Django: "distinct" alternatives for non-PostgreSQL databases - django

Consider the following model:
class Test(Model):
# Some fields...
class TestExecution(Model):
test = ForeignKey(Test)
execution_date = DateTimeField()
# more fields...
class Goal(Model):
tests = ManyToManyField(Test)
# more fields...
I want to get all the latest result of each test performed as part of a certain goal, so I perform the following query:
TestExecution.objects.filter(test__goal_id=goal_id).order_by("execution_date")
but the problem is that I get ALL the executions performed, and I want only the latest for each test.
I saw that the distinct(*fields) method can be used to eliminate duplicate execution of the same test, but it only works in PostgreSQL, so it is not suitable for me.
Is there any other way to filter a QuerySet so that it'll include only rows that are distinct on selected columns?

You can remove duplicates not by a query, but sth like list(set(list_of_objects)) (I recommend first check if it works), for removing list_of_objects duplicates you'll need to define a uniqueness of an object.
In order to do that, you'll need to make the object hashable. You need to define both hash and eq method:
def __eq__(self, other):
return self.execution_date==other.execution_date\
and self.title==other.title
def __hash__(self):
return hash(('title', self.title,
'execution_date', self.execution_date))
also you can do that more easily but not in clean way by getting values_list in query:
list(set(TestExecution.objects.filter(test__goal_id=goal_id)
.values_list("sth", flat = True)
.order_by("execution_date")))
if objects are not hashable remove in the dirty way:
seen_titles = set()
new_list = []
for obj in myList:
if obj.title not in seen_titles:
new_list.append(obj)
seen_titles.add(obj.title)

Related

Join annotations in Django without raw SQL

I have a model that has arbitrary key/value pairs (attributes) associated with it. I'd like to have the option of sorting by those dynamic attributes. Here's what I came up with:
class Item(models.Model):
pass
class Attribute(models.Model):
item = models.ForeignKey(Item, related_name='attributes')
key = models.CharField()
value = models.CharField()
def get_sorted_items():
return Item.objects.all().annotate(
first=models.select_attribute('first'),
second=models.select_attribute('second'),
).order_by('first', 'second')
def select_attribute(attribute):
return expressions.RawSQL("""
select app_attribute.value from app_attribute
where app_attribute.item_id = app_item.id
and app_attribute.key = %s""", (attribute,))
This works, but it has a bit of raw SQL in it, so it makes my co-workers wary. Is it possible to do this without raw SQL? Can I make use of Django's ORM to simplify this?
I would expect something like this to work, but it doesn't:
def get_sorted_items():
return Item.objects.all().annotate(
first=Attribute.objects.filter(key='first').values('value'),
second=Attribute.objects.filter(key='second').values('value'),
).order_by('first', 'second')
Approach 1
Using Djagno 1.8+ Conditional Expressions
(see also Query Expressions)
items = Item.objects.all().annotate(
first=models.Case(models.When(attribute__key='first', then=models.F('attribute__value')), default=models.Value('')),
second=models.Case(models.When(attribute__key='second', then=models.F('attribute__value')), default=models.Value(''))
).distinct()
for item in items:
print item.first, item.second
Approach 2
Using prefetch_related with custom models.Prefetch object
keys = ['first', 'second']
items = Item.objects.all().prefetch_related(
models.Prefetch('attributes',
queryset=Attribute.objects.filter(key__in=keys),
to_attr='prefetched_attrs'),
)
This way every item from the queryset will contain a list under the .prefetched_attrs attribute.
This list will contains all filtered-item-related attributes.
Now, because you want to get the attribute.value, you can implement something like this:
class Item(models.Model):
#...
def get_attribute(self, key, default=None):
try:
return next((attr.value for attr in self.prefetched_attrs if attr.key == key), default)
except AttributeError:
raise AttributeError('You didnt prefetch any attributes')
#and the usage will be:
for item in items:
print item.get_attribute('first'), item.get_attribute('second')
Some notes about the differences in using both approaches.
you have a one idea better control over the filtering process using the approach with the custom Prefetch object. The conditional-expressions approach is one idea harder to be optimized IMHO.
with prefetch_related you get the whole attribute object, not just the value you are interested in.
Django executes prefetch_related after the queryset is being evaluated, which means a second query is being executed for each clause in the prefetch_related call. On one way this can be good, because it this keeps the main queryset untouched from the filters and thus not additional clauses like .distinct() are needed.
prefetch_related always put the returned objects into a list, its not very convenient to use when you have prefetchs returning 1 element per object. So additional model methods are required in order to use with pleasure.

