id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	component	version	severity	resolution	keywords	cc	stage	has_patch	needs_docs	needs_tests	needs_better_patch	easy	ui_ux
710	Differentiate between __repr__ and __str__ for model objects	Tom Tobin <korpios@…>	Adrian Holovaty	"The !__repr!__ method of model objects is currently used for all string representations.  The Python documentation states that !__repr!__ ""is typically used for debugging, so it is important that the representation is information-rich and unambiguous.""  Furthermore, !__repr!__, when it cannot be used to directly recreate the original object (such as is the case with Django model objects), should return ""a string of the form '<...some useful description...>'"".

Model objects should differentiate between the !__repr!__ and !__str!__ methods.  !__repr!__ should return a string useful for, e.g., identification at a Python interpreter prompt, while !__str!__ should return a string used in, e.g., template substitution.

Example, for a Topping object in a Pizza app:


{{{
class Topping (meta.Model):
    self.name = meta.CharField(maxlength=50)

    def __repr__ (self):
        return '<Topping %s>' % self.name

    def __str__ (self):
        return self.name
}}}

As far as I can tell, the Django codebase generally works correctly at this time if one defines both !__repr!__ and !__str!__ methods, since the template code uses %s for string interpolation rather than %r.  I have not exhaustively checked the Django codebase, however; I do not consider myself familiar enough with it to understand where all the relevant changes would be required, if any.  Documentation would need to be updated to reflect this change.
"	enhancement	closed	Core (Other)		normal	fixed		gomo@…	Unreviewed	0	0	0	0	0	0