docs/ref/models/relations.txt
=========================
Related objects reference
=========================
.. currentmodule:: django.db.models.fields.related
.. class:: RelatedManager
A "related manager" is a manager used in a one-to-many or many-to-many
related context. This happens in two cases:
* The "other side" of a :class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey` relation.
That is::
from django.db import models
class Blog(models.Model):
# ...
pass
class Entry(models.Model):
blog = models.ForeignKey(Blog, on_delete=models.CASCADE, null=True)
In the above example, the methods below will be available on
the manager ``blog.entry_set``.
* Both sides of a :class:`~django.db.models.ManyToManyField` relation
::
class Topping(models.Model):
# ...
pass
class Pizza(models.Model):
toppings = models.ManyToManyField(Topping)
In this example, the methods below will be available both on
``topping.pizza_set`` and on ``pizza.toppings``.
.. method:: add(*objs, bulk=True, through_defaults=None)
.. method:: aadd(*objs, bulk=True, through_defaults=None)
*Asynchronous version*: ``aadd``
Adds the specified model objects to the related object set.
Example:
.. code-block:: pycon
>>> b = Blog.objects.get(id=1)
>>> e = Entry.objects.get(id=234)
>>> b.entry_set.add(e) # Associates Entry e with Blog b.
In the example above, in the case of a
:class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey` relationship,
:meth:`QuerySet.update() <django.db.models.query.QuerySet.update>`
is used to perform the update. This requires the objects to already be
saved.
You can use the ``bulk=False`` argument to instead have the related
manager perform the update by calling ``e.save()``.
Using ``add()`` with a many-to-many relationship, however, will not
call any ``save()`` methods (the ``bulk`` argument doesn't exist), but
rather create the relationships using :meth:`QuerySet.bulk_create()
<django.db.models.query.QuerySet.bulk_create>`. If you need to execute
some custom logic when a relationship is created, listen to the
:data:`~django.db.models.signals.m2m_changed` signal, which will
trigger ``pre_add`` and ``post_add`` actions.
Using ``add()`` on a relation that already exists won't duplicate the
relation, but it will still trigger signals.
For many-to-many relationships ``add()`` accepts either model instances
or field values, normally primary keys, as the ``*objs`` argument.
Use the ``through_defaults`` argument to specify values for the new
:ref:`intermediate model <intermediary-manytomany>` instance(s), if
needed. You can use callables as values in the ``through_defaults``
dictionary and they will be evaluated once before creating any
intermediate instance(s).
.. method:: create(through_defaults=None, **kwargs)
.. method:: acreate(through_defaults=None, **kwargs)
*Asynchronous version*: ``acreate``
Creates a new object, saves it and puts it in the related object set.
Returns the newly created object:
.. code-block:: pycon
>>> b = Blog.objects.get(id=1)
>>> e = b.entry_set.create(
... headline="Hello", body_text="Hi", pub_date=datetime.date(2005, 1, 1)
... )
# No need to call e.save() at this point -- it's already been saved.
This is equivalent to (but simpler than):
.. code-block:: pycon
>>> b = Blog.objects.get(id=1)
>>> e = Entry(blog=b, headline="Hello", body_text="Hi", pub_date=datetime.date(2005, 1, 1))
>>> e.save(force_insert=True)
Note that there's no need to specify the keyword argument of the model
that defines the relationship. In the above example, we don't pass the
parameter ``blog`` to ``create()``. Django figures out that the new
``Entry`` object's ``blog`` field should be set to ``b``.
Use the ``through_defaults`` argument to specify values for the new
:ref:`intermediate model <intermediary-manytomany>` instance, if
needed. You can use callables as values in the ``through_defaults``
dictionary.
.. method:: remove(*objs, bulk=True)
.. method:: aremove(*objs, bulk=True)
*Asynchronous version*: ``aremove``
Removes the specified model objects from the related object set:
.. code-block:: pycon
>>> b = Blog.objects.get(id=1)
>>> e = Entry.objects.get(id=234)
>>> b.entry_set.remove(e) # Disassociates Entry e from Blog b.