Django get_next_by_FIELD using complex Q lookups

While creating a front end for a Django module I faced the following problem inside Django core:
In order to display a link to the next/previous object from a model query, we can use the extra-instance-methods of a model instance: get_next_by_FIELD() or get_previous_by_FIELD(). Where FIELD is a model field of type DateField or DateTimeField.
Lets explain it with an example
from django.db import models
class Shoe(models.Model):
created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True, null=False)
size = models.IntegerField()
A view to display a list of shoes, excluding those where size equals 4:
def list_shoes(request):
shoes = Shoe.objects.exclude(size=4)
return render_to_response(request, {
'shoes': shoes
})
And let the following be a view to display one shoe and the corresponding
link to the previous and next shoe.
def show_shoe(request, shoe_id):
shoe = Shoe.objects.get(pk=shoe_id)
prev_shoe = shoe.get_previous_by_created()
next_shoe = shoe.get_next_by_created()
return render_to_response('show_shoe.html', {
'shoe': shoe,
'prev_shoe': prev_shoe,
'next_shoe': next_shoe
})
Now I have the situation that the show_shoe view displays the link to the previous/next regardless of the shoes size. But I actually wanted just shoes whose size is not 4.
Therefore I tried to use the **kwargs argument of the get_(previous|next)_by_created() methods to filter out the unwanted shoes, as stated by the documentation:
Both of these methods will perform their queries using the default manager for the model. If you need to emulate filtering used by a custom manager, or want to perform one-off custom filtering, both methods also accept
optional keyword arguments, which should be in the format described in Field lookups.
Edit: Keep an eye on the word "should", because then also (size_ne=4) should work, but it doesn't.
The actual problem
Filtering using the lookup size__ne ...
def show_shoe(request, shoe_id):
...
prev_shoe = shoe.get_previous_by_created(size__ne=4)
next_shoe = shoe.get_next_by_created(size__ne=4)
...
... didn't work, it throws FieldError: Cannot resolve keyword 'size_ne' into field.
Then I tried to use a negated complex lookup using Q objects:
from django.db.models import Q
def show_shoe(request, shoe_id):
...
prev_shoe = shoe.get_previous_by_created(~Q(size=4))
next_shoe = shoe.get_next_by_created(~Q(size=4))
...
... didn't work either, throws TypeError: _get_next_or_previous_by_FIELD() got multiple values for argument 'field'
Because the get_(previous|next)_by_created methods only accept **kwargs.
The actual solution
Since these instance methods use the _get_next_or_previous_by_FIELD(self, field, is_next, **kwargs) I changed it to accept positional arguments using *args and passed them to the filter, like the **kwargs.
def my_get_next_or_previous_by_FIELD(self, field, is_next, *args, **kwargs):
"""
Workaround to call get_next_or_previous_by_FIELD by using complext lookup queries using
Djangos Q Class. The only difference between this version and original version is that
positional arguments are also passed to the filter function.
"""
if not self.pk:
raise ValueError("get_next/get_previous cannot be used on unsaved objects.")
op = 'gt' if is_next else 'lt'
order = '' if is_next else '-'
param = force_text(getattr(self, field.attname))
q = Q(**{'%s__%s' % (field.name, op): param})
q = q | Q(**{field.name: param, 'pk__%s' % op: self.pk})
qs = self.__class__._default_manager.using(self._state.db).filter(*args, **kwargs).filter(q).order_by('%s%s' % (order, field.name), '%spk' % order)
try:
return qs[0]
except IndexError:
raise self.DoesNotExist("%s matching query does not exist." % self.__class__._meta.object_name)
And calling it like:
...
prev_shoe = shoe.my_get_next_or_previous_by_FIELD(Shoe._meta.get_field('created'), False, ~Q(state=4))
next_shoe = shoe.my_get_next_or_previous_by_FIELD(Shoe._meta.get_field('created'), True, ~Q(state=4))
...
finally did it.
Now the question to you
Is there an easier way to handle this? Should shoe.get_previous_by_created(size__ne=4) work as expected or should I report this issue to the Django guys, in the hope they'll accept my _get_next_or_previous_by_FIELD() fix?
Environment: Django 1.7, haven't tested it on 1.9 yet, but the code for _get_next_or_previous_by_FIELD() stayed the same.
Edit: It is true that complex lookups using Q object is not part of "field lookups", it's more part of the filter() and exclude() functions instead. And I am probably wrong when I suppose that get_next_by_FIELD should accept Q objects too. But since the changes involved are minimal and the advantage to use Q object is high, I think these changes should get upstream.
tags: django, complex-lookup, query, get_next_by_FIELD, get_previous_by_FIELD
(listing tags here, because I don't have enough reputations.)
You can create custom lookup ne and use it:
.get_next_by_created(size__ne=4)
I suspect the method you've tried first only takes lookup arg for the field you're basing the get_next on. Meaning you won't be able to access the size field from the get_next_by_created() method, for example.
Edit : your method is by far more efficient, but to answer your question on the Django issue, I think everything is working the way it is supposed to. You could offer an additional method such as yours but the existing get_next_by_FIELD is working as described in the docs.
You've managed to work around this with a working method, which is OK I guess, but if you wanted to reduce the overhead, you could try a simple loop :
def get_next_by_field_filtered(obj, field=None, **kwargs):
next_obj = getattr(obj, 'get_next_by_{}'.format(field))()
for key in kwargs:
if not getattr(next_obj, str(key)) == kwargs[str(key)]:
return get_next_by_field_filtered(next_obj, field=field, **kwargs)
return next_obj
This isn't very efficient but it's one way to do what you want.
Hope this helps !
Regards,

