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Django: create a separate set of models in in-memory SQLite DB on the flight

What I'm trying to do:
I have a general huge set of models in my Django (v2.3.3) application in PostgreSQL DB, but now for a specific task I need to create a rather complicated aggregation of DB objects. And it would be much easier to work with them if I could only in that thread/process that handles this specific web-request create an in-memory SQLite DB, define a new set of model-classes there (without foreign keys to the global set of models of course), create some objects in that DB, do my calculations and kill that DB upon the response serving. For consistency I would like to use Django models for this small DB as well.
Is this possible? Or do you have some better ideas how to approach this?

Eventually I've ended up with SQLAlchemy + in-memory SQLite solution:
from sqlalchemy import Column, Integer, String, ForeignKey, create_engine
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship, sessionmaker, backref
Base = declarative_base()
engine = create_engine('sqlite:///:memory:')
Session = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = Session()
class Node(Base):
"""A node entity in sankey diagram."""
__tablename__ = 'node'
id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
name = Column(String) # unique - might include parts from event.extra_data
event = Column(String) # not unique - totally equeals to event.event
Base.metadata.create_all(engine)

Refresh the data within an sqlalchemy table model quicker

Due to complications with how Django and SQLAlchemy deal with JSON data, I've had to create a system that uses models from both of them as well as using standard SQLAlchemy.
The problem I'm having is that when I update information within a table via the table.update() method there's quite a considerable delay until my SQLAlchemy table model picks up the change.
Is there a way to force the model to update?
My code is along these lines:
# Database Connection
engine = create_engine('mysql+pymysql://'+dbusername+':'+dbuserpass+dbserver+dbname,
pool_recycle=3600, echo=False)
con = scoped_session(sessionmaker(autocommit=True,autoflush=False,bind=engine))
Session = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
sess = Session()
meta = MetaData(engine)
insp = inspect(engine)
Base = declarative_base()
con.close()
engine.dispose()
# sqlalchemy table model
class ContactsTable(Base):
__tablename__ = 'contacts_tbl'
db_id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
per_contact_id = Column(JSON)
createdDateTime = Column(JSON)
lastModifiedDateTime = Column(JSON)
distlists = Column(JSON)
# Theres a lot of code missing here you can see the basics of what I'm doing, adding data and then reading
def add_to_dist(contact,dist,tbl=contacts_tbl):
con.execute(tbl.update().values(distributionLists=dists).where(tbl.c.per_contact_id==contact))
def get_dist_members(name):
data = sess.query(ContactsTable).filter(ContactsTable.distributionLists.contains(name)).all()
Everything works. It's just that the query data is out of date and seems to take anywhere up to 10 minutes to refresh. This is annoying as it's running through a web page that displays the data. It really needs to reflect the changes instantly.
If in fact I'm doing this whole thing incorrectly then feel free to school me!

Solved it by adding isolation_level="READ UNCOMMITTED" to the engine:
engine = create_engine('mysql+pymysql://'+dbusername+':'+dbuserpass+dbserver+dbname, pool_recycle=3600, echo=False, isolation_level="READ UNCOMMITTED")
Thanks to Ilja for pointing me in the right direction.

How to recognise a sqlite database created with sqlalchemy using pydal?

I create a very simple database with sqlalchemy as follows:
from sqlalchemy import Column, Integer, String
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
from sqlalchemy import create_engine
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
Base = declarative_base()
class Person(Base):
__tablename__ = 'person'
id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
name = Column(String(250), nullable=False)
engine = create_engine('sqlite:///sqlalchemy_example.db')
# Create all tables in the engine. This is equivalent to "Create Table"
# statements in raw SQL.
Base.metadata.create_all(engine)
Base.metadata.bind = engine
DBSession = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = DBSession()
# Insert a Person in the person table
new_person = Person(name='new person')
session.add(new_person)
session.commit()
and then I tried to read it using pyDAL reference.
from pydal import DAL, Field
db = DAL('sqlite://sqlalchemy_example.db', auto_import=True)
db.tables
>> []
db.define_table('person', Field('name'))
>> OperationalError: table "person" already exists
How do I access the table using pyDAL?
thank you

First, do not set auto_import=True, as that is only relevant if pyDAL *.table migration metadata files exist for the tables, which will not be the case here.
Second, pyDAL does not know the table already exists, and because migrations are enabled by default, it attempts to create the table. To prevent this, you can simply disable migrations:
# Applies to all tables.
db = DAL('sqlite://sqlalchemy_example.db', migrate_enabled=False)
or:
# Applies to this table only.
db.define_table('person', Field('name'), migrate=False)
If you would like pyDAL to take over migrations for future changes to this table, then you should run a "fake migration", which will cause pyDAL to generate a *.table migration metadata file for this table without actually running the migration. To do this, temporarily make the following change:
db.define_table('person', Field('name'), fake_migrate=True)
After leaving the above in place for a single request, the *.table file will be generated, and you can remove the fake_migrate=True argument.
Finally, note that pyDAL expects the id field to be an auto-incrementing integer primary key field.

