Opened 3 years ago
Closed 3 years ago
#33004 closed Bug (fixed)
Inconsistent / Unexpected handling of assigning unsaved model to Generic Foreign Key
Reported by: | Finn Andersen | Owned by: | Sarah Boyce |
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Component: | Database layer (models, ORM) | Version: | dev |
Severity: | Normal | Keywords: | fk, gfk, generic foreign key, validation |
Cc: | Tim Graham | Triage Stage: | Ready for checkin |
Has patch: | yes | Needs documentation: | no |
Needs tests: | no | Patch needs improvement: | no |
Easy pickings: | no | UI/UX: | no |
Description
https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/10811 addresses the issue of assigned an unsaved model to a ForeignKey or OneToOneField (raises error when save() called), however the same logic / pattern does not apply to GFKs.
Given:
class ModelA(models.Model): name = models.CharField(max_length=20) class ModelB(models.Model): gfk_ctype = models.ForeignKey(ContentType, on_delete=models.PROTECT) gfk_id = models.PositiveIntegerField() gfk = GenericForeignKey('gfk_ctype', 'gfk_id') class ModelC(models.Model): fk = models.ForeignKey(ModelA, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
Foreign Key Behaviour:
In [2]: a = ModelA(name='Model A') In [3]: c = ModelC(fk=a) In [4]: c.fk Out[4]: <ModelA: ModelA object (None)> In [5]: c.save() --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ... ValueError: save() prohibited to prevent data loss due to unsaved related object 'fk'. In [6]: a.save() (0.016) INSERT INTO "test_app_modela" ("name") VALUES ('Model A'); args=['Model A'] In [7]: c.fk Out[7]: <ModelA: ModelA object (1)> In [8]: c.save() (0.016) INSERT INTO "test_app_modelc" ("fk_id") VALUES (1); args=[1]
GFK behaviour:
In [9]: a2 = ModelA(name='Model A2') In [10]: b = ModelB(gfk=a2) In [11]: b.gfk Out[11]: <ModelA: ModelA object (None)> In [12]: b.save() (0.000) INSERT INTO "test_app_modelb" ("gfk_ctype_id", "gfk_id") VALUES (9, NULL); args=[9, None] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IntegrityError: NOT NULL constraint failed: test_app_modelb.gfk_id In [14]: b.gfk.save() (0.015) INSERT INTO "test_app_modela" ("name") VALUES ('Model A2'); args=['Model A2'] In [15]: b.gfk (0.000) SELECT "test_app_modela"."id", "test_app_modela"."name" FROM "test_app_modela" WHERE "test_app_modela"."id" IS NULL LIMIT 21; args=() None In [17]: b.gfk_ctype Out[17]: <ContentType: test_app | model a>
Two observations:
- No check on b.gfk and b.gfk_id value during save() which could lead to silent data loss if b.gfk_id is nullable.
- When a2 is saved, accessing b.gfk now does a redundant DB query to try and find ModelA instance with PK = None, then then returns None value (effectively un-assigning a2 model), while keeping b.gfk_ctype intact. This is because the new pk of a2 is different to the existing gfk_id (pk_val) of the GFK field (None)
What should be done:
- Modify Model.save() or Model._prepare_related_fields_for_save() to also perform verification check for GFK fields
- Modify GenericForeignKey.get() to handle case of pk_val = None (update fk_field value using PK value of GFK model if present, do not perform redundant DB query on pk=None, return previously assigned (then saved) model instead of None)
Change History (13)
comment:1 by , 3 years ago
Cc: | added |
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Triage Stage: | Unreviewed → Accepted |
comment:2 by , 3 years ago
Type: | Cleanup/optimization → Bug |
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comment:3 by , 3 years ago
Needs documentation: | set |
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Needs tests: | set |
I think verification should be done upon save() not assignment (to align with existing behaviour for FKs and enable saving of related model at later point before calling save() of primary model)
comment:4 by , 3 years ago
Needs documentation: | unset |
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Needs tests: | unset |
We don't have a patch so there is no need to set this flags.
comment:5 by , 3 years ago
Owner: | changed from | to
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Status: | new → assigned |
comment:7 by , 3 years ago
Has patch: | set |
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follow-up: 9 comment:8 by , 3 years ago
The code I defined is as follows. I have verified that the data already exists in the database after I save the object of Grade, but I can not use it to save the object of Stu.
class Grade(models.Model): id = models.IntegerField(primary_key=True) grade = models.CharField(max_length=50, unique=True) class Stu(models.Model): id = models.IntegerField(primary_key=True) name = models.CharField(max_length=50, unique=True) grade_of_stu = models.ForeignKey(Grade, to_field="grade", on_delete=models.CASCADE) ###########################################Django shell############################################################################## In [17]: g = Grade(grade="3") In [18]: g.save() In [19]: stu = Stu(name="Fred", grade_of_stu=g) In [20]: stu.save() --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ValueError Traceback (most recent call last) <ipython-input-20-a0e3017ded06> in <module> ----> 1 stu.save() C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\django\db\models\base.py in save(self, force_insert, force_update, using, update_fields) 680 non-SQL backends), respectively. Normally, they should not be set. 681 """ --> 682 self._prepare_related_fields_for_save(operation_name='save') 683 684 using = using or router.db_for_write(self.__class__, instance=self) C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\django\db\models\base.py in _prepare_related_fields_for_save(self, operation_name) 930 if not field.remote_field.multiple: 931 field.remote_field.delete_cached_value(obj) --> 932 raise ValueError( 933 "%s() prohibited to prevent data loss due to unsaved " 934 "related object '%s'." % (operation_name, field.name) ValueError: save() prohibited to prevent data loss due to unsaved related object 'grade_of_stu'. In [21]: stu = Stu(name="Fred", grade_of_stu=Grade.objects.get(grade="3")) In [22]: stu.save()
comment:9 by , 3 years ago
Replying to wtzhu:
The code I defined is as follows. I have verified that the data already exists in the database after I save the object of Grade, but I can not use it to save the object of Stu.
This is not related with GenericForeignKey
please create a separate ticket.
comment:10 by , 3 years ago
Patch needs improvement: | set |
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comment:12 by , 3 years ago
Patch needs improvement: | unset |
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Triage Stage: | Accepted → Ready for checkin |
Agreed, assigning unsaved objects should raise an error for
GenericForeignKey
. It was added in 5643a3b51be338196d0b292d5626ad43648448d3 but reverted later in 5980b05c1fad69eef907e0076aa2dc837edab529. It looks like an unintended change as release notes still claim that an error is raised in this case.