dynamic UI for updating data using django and mongodb - django

Question

Here is the gist of what I am trying to achieve. I have a list of users which has a fixed list of attributes
EmployeeID
Employee
FirstName
LastName
SSN
This can be easily be created in models and a UI can be generated to enter these values
I have another list of user attributes that is not fixed but is dynamic. As an example, I'd like to capture more info if employee is married, if he is a graduate. Basically the list of additional properties for employees is infinite and will be specific to each employee. It is also changing constantly, so cannot plan ahead for it. It obviously does not make sense to create a table with all the fields like this
EmployeeID (foreignKey Employee table)
IsMarried
SpouseName
IsGraduate
GraduationYear
GraduationMajor
GraduationMinor
IsCertified
...
I think a NoSql db like mongodb makes sense here. I believe I can save employeeID of the employee and only the relevant info of the user in the mongodb record. How do I create a UI so the HR folks can have a form to edit/enter this info? Each user will have a different set of attributes and corresponding text fields to display/edit. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

For dynamic attributes using a relational database you could try something like this:
class Employee( models.Model ):
firstname = models.CharField( max_length=50 )
lastname = models.CharField( max_length=50 )
ssn = models.IntegerField()
class EmployeeAttribute( models.Model ):
ATTRIBUTE_CHOICES = (
(0, 'is_married'),
(1, 'spouse_name'),
(2, 'is_graduate'),
...
)
name = models.IntegerField( max_length=3, choices=ATTRIBUTE_CHOICES )
value = models.CharField( max_length=255 )
employee = models.ForeignKey( 'Employee' )
Whenever you have a new attribute that you would like to add, just append it to the tuple of attribute choices incrementing the last number.
If you're aiming for something that doesn't require writing extra code every time a new attribute needs to be added, then try something like this:
class Employee( models.Model ):
firstname = models.CharField( max_length=50 )
lastname = models.CharField( max_length=50 )
ssn = models.IntegerField()
class Attribute( models.Model ):
name = models.CharField( max_length=50 )
class EmployeeAttribute( models.Model ):
attribute = models.ForeignKey( 'Attribute' )
employee = models.ForeignKey( 'Employee' )
With this approach you could at least create an area that would allow you to create new attributes either via the Django admin, or by a custom template.
To get the extended attributes for an employee would be as simple as this:
employee = Employee.objects.get( firstname='John', lastname='Doe' )
extended_attributes = employee.employee_attribute_set.all()