289 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
289 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
===============================
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Notes about supported databases
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===============================
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Django attempts to support as many features as possible on all database
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backends. However, not all database backends are alike, and we've had to make
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design decisions on which features to support and which assumptions we can make
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safely.
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This file describes some of the features that might be relevant to Django
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usage. Of course, it is not intended as a replacement for server-specific
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documentation or reference manuals.
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MySQL notes
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===========
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Django expects the database to support transactions, referential integrity,
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and Unicode support (UTF-8 encoding). Fortunately, MySQL_ has all these
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features as available as far back as 3.23. While it may be possible to use
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3.23 or 4.0, you'll probably have less trouble if you use 4.1 or 5.0.
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MySQL 4.1
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---------
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`MySQL 4.1`_ has greatly improved support for character sets. It is possible to
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set different default character sets on the database, table, and column.
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Previous versions have only a server-wide character set setting. It's also the
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first version where the character set can be changed on the fly. 4.1 also has
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support for views, but Django currently doesn't use views.
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MySQL 5.0
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---------
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`MySQL 5.0`_ adds the ``information_schema`` database, which contains detailed
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data on all database schema. Django's ``inspectdb`` feature uses this
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``information_schema`` if it's available. 5.0 also has support for stored
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procedures, but Django currently doesn't use stored procedures.
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.. _MySQL: http://www.mysql.com/
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.. _MySQL 4.1: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/index.html
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.. _MySQL 5.0: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/index.html
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Storage engines
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---------------
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MySQL has several `storage engines`_ (previously called table types). You can
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change the default storage engine in the server configuration.
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The default engine is MyISAM_. The main drawback of MyISAM is that it doesn't
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currently support transactions or foreign keys. On the plus side, it's
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currently the only engine that supports full-text indexing and searching.
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The InnoDB_ engine is fully transactional and supports foreign key references.
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The BDB_ engine, like InnoDB, is also fully transactional and supports foreign
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key references. However, its use seems to be deprecated.
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`Other storage engines`_, including SolidDB_ and Falcon_, are on the horizon.
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For now, InnoDB is probably your best choice.
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.. _storage engines: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/storage-engines.html
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.. _MyISAM: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/myisam-storage-engine.html
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.. _BDB: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/bdb-storage-engine.html
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.. _InnoDB: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/innodb.html
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.. _Other storage engines: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/storage-engines-other.html
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.. _SolidDB: http://forge.mysql.com/projects/view.php?id=139
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.. _Falcon: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/falcon/en/index.html
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MySQLdb
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-------
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`MySQLdb`_ is the Python interface to MySQL. Version 1.2.1p2 or later is
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required for full MySQL support in Django. Earlier versions will not work with
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the ``mysql`` backend.
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If you are trying to use an older version of MySQL and the ``mysql_old``
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backend, then 1.2.0 *might* work for you.
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.. note::
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If you see ``ImportError: cannot import name ImmutableSet`` when trying to
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use Django, your MySQLdb installation may contain an outdated ``sets.py``
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file that conflicts with the built-in module of the same name from Python
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2.4 and later. To fix this, verify that you have installed MySQLdb version
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1.2.1p2 or newer, then delete the ``sets.py`` file in the MySQLdb
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directory that was left by an earlier version.
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.. _MySQLdb: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mysql-python
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Creating your database
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----------------------
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You can `create your database`_ using the command-line tools and this SQL::
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CREATE DATABASE <dbname> CHARACTER SET utf8;
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This ensures all tables and columns will use UTF-8 by default.
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.. _create your database: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/create-database.html
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Connecting to the database
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--------------------------
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Refer to the `settings documentation`_.
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Connection settings are used in this order:
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1. ``DATABASE_OPTIONS``
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2. ``DATABASE_NAME``, ``DATABASE_USER``, ``DATABASE_PASSWORD``, ``DATABASE_HOST``,
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``DATABASE_PORT``
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3. MySQL option files.
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In other words, if you set the name of the database in ``DATABASE_OPTIONS``,
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this will take precedence over ``DATABASE_NAME``, which would override
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anything in a `MySQL option file`_.
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Here's a sample configuration which uses a MySQL option file::
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# settings.py
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DATABASE_ENGINE = "mysql"
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DATABASE_OPTIONS = {
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'read_default_file': '/path/to/my.cnf',
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}
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# my.cnf
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[client]
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database = DATABASE_NAME
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user = DATABASE_USER
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password = DATABASE_PASSWORD
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default-character-set = utf8
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Several other MySQLdb connection options may be useful, such as ``ssl``,
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``use_unicode``, ``init_command``, and ``sql_mode``. Consult the
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`MySQLdb documentation`_ for more details.
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.. _settings documentation: ../settings/#database-engine
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.. _MySQL option file: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/option-files.html
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.. _MySQLdb documentation: http://mysql-python.sourceforge.net/
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Creating your tables
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--------------------
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When Django generates the schema, it doesn't specify a storage engine, so
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tables will be created with whatever default storage engine your database
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server is configured for. The easiest solution is to set your database server's
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default storage engine to the desired engine.
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If you're using a hosting service and can't change your server's default
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storage engine, you have a couple of options.