sqlalchemy dynamic schema on entity at runtime

I'm using SQL Alchemy and have some schema's that are account specific. The name of the schema is derived using the account ID, so I don't have the name of the schema until I hit my application service or repository layer. I'm wondering if it's possible to run a query against an entity that has it's schema dynamically set at runtime?
I know I need to set the __table_args__['schema'] and have tried doing that using the type() built-in, but I always get the following error:
could not assemble any primary key columns for mapped table
I'm ready to give up and just write straight sql, but I really hate to do that. Any idea how this can be done? I'm using SA 0.99 and I do have a PK mapped.
Thanks

from sqlalchemy 1.1,
this can be done easily using using schema_translation_map.
https://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/11/changelog/migration_11.html#multi-tenancy-schema-translation-for-table-objects

One option would be to reflect the particular account-dependent tables. Here is the SqlAlchemy Documentation on the matter.
Alternatively, You can create the table with a static schema attribute and update it as needed at runtime and run the queries you need to. I can't think of a non-messy way to do this. So here's the messy option
Use a loop to update the schema property in each table definition whenever the account is switched.
add all the tables that are account-specific to a list.
if the tables are expressed in the declarative syntax, then you have to modify the DeclarativeName.__table__.schema attribute. I'm not sure if you need to also modify DeclarativeName.__table_args__['schema'], but I guess it won't hurt.
If the tables are expressed in the old style Table syntax, then you have to modify the Table.schema attribute.
If you're using text for any relationships or foreign keys, then that will break, and you have to inspect each table for such hard coded usage and change them
example
user_id = Column(ForeignKey('my_schema.user.id')) needs to be written as user_id = Column(ForeignKey(User.id)). Then you can change the schema of User to my_new_schema. Otherwise, at query time sqlalchemy will be confused because the foreign key will point to my_schema.user.id while the query would point to my_new_schema.user.
I'm not sure if more complicated relationships can be expressed without the use of plain text, so I guess that's the limit to my proposed solution.
Here's an example I wrote up in the terminal:
>>> from sqlalchemy import Column, Table, Integer, String, select, ForeignKey
>>> from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship, backref
>>> from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
>>> B = declarative_base()
>>>
>>> class User(B):
... __tablename__ = 'user'
... __table_args__ = {'schema': 'first_schema'}
... id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
... name = Column(String)
... email = Column(String)
...
>>> class Posts(B):
... __tablename__ = 'posts'
... __table_args__ = {'schema':'first_schema'}
... id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
... user_id = Column(ForeignKey(User.id))
... text = Column(String)
...
>>> str(select([User.id, Posts.text]).select_from(User.__table__.join(Posts)))
'SELECT first_schema."user".id, first_schema.posts.text \nFROM first_schema."user" JOIN first_schema.posts ON first_schema."user".id = first_schema.posts.user_id'
>>> account_specific = [User, Posts]
>>> for Tbl in account_specific:
... Tbl.__table__.schema = 'second_schema'
...
>>> str(select([User.id, Posts.text]).select_from(User.__table__.join(Posts)))
'SELECT second_schema."user".id, second_schema.posts.text \nFROM second_schema."user" JOIN second_schema.posts ON second_schema."user".id = second_schema.posts.user_id'
As you see the same query refers to the second_schema after I update the table's schema attribute.

edit: Although you can do what I did here, using the schema translation map as shown in the the answer below is the proper way to do it.
They are set statically. Foreign keys needs the same treatment, and I have an additional issue, in that I have multiple schemas that contain multiple tables so I did this:
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
staging_dbase = declarative_base()
model_dbase = declarative_base()
def adjust_schemas(staging, model):
for vv in staging_dbase.metadata.tables.values():
vv.schema = staging
for vv in model_dbase.metadata.tables.values():
vv.schema = model
def all_tables():
return staging_dbase.metadata.tables.union(model_dbase.metadata.tables)
Then in my startup code:
adjust_schemas(staging=staging_name, model=model_name)
You can mod this for a single declarative base.