Filter models by checking one datetime's month against another

Using Django's ORM, I am trying to find instances of myModel based on two of its datetime variables; specifically, where the months of these two datetimes are not equal. I understand to filter by the value of a modelfield, you can use Django's F( ) expressions, so I thought I'd try something like this:
myModel.objects.filter(fixed_date__month=F('closed_date__month'))
I know this wouldn't find instances where they aren't equal, but I thought it'd be a good first step since I've never used the F expressions before. However, it doesn't work as I thought it should. I expected it to give me a queryset of objects where the value of the fixed_date month was equal to the value of the closed_date month, but instead I get an error:
FieldError: Join on field 'closed_date' not permitted. Did you misspell 'month' for the lookup type?
I'm not sure if what I'm trying to do isn't possible or straightforward with the ORM, or if I'm just making a simple mistake.
It doesn't look like django F objects currently support extracting the month inside a DateTimeField, the error message seems to be stating that the F object is trying to convert the '__' inside the string 'closed_date__month' as a Foreignkey between different objects, which are usually stored as joins inside an sql database.
You could carry out the same query by iterating across the objects:
result = []
for obj in myModel.objects.all():
if obj.fixed_date.month != obj.closed_date.month:
result.append(obj)
or as a list comprehension:
result = [obj for obj in myModel.objects.all() if obj.fixed_date.month != obj.closed_date.month]
Alternatively, if this is not efficient enough, the months for the two dates could be cached as IntegerFields within the model, something like:
class myModel(models.Model):
....other fields....
fixed_date = models.DateTimeField()
closed_date = models.DateTimeField()
fixed_month = models.IntegerField()
closed_month = models.IntegerField()
store the two integers when the relevant dates are updated:
myModel.fixed_month = myModel.fixed_date.month
myModel.save()
Then use an F object to compare the two integer fields:
myModel.objects.filter(fixed_month__ne=F('closed_month'))
The ne modifier will do the not equal test.
Edit - using raw sql
If you are using an sql based database, then most efficient method is to use the .raw() method to manually specify the sql:
myModel.objects.raw('SELECT * FROM stuff_mymodel WHERE MONTH(fixed_date) != MONTH(close_date)')
Where 'stuff_mymodel' is the correct name of the table in the database. This uses the SQL MONTH() function to extract the values from the month fields, and compare their values. It will return a collection of objects.
There is some nay-saying about the django query system, for example: http://charlesleifer.com/blog/shortcomings-in-the-django-orm-and-a-look-at-peewee-a-lightweight-alternative/. This example could be taken as demonstrating another inconsistency in it's query api.
My thinking is this:
class myModel(models.Model):
fixed_date = models.DateTimeField()
closed_date = models.DateTimeField()
def has_diff_months(self):
if self.fixed_date.month != self.closed_date.month:
return True
return False
Then:
[x for x in myModel.objects.all() if x.has_diff_months()]
However, for a truly efficient solution you'd have to use another column. It makes sense to me that it'd be a computed boolean field that is created when you save, like so:
class myModel(models.Model):
fixed_date = models.DateTimeField()
closed_date = models.DateTimeField()
diff_months = models.BooleanField()
#overriding save method
def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
#calculating the value for diff_months
self.diff_months = (self.fixed_date.month != self.closed_date.month)
#aaand... saving:
super(Blog, self).save(*args, **kwargs)
Then filtering would simply be:
myModel.objects.filter(diff_months=True)