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* After the tables are created, execute an ``ALTER TABLE`` statement to
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convert a table to a new storage engine (such as InnoDB)::
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ALTER TABLE <tablename> ENGINE=INNODB;
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This can be tedious if you have a lot of tables.
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* Another option is to use the ``init_command`` option for MySQLdb prior to
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creating your tables::
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DATABASE_OPTIONS = {
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# ...
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"init_command": "SET storage_engine=INNODB",
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# ...
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}
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This sets the default storage engine upon connecting to the database.
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After your tables have been created, you should remove this option.
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* Another method for changing the storage engine is described in
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AlterModelOnSyncDB_.
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.. _AlterModelOnSyncDB: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/AlterModelOnSyncDB
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Oracle Notes
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============
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Django supports `Oracle Database Server`_ versions 9i and higher. Oracle
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version 10g or later is required to use Django's ``regex`` and ``iregex`` query
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operators. You will also need the `cx_Oracle`_ driver, version 4.3.1 or newer.
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.. _`Oracle Database Server`: http://www.oracle.com/
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.. _`cx_Oracle`: http://cx-oracle.sourceforge.net/
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To run ``python manage.py syncdb``, you'll need to create an Oracle database
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user with CREATE TABLE, CREATE SEQUENCE, CREATE PROCEDURE, and CREATE TRIGGER
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privileges. To run Django's test suite, the user also needs
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CREATE and DROP DATABASE and CREATE and DROP TABLESPACE privileges.
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Connecting to the Database
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--------------------------
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Your Django settings.py file should look something like this for Oracle::
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DATABASE_ENGINE = 'oracle'
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DATABASE_NAME = 'xe'
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DATABASE_USER = 'a_user'
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DATABASE_PASSWORD = 'a_password'
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DATABASE_HOST = ''
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DATABASE_PORT = ''
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If you don't use a ``tnsnames.ora`` file or a similar naming method that
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recognizes the SID ("xe" in this example), then fill in both ``DATABASE_HOST``
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and ``DATABASE_PORT`` like so::
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DATABASE_ENGINE = 'oracle'
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DATABASE_NAME = 'xe'
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DATABASE_USER = 'a_user'
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DATABASE_PASSWORD = 'a_password'
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DATABASE_HOST = 'dbprod01ned.mycompany.com'
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DATABASE_PORT = '1540'
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You should supply both ``DATABASE_HOST`` and ``DATABASE_PORT``, or leave both
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as empty strings.
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Tablespace Options
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------------------
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A common paradigm for optimizing performance in Oracle-based systems is the
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use of `tablespaces`_ to organize disk layout. The Oracle backend supports
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this use case by adding ``db_tablespace`` options to the ``Meta`` and
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``Field`` classes. (When using a backend that lacks support for tablespaces,
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these options are ignored.)
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.. _`tablespaces`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablespace
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A tablespace can be specified for the table(s) generated by a model by
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supplying the ``db_tablespace`` option inside the model's ``Meta`` class.
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Additionally, the ``db_tablespace`` option can be passed to a ``Field``
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constructor to specify an alternate tablespace for the ``Field``'s column
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index. If no index would be created for the column, the ``db_tablespace``
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option is ignored.
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::
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class TablespaceExample(models.Model):
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name = models.CharField(maxlength=30, db_index=True, db_tablespace="indexes")
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data = models.CharField(maxlength=255, db_index=True)
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edges = models.ManyToManyField(to="self", db_tablespace="indexes")
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class Meta:
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db_tablespace = "tables"
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In this example, the tables generated by the ``TablespaceExample`` model
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(i.e., the model table and the many-to-many table) would be stored in the
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``tables`` tablespace. The index for the name field and the indexes on the
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many-to-many table would be stored in the ``indexes`` tablespace. The ``data``
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field would also generate an index, but no tablespace for it is specified, so
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it would be stored in the model tablespace ``tables`` by default.
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Django does not create the tablespaces for you. Please refer to `Oracle's
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documentation`_ for details on creating and managing tablespaces.
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.. _`Oracle's documentation`: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14200/statements_7003.htm#SQLRF01403
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Naming Issues
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-------------
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Oracle imposes a name length limit of 30 characters. To accommodate this, the
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backend truncates database identifiers to fit, replacing the final four
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characters of the truncated name with a repeatable MD5 hash value.
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NULL and Empty Strings
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----------------------
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Django generally prefers to use the empty string ('') rather than NULL, but
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Oracle treats both identically. To get around this, the Oracle backend
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coerces the ``null=True`` option on fields that permit the empty string as a
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value. When fetching from the database, it is assumed that a NULL value in
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one of these fields really means the empty string, and the data is silently
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converted to reflect this assumption.
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TextField Limitations
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---------------------
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The Oracle backend stores ``TextFields`` as ``NCLOB`` columns. Oracle imposes
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some limitations on the usage of such LOB columns in general:
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* LOB columns may not be used as primary keys.
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* LOB columns may not be used in indexes.
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* LOB columns may not be used in a ``SELECT DISTINCT`` list. This means that
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attempting to use the ``QuerySet.distinct`` method on a model that
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includes ``TextField`` columns will result in an error when run against
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Oracle. A workaround to this is to keep ``TextField`` columns out of any
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models that you foresee performing ``.distinct`` queries on, and to
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include the ``TextField`` in a related model instead.
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