Similar to :meth:`add()`, ``e.save()`` is called in the example above
to perform the update. Using ``remove()`` with a many-to-many
relationship, however, will delete the relationships using
:meth:`QuerySet.delete()<django.db.models.query.QuerySet.delete>` which
means no model ``save()`` methods are called; listen to the
:data:`~django.db.models.signals.m2m_changed` signal if you wish to
execute custom code when a relationship is deleted.
For many-to-many relationships ``remove()`` accepts either model
instances or field values, normally primary keys, as the ``*objs``
argument.
For :class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey` objects, this method only
exists if ``null=True``. If the related field can't be set to ``None``
(``NULL``), then an object can't be removed from a relation without
being added to another. In the above example, removing ``e`` from
``b.entry_set()`` is equivalent to doing ``e.blog = None``, and because
the ``blog`` :class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey` doesn't have
``null=True``, this is invalid.
For :class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey` objects, this method accepts
a ``bulk`` argument to control how to perform the operation.
If ``True`` (the default), ``QuerySet.update()`` is used.
If ``bulk=False``, the ``save()`` method of each individual model
instance is called instead. This triggers the
:data:`~django.db.models.signals.pre_save` and
:data:`~django.db.models.signals.post_save` signals and comes at the
expense of performance.
For many-to-many relationships, the ``bulk`` keyword argument doesn't
exist.
.. method:: clear(bulk=True)
.. method:: aclear(bulk=True)
*Asynchronous version*: ``aclear``
Removes all objects from the related object set:
.. code-block:: pycon
>>> b = Blog.objects.get(id=1)
>>> b.entry_set.clear()
Note this doesn't delete the related objects -- it just disassociates
them.
Just like ``remove()``, ``clear()`` is only available on
:class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey`\s where ``null=True`` and it also
accepts the ``bulk`` keyword argument.
For many-to-many relationships, the ``bulk`` keyword argument doesn't
exist.
.. method:: set(objs, bulk=True, clear=False, through_defaults=None)
.. method:: aset(objs, bulk=True, clear=False, through_defaults=None)
*Asynchronous version*: ``aset``
Replace the set of related objects:
.. code-block:: pycon
>>> new_list = [obj1, obj2, obj3]
>>> e.related_set.set(new_list)
This method accepts a ``clear`` argument to control how to perform the
operation. If ``False`` (the default), the elements missing from the
new set are removed using ``remove()`` and only the new ones are added.
If ``clear=True``, the ``clear()`` method is called instead and the
whole set is added at once.
For :class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey` objects, the ``bulk``
argument is passed on to :meth:`add` and :meth:`remove`.
For many-to-many relationships, the ``bulk`` keyword argument doesn't
exist.
Note that since ``set()`` is a compound operation, it is subject to
race conditions. For instance, new objects may be added to the database
in between the call to ``clear()`` and the call to ``add()``.
For many-to-many relationships ``set()`` accepts a list of either model
instances or field values, normally primary keys, as the ``objs``
argument.
Use the ``through_defaults`` argument to specify values for the new
:ref:`intermediate model <intermediary-manytomany>` instance(s), if
needed. You can use callables as values in the ``through_defaults``
dictionary and they will be evaluated once before creating any
intermediate instance(s).
.. note::
Note that ``add()``, ``aadd()``, ``create()``, ``acreate()``,
``remove()``, ``aremove()``, ``clear()``, ``aclear()``, ``set()``, and
``aset()`` all apply database changes immediately for all types of
related fields. In other words, there is no need to call
``save()``/``asave()`` on either end of the relationship.
If you use :meth:`~django.db.models.query.QuerySet.prefetch_related`,
the ``add()``, ``aadd()``, ``remove()``, ``aremove()``, ``clear()``,
``aclear()``, ``set()``, and ``aset()`` methods clear the prefetched
cache.