', views.detail, name='detail'),
   path('<int:question_id>/results', views.results, name='results'),
   path('<int:question_id>/vote', views.vote, name='vote'),
]

and register the SQLAlchemyMiddleware to provide unit-of-work per request pattern:

MIDDLEWARE = [
   'django_sorcery.db.middleware.SQLAlchemyMiddleware',
   # ...
]

and add some templates:

polls/templates/polls/index.html:

{% if latest_question_list %}
<ul>
{% for question in latest_question_list %}
<li><a href="{% url 'polls:detail' question.pk %}">{{ question.question_text }}</a></li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>
{% else %}
<p>No polls are available.</p>
{% endif %}

polls/templates/polls/detail.html:

<h1>{{ question.question_text }}</h1>

{% if error_message %}<p><strong>{{ error_message }}</strong></p>{% endif %}

<form action="{% url 'polls:vote' question.pk %}" method="post">
{% csrf_token %}
{% for choice in question.choices %}
   <input type="radio" name="choice" id="choice{{ forloop.counter }}" value="{{ choice.pk }}" />
   <label for="choice{{ forloop.counter }}">{{ choice.choice_text }}</label><br />
{% endfor %}
<input type="submit" value="Vote" />
</form>

polls/templates/polls/results.html:

<h1>{{ question.question_text }}</h1>

<ul>
{% for choice in question.choices %}
   <li>{{ choice.choice_text }} -- {{ choice.votes }} vote{{ choice.votes|pluralize }}</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>

<a href="{% url 'polls:detail' question.pk %}">Vote again?</a>

This is all fine but we can do one better using generic views. Lets adjust our views in polls/views.py:

from django.shortcuts import render
from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
from django.urls import reverse

from django_sorcery.shortcuts import get_object_or_404
from django_sorcery import views

from .models import Question, Choice, db


class IndexView(views.ListView):
   template_name = 'polls/index.html'
   context_object_name = 'latest_question_list'

   def get_queryset(self):
      return Question.objects.order_by(Question.pub_date.desc())[:5]


class DetailView(views.DetailView):
   model = Question
   session = db
   template_name = 'polls/detail.html'


class ResultsView(DetailView):
   template_name = 'polls/results.html'


def vote(request, question_id):
   question = get_object_or_404(Question, pk=question_id)

   selected_choice = Choice.query.filter(
      Choice.question == question,
      Choice.pk == request.POST['choice'],
   ).one_or_none()

   if not selected_choice:
      return render(request, 'polls/detail.html', {
            'question': question,
            'error_message': "You didn't select a choice.",
      })

   selected_choice.votes += 1
   db.flush()
   return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse('polls:results', args=(question.pk,)))

and adjust the polls/urls.py like:

from django.urls import path

from . import views


app_name = 'polls'
urlpatterns = [
   path('', views.IndexView.as_view(), name='index'),
   path('<int:pk>/', views.DetailView.as_view(), name='detail'),
   path('<int:pk>/results', views.ResultsView.as_view(), name='results'),
   path('<int:question_id>/vote', views.vote, name='vote'),
]

The default values for template_name and context_object_name are similar to django's generic views. If we handn't defined those the default for template names would've been polls/question_detail.html and polls/question_list.html for the detail and list template names, and question and question_list for context names for detail and list views.

This is all fine but we can even do one better using a viewset. Lets adjust our views in polls/views.py:

from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
from django.urls import reverse, reverse_lazy

from django_sorcery.routers import action
from django_sorcery.viewsets import ModelViewSet

from .models import Question, Choice, db


class PollsViewSet(ModelViewSet):
   model = Question
   fields = "__all__"
   destroy_success_url = reverse_lazy("polls:question-list")

   def get_success_url(self):
      return reverse("polls:question-detail", kwargs={"pk": self.object.pk})

   @action(detail=True)
   def results(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
      return self.retrieve(request, *args, **kwargs)

