Iterating over model attributes when creating a template in Django - django

Question

I'm using Django in Google App Engine. If I have the class
class Person():
first_name = StringProperty()
last_name = StringProperty()
and I have an instance where Person.first_name = Bob and Person.last_name = Vance, can I create a template that iterates over the Person attributes to produce:
<tr>
<td>First</td>
<td>Bob</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Last</td>
<td>Vance</td>
</tr>
Perhaps more succinctly, is there a model.as_table() method that will print out the attributes of my instance, Bob Vance?

Answer 1

In template you cannot access __underscored__ attributes or functions.
I suggest instead you create a function in your model/class:
class Person(models.Model):
first_name = models.CharField(max_length=256)
last_name = models.CharField(max_length=256)
def attrs(self):
for attr, value in self.__dict__.iteritems():
yield attr, value
def sorted_attrs(self):
# Silly example of sorting
return [(key, self.__dict__[key]) for key in sorted(self.__dict__)]
In template it's just:
<tr>
{% for name, value in person.attrs %}
<td>{{name}}</td>
<td>{{value}}</td>
{% endfor %}
</tr>
Now this will give you "first_name" instead of "First", but you get the idea. You can extend the method to be a mixin, or be present in a parent-class etc..
Similarly you can use this if you have a few person objects you want to iterate over:
{% for person in persons %}
<tr>
{% for name, value in person.attrs %}
<td>{{name}}</td>
<td>{{value}}</td>
{% endfor %}
</tr>
{% endfor %}

Answer 2

Finally found a good solution to this on the dev mailing list (http://groups.google.com/group/django-developers/browse_thread/thread/44cd834438cfda77/557f53697658ab04?lnk=gst&q=template+model#557f53697658ab04):
In the view add:
from django.forms.models import model_to_dict
def show(request, object_id):
object = FooForm(data=model_to_dict(Foo.objects.get(pk=object_id)))
return render_to_response('foo/foo_detail.html', {'object': object})
in the template add:
{% for field in object %}
<li><b>{{ field.label }}:</b> {{ field.data }}</li>
{% endfor %}

Answer 3

Change:
for attr, value in a.__dict__.iteritems():
to:
for attr, value in self.__dict__.iteritems():

Answer 4

def model_to_dict(instance, fields=None, exclude=None):
"""
Returns a dict containing the data in the ``instance`` where:
data = {'lable': 'verbose_name', 'name':name, 'value':value,}
Verbose_name is capitalized, order of fields is respected.
``fields`` is an optional list of field names. If provided, only the named
fields will be included in the returned dict.
``exclude`` is an optional list of field names. If provided, the named
fields will be excluded from the returned dict, even if they are listed in
the ``fields`` argument.
"""
data = []
if instance:
opts = instance._meta
for f in opts.fields:
if not f.editable:
continue
if fields and not f.name in fields:
continue
if exclude and f.name in exclude:
continue
value = f.value_from_object(instance)
# load the display name of choice fields
get_choice = 'get_'+f.name+'_display'
if hasattr(instance, get_choice):
value = getattr(instance, get_choice)()
# only display fields with values and skip the reset
if value:
if fields:
data.insert(fields.index(f.name), {'lable': f.verbose_name.capitalize(), 'name':f.name, 'value':value,})
else:
data.append({'lable': f.verbose_name.capitalize(), 'name':f.name, 'value':value,})
return data
TODO
Add support for #property decorated functions