I'm working on a project in which I have to create postgres schemas and tables dynamically and then insert data in proper schema. Here is something I have done maybe it will help someone:
import sqlalchemy
from sqlalchemy import create_engine
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
from app.models.user import User
engine_uri = "postgres://someusername:somepassword#localhost:5432/users"
engine = create_engine(engine_uri, pool_pre_ping=True)
SessionLocal = sessionmaker(autocommit=False, autoflush=False, bind=engine)
def create_schema(schema_name: str):
"""
Creates a new postgres schema
- **schema_name**: name of the new schema to create
"""
if not engine.dialect.has_schema(engine, schema_name):
engine.execute(sqlalchemy.schema.CreateSchema(schema_name))
def create_tables(schema_name: str):
"""
Create new tables for postgres schema
- **schema_name**: schema in which tables are to be created
"""
if (
engine.dialect.has_schema(engine, schema_name) and
not engine.dialect.has_table(engine, str(User.__table__.name))
):
User.__table__.schema = schema_name
User.__table__.create(engine)
def add_data(schema_name: str):
"""
Add data to a particular postgres schema
- **schema_name**: schema in which data is to be added
"""
if engine.dialect.has_table(engine, str(User.__table__.name)):
db = SessionLocal()
db.connection(execution_options={
"schema_translate_map": {None: schema_name}},
)
user = User()
user.name = "Moin"
user.salary = 10000
db.add(user)
db.commit()

How to set up global connection to database?

I have problem with setting up database connection. I want to set connection, where I can see this connection in all my controllers.
Now I use something like this in my controller:
db = create_engine('mysql://root:password#localhost/python')
metadata = MetaData(db)
email_list = Table('email',metadata,autoload=True)
In development.ini I have:
sqlalchemy.url = mysql://root#password#localhost/python
sqlalchemy.pool_recycle = 3600
How do I set _____init_____.py?

I hope you got pylons working; for anyone else that may later read question I'll present some pointers in the right direction.
First of all, you are only creating a engine and a metadata object. While you can use the engine to create connections directly you would almost always use a Session to manage querying and updating your database.
Pylons automatically setups this for you by creating a engine from your configuration file, then passing it to yourproject.model.__init__.py:init_model() which binds it to a scoped_session object.
This scoped_session object is available from yourproject.model.meta and is the object you would use to query your database. For example:
record = meta.Session.query(model.MyTable).filter(id=42)
Because it is a scoped_session it automatically creates a Session object and associates it with the current thread if it doesn't already exists. Scoped_session passes all action (.query(), .add(), .delete()) down into the real Session object and thus allows you a simple way to interact the database with having to manage the non-thread-safe Session object explicitly.
The scoped_session, Session, object from yourproject.model.meta is automatically associated with a metadata object created as either yourproject.model.meta:metadata (in pylons 0.9.7 and below) or yourproject.model.meta:Base.metadata (in pylons 1.0). Use this metadata object to define your tables. As you can see in newer versions of pylons a metadata is associated with a declarative_base() object named Base, which allows you to use SqlAlchemy's declarative style.
Using this from the controller
from yourproject import model
from yourproject.model import Session
class MyController(..):
def resource(self):
result = Session.query(model.email_list).\
filter(model.email_list.c.id=42).one()
return str(result)
Use real connections
If you really want to get a connection object simply use
from yourproject.model import Session
connection = Session.connection()
result = connection.execute("select 3+4;")
// more connection executions
Session.commit()
However this is all good, but what you should be doing is...
This leaves out that you are not really using SqlAlchemy much. The power of SqlAlchemy really shines when you start mapping your database tables to python classes. So anyone looking into using pylons with a database should take a serious look at what you can do with SqlAlchemy. If SqlAlchemy starts out intimidating simply start out with using its declarative approach, which should be enough for almost all pylons apps.
In your model instead of defining Table constructs, do this:
from sqlalchemy import Column, Integer, Unicode, ForeignKey
from sqlalchemy.orm import relation
from yourproject.model.meta import Base
class User(Base):
__tablename__ = 'users'
# primary_key implies nullable=False
id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True, index=True)
# nullable defaults to True
name = Column(Unicode, nullable=False)
notes = relation("UserNote", backref="user")
query = Session.query_property()
class UserNote(Base):
__tablename__ = 'usernotess'
# primary_key implies nullable=False
id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True, index=True)
userid = Column(Integer, index=True, ForeignKey("User.id"))
# nullable defaults to True
text = Column(Unicode, nullable=False)
query = Session.query_property()
Note the query objects. These are smart object that live on the class and associates your classes with the scoped_session(), Session. This allows you to event more easily extract data from your database.
from sqlalchemy.orm import eagerload
def resource(self):
user = User.query.filter(User.id==42).options(eagerload("notes")).one()
return "\n".join([ x.text for x in user.notes ])

1.0 version of Pylons use declarative syntax. More about this, you can see here .
In mode/init.py you can write somthing like this:
from your_programm.model.meta import Session, Base
from sqlalchemy import *
from sqlalchemy.types import *
def init_model(engine):
Session.configure(bind=engine)
class Foo(Base) :
__tablename__ = "foo"
id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
name = Column(String)
...

What you want to do is modify the Globals class in your app_globals.py file to include a .engine (or whatever) attribute. Then, in your controllers, you use from pylons import app_globals and app_globals.engine to access the engine (or metadata, session, scoped_session, etc...).