Import csv data into database in Django Admin - django

Question

I've tried to import a csv file into a database by tweaking the modelform inside the admin doing this:
models.py:
class Data(models.Model):
place = models.ForeignKey(Places)
time = models.DateTimeField()
data_1 = models.DecimalField(max_digits=3, decimal_places=1)
data_2 = models.DecimalField(max_digits=3, decimal_places=1)
data_3 = models.DecimalField(max_digits=4, decimal_places=1)
Forms.py:
import csv
class DataImport(ModelForm):
file_to_import = forms.FileField()
class Meta:
model = Data
fields = ("file_to_import", "place")
def save(self, commit=False, *args, **kwargs):
form_input = DataImport()
self.place = self.cleaned_data['place']
file_csv = request.FILES['file_to_import']
datafile = open(file_csv, 'rb')
records = csv.reader(datafile)
for line in records:
self.time = line[1]
self.data_1 = line[2]
self.data_2 = line[3]
self.data_3 = line[4]
form_input.save()
datafile.close()
Admin.py:
class DataAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
list_display = ("place", "time")
form = DataImport
admin.site.register(Data, DataAdmin)
But i'm stuck trying to import the file i put in "file_to_import" field. Getting AttributeError in forms.py : 'function' object has no attribute 'FILES'.
What i'm doing wrong?

Answer 1

After a long search i found an answer: Create a view inside the admin using a standard form
Form:
class DataInput(forms.Form):
file = forms.FileField()
place = forms.ModelChoiceField(queryset=Place.objects.all())
def save(self):
records = csv.reader(self.cleaned_data["file"])
for line in records:
input_data = Data()
input_data.place = self.cleaned_data["place"]
input_data.time = datetime.strptime(line[1], "%m/%d/%y %H:%M:%S")
input_data.data_1 = line[2]
input_data.data_2 = line[3]
input_data.data_3 = line[4]
input_data.save()
The view:
#staff_member_required
def import(request):
if request.method == "POST":
form = DataInput(request.POST, request.FILES)
if form.is_valid():
form.save()
success = True
context = {"form": form, "success": success}
return render_to_response("imported.html", context,
context_instance=RequestContext(request))
else:
form = DataInput()
context = {"form": form}
return render_to_response("imported.html", context,
context_instance=RequestContext(request))
The rest is part of this post:
http://web.archive.org/web/20100605043304/http://www.beardygeek.com/2010/03/adding-views-to-the-django-admin/

Answer 2

Take a look at django-admin-import, it does more or less exactly what you want -- you can upload a XLS (not a CSV, but that should not matter) and lets you assign columns to model fields. Default values are also supported.
https://pypi.org/project/django-admin-import/
Additionally, it does not take away the possibility to modify individual records by hand because you don't have to replace the default model form used in the administration.

Answer 3

In the save() method, you don't have any access to the request object - you can see that it's not passed in. Normally you would expect to have a NameError there, but I suspect that you've got a function elsewhere in the file called request().
At the point of saving, all the relevant data should be in cleaned_data: so you should be able to do
file_csv = self.cleaned_data['file_to_import']
At that point you'll have another problem, which is when you get to open - you can't do that, as file_to_import is not a file on the server filesystem, it's an in-memory file that has been streamed from the client. You should be able to pass file_csv directly to csv.reader.