   @action(detail=True, methods=["POST"])
   def vote(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
      self.object = self.get_object()

      selected_choice = Choice.query.filter(
            Choice.question == self.object, Choice.pk == request.POST.get("choice")
      ).one_or_none()

      if not selected_choice:
            context = self.get_detail_context_data(object=self.object)
            context["error_message"] = "You didn't select a choice."
            self.action = "retrieve"
            return self.render_to_response(context)

      selected_choice.votes += 1
      db.flush()
      return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse("polls:question-results", args=(self.object.pk,)))

And adjusting our polls/urls.py like:

from django.urls import path, include

from django_sorcery.routers import SimpleRouter

from . import views

router = SimpleRouter()
router.register("", views.PollsViewSet)

app_name = "polls"
urlpatterns = [path("", include(router.urls))]

With these changes we'll have the following urls:

$ ./manage.py run show_urls
/polls/      polls.views.PollsViewSet        polls:question-list
/polls/<pk>/ polls.views.PollsViewSet        polls:question-detail
/polls/<pk>/delete/  polls.views.PollsViewSet        polls:question-destroy
/polls/<pk>/edit/    polls.views.PollsViewSet        polls:question-edit
/polls/<pk>/results/ polls.views.PollsViewSet        polls:question-results
/polls/<pk>/vote/    polls.views.PollsViewSet        polls:question-vote
/polls/new/  polls.views.PollsViewSet        polls:question-new

This will map the following operations to following actions on the viewset:

Method	Path	Action	Route Name
GET	/polls/	list	question-list
POST	/polls/	create	question-list
GET	/polls/new/	new	question-new
GET	/polls/1/	retrieve	question-detail
POST	/polls/1/	update	question-detail
PUT	/polls/1/	update	question-detail
PATCH	/polls/1/	update	question-detail
DELETE	/polls/1/	destroy	question-detail
GET	/polls/1/edit/	edit	question-edit
GET	/polls/1/delete/	confirm_destoy	question-delete
POST	/polls/1/delete/	destroy	question-delete

Now, lets add an inline formset to be able to add choices to questions, adjust polls/views.py:

from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
from django.urls import reverse, reverse_lazy

from django_sorcery.routers import action
from django_sorcery.viewsets import ModelViewSet
from django_sorcery.formsets import inlineformset_factory

from .models import Question, Choice, db


ChoiceFormSet = inlineformset_factory(relation=Question.choices, fields=(Choice.choice_text.key,), session=db)


class PollsViewSet(ModelViewSet):
   model = Question
   fields = (Question.question_text.key, Question.pub_date.key)
   destroy_success_url = reverse_lazy("polls:question-list")

   def get_success_url(self):
      return reverse("polls:question-detail", kwargs={"pk": self.object.pk})

   def get_form_context_data(self, **kwargs):
      kwargs["choice_formset"] = self.get_choice_formset()
      return super().get_form_context_data(**kwargs)

   def get_choice_formset(self, instance=None):
      if not hasattr(self, "_choice_formset"):
            instance = instance or self.object
            self._choice_formset = ChoiceFormSet(
               instance=instance, data=self.request.POST if self.request.POST else None
            )

      return self._choice_formset

   def process_form(self, form):
      if form.is_valid() and self.get_choice_formset(instance=form.instance).is_valid():
            return self.form_valid(form)

      return form.invalid(self, form)

   def form_valid(self, form):
      self.object = form.save()
      self.object.choices = self.get_choice_formset().save()
      db.flush()
      return HttpResponseRedirect(self.get_success_url())

   @action(detail=True)
   def results(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
      return self.retrieve(request, *args, **kwargs)

   @action(detail=True, methods=["POST"])
   def vote(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
      self.object = self.get_object()

      selected_choice = Choice.query.filter(
            Choice.question == self.object, Choice.pk == request.POST.get("choice")
      ).one_or_none()

      if not selected_choice:
            context = self.get_detail_context_data(object=self.object)
            context["error_message"] = "You didn't select a choice."
            self.action = "retrieve"
            return self.render_to_response(context)

      selected_choice.votes += 1
      db.flush()
      return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse("polls:question-results", args=(self.object.pk,)))

And add choice_formset in the polls/templates/question_edit.html and polls/templates/question_edit.html

<form ... >
   ...
   {{ choice_formset }}
   ...
</form >