Django - automate CRUD from models (DRY approach)? - django

Question

I am new to Django but not to developing.
I need to make an application in which user can do CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete). This functionality should apply to all models and the fields for Create & Update will be auto-generated from model attributes.
What I describe is pretty much the functionality that comes with the Admin page. However, I want to use it in my own app instead of using the Admin app.
For example, let's suppose we have Author and Book models:
(models.py)
from django.db import models
class Author(models.Model):
first_name = models.CharField(max_length=60)
last_name = models.CharField(max_length=60)
def __str__(self):
return self.last_name
class Book(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=60)
author = models.ForeignKey(Author, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
def __str__(self):
return self.title
I suppose that the above information (models) could be enough for CRUD operations, without repeating code of the same logic for each model. I am aiming at a functionality like in admin page where all you have to do is register your model.
I am aware of ModelForm and Generic Views but while they help avoiding hard-coding form fields, I have not found a non-repetitive coding approach. I would like to avoid approaches like the following where same code is being duplicated for each model:
(forms.py)
from django import forms
from todo.models import Author, Book
class AuthorForm(forms.ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Author
fields = '__all__'
class BookForm(forms.ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Book
fields = '__all__'
(views.py)
from django.views.generic import CreateView
from.forms import AuthorForm, BookForm
from.models import Author, Book
class AuthorCreateView(CreateView):
model = Author
form_class = AuthorForm
...
class BookCreateView(CreateView):
model = Book
form_class = BookForm
...
So, what is the best approach for a DRY CRUD solution (like in Admin page)? Am I missing any Django features?

Answer 1

Putting my explanation in the comment together, you would get something like this:
from django.views import generic
from myapp.apps import MyAppConfig
from django.forms import modelform_factory
urlpatterns = []
for model in MyAppConfig.get_models():
create_url = path(
f"{model.__class___.__name__.lower()}/create",
generic.CreateView.as_view(
form_class=modelform_factory(model=model, fields='__all__'),
template_name=f"{model._meta.app_label}/create.html",
model=model
),
),
list_url = path(
f"{model.__class__.__name__.lower()}/",
generic.ListView.as_view(
template_name=f"{model._meta.app_label}/list.html",
model=model
),
),
...
urlpatterns.extend([create_url, list_url, read_url, update_url, delete_url])
So the principle is to use the generic view and model form factory, to generate standard crud views, derive path names from model name and use one template per view, in the application (derived from model's app_label).
Using the documentation I linked before, you should be able to piece things together.