Filter on a distinct field with TastyPie

Suppose I have a Person model that has a first name field and a last name field. There will be many people who have the same first name. I want to write a TastyPie resource that allows me to get a list of the unique first names (without duplicates).
Using the Django model directly, you can do this easily by saying something like Person.objects.values("first_name").distinct(). How do I achieve the same thing with TastyPie?
Update
I've adapted the apply_filters method linked below to use the values before making the distinct call.
def apply_filters(self, request, applicable_filters):
qs = self.get_object_list(request).filter(**applicable_filters)
values = request.GET.get('values', '').split(',')
if values:
qs = qs.values(*values)
distinct = request.GET.get('distinct', False) == 'True'
if distinct:
qs = qs.distinct()
return qs
values returns dictionaries instead of model objects, so I don't think you need to override alter_list_data_to_serialize.
Original response
There is a nice solution to the distinct part of the problem here involving a light override of apply_filters.
I'm surprised I'm not seeing a slick way to filter which fields are returned, but you could implement that by overriding alter_list_data_to_serialize and deleting unwanted fields off the objects just before serialization.
def alter_list_data_to_serialize(self, request, data):
data = super(PersonResource, self).alter_list_data_to_serialize(request, data)
fields = request.GET.get('fields', None)
if fields is not None:
fields = fields.split(',')
# Data might be a bundle here. If so, operate on data.objects instead.
data = [
dict((k,v) for k,v in d.items() if k in fields)
for d in data
]
return data
Combine those two to use something like /api/v1/person/?distinct=True&values=first_name to get what you're after. That would work generally and would still work with additional filtering (&last_name=Jones).

Django, query filtering from model method

I have these models:
def Foo(Models.model):
size = models.IntegerField()
# other fields
def is_active(self):
if check_condition:
return True
else:
return False
def Bar(Models.model):
foo = models.ForeignKey("Foo")
# other fields
Now I want to query Bars that are having active Foo's as such:
Bar.objects.filter(foo.is_active())
I am getting error such as
SyntaxError at /
('non-keyword arg after keyword arg'
How can I achieve this?
You cannot query against model methods or properties. Either use the criteria within it in the query, or filter in Python using a list comprehension or genex.
You could also use a custom manager. Then you could run something like this:
Bar.objects.foo_active()
And all you have to do is:
class BarManager(models.Manager):
def foo_active(self):
# use your method to filter results
return you_custom_queryset
Check out the docs.
I had similar problem: I am using class-based view object_list and I had to filter by model's method. (storing the information in database wasn't an option because the property was based on time and I would have to create a cronjob and/or... no way)
My answer is ineffective and I don't know how it's gonna scale on larger data; but, it works:
q = Model.objects.filter(...)...
# here is the trick
q_ids = [o.id for o in q if o.method()]
q = q.filter(id__in=q_ids)
You can't filter on methods, however if the is_active method on Foo checks an attribute on Foo, you can use the double-underscore syntax like Bar.objects.filter(foo__is_active_attribute=True)