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================================
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Django 1.3 alpha 1 release notes
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================================
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November 11, 2010
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Welcome to Django 1.3 alpha 1!
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This is the first in a series of preview/development releases leading
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up to the eventual release of Django 1.3. This release is primarily
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targeted at developers who are interested in trying out new features
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and testing the Django codebase to help identify and resolve bugs
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prior to the final 1.3 release.
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As such, this release is *not* intended for production use, and any such use is
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discouraged.
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As of this alpha release, Django 1.3 contains a number of nifty `new
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features`_, lots of bug fixes, some minor `backwards incompatible
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changes`_ and an easy upgrade path from Django 1.2.
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.. _new features: `What's new in Django 1.3 alpha 1`_
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.. _backwards incompatible changes: backwards-incompatible-changes-1.3-alpha-1_
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What's new in Django 1.3 alpha 1
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================================
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Class-based views
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Django 1.3 adds a framework that allows you to use a class as a view.
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This means you can compose a view out of a collection of methods that
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can be subclassed and overridden to provide common views of data without
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having to write too much code.
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Analogs of all the old function-based generic views have been provided,
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along with a completely generic view base class that can be used as
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the basis for reusable applications that can be easily extended.
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See :doc:`the documentation on Class-based Generic Views
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</topics/class-based-views>` for more details. There is also a document to
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help you :doc:`convert your function-based generic views to class-based
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views</topics/generic-views-migration>`.
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Logging
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~~~~~~~
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Django 1.3 adds framework-level support for Python's logging module.
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This means you can now easily configure and control logging as part of
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your Django project. A number of logging handlers and logging calls
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have been added to Django's own code as well -- most notably, the
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error emails sent on a HTTP 500 server error are now handled as a
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logging activity. See :doc:`the documentation on Django's logging
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interface </topics/logging>` for more details.
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Extended static files handling
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Django 1.3 ships with a new contrib app ``'django.contrib.staticfiles'``
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to help developers handle the static media files (images, CSS, Javascript,
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etc.) that are needed to render a complete web page.
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In previous versions of Django, it was common to place static assets in
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:setting:`MEDIA_ROOT` along with user-uploaded files, and serve them both at
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:setting:`MEDIA_URL`. Part of the purpose of introducing the ``staticfiles``
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app is to make it easier to keep static files separate from user-uploaded
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files. For this reason, you will probably want to make your
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:setting:`MEDIA_ROOT` and :setting:`MEDIA_URL` different from your
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:setting:`STATICFILES_ROOT` and :setting:`STATICFILES_URL`. You will need to
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arrange for serving of files in :setting:`MEDIA_ROOT` yourself;
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``staticfiles`` does not deal with user-uploaded media at all.
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See the :doc:`reference documentation of the app </ref/contrib/staticfiles>`
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for more details or learn how to :doc:`manage static files
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</howto/static-files>`.
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``unittest2`` support
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Python 2.7 introduced some major changes to the unittest library,
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adding some extremely useful features. To ensure that every Django
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project can benefit from these new features, Django ships with a
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copy of unittest2_, a copy of the Python 2.7 unittest library,
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backported for Python 2.4 compatibility.
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To access this library, Django provides the
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``django.utils.unittest`` module alias. If you are using Python
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2.7, or you have installed unittest2 locally, Django will map the
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alias to the installed version of the unittest library. Otherwise,
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Django will use it's own bundled version of unittest2.
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To use this alias, simply use::
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from django.utils import unittest
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wherever you would have historically used::
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import unittest
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If you want to continue to use the base unittest libary, you can --
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you just won't get any of the nice new unittest2 features.
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.. _unittest2: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/unittest2
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Transaction context managers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Users of Python 2.5 and above may now use :ref:`transaction management functions
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<transaction-management-functions>` as `context managers`_. For example::
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with transaction.autocommit():
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# ...
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.. _context managers: http://docs.python.org/glossary.html#term-context-manager
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For more information, see :ref:`transaction-management-functions`.
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Configurable delete-cascade
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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:class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey` and
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:class:`~django.db.models.OneToOneField` now accept an
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:attr:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey.on_delete` argument to customize behavior
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when the referenced object is deleted. Previously, deletes were always
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cascaded; available alternatives now include set null, set default, set to any
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value, protect, or do nothing.
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For more information, see the :attr:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey.on_delete`
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documentation.
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Contextual markers in translatable strings
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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For translation strings with ambiguous meaning, you can now
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use the ``pgettext`` function to specify the context of the string.
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For more information, see :ref:`contextual-markers`
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Everything else
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Django :doc:`1.1 <1.1>` and :doc:`1.2 <1.2>` added
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lots of big ticket items to Django, like multiple-database support,
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model validation, and a session-based messages framework. However,
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this focus on big features came at the cost of lots of smaller
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features.
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To compensate for this, the focus of the Django 1.3 development
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process has been on adding lots of smaller, long standing feature
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requests. These include:
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* Improved tools for accessing and manipulating the current Site via
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:func:`django.contrib.sites.models.get_current_site`.
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* A :class:`~django.test.client.RequestFactory` for mocking
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requests in tests.
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* A new test assertion --
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:meth:`~django.test.client.Client.assertNumQueries` -- making it
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easier to test the database activity associated with a view.
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.. _backwards-incompatible-changes-1.3-alpha-1:
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Backwards-incompatible changes in 1.3 alpha 1
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=============================================
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PasswordInput default rendering behavior
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The :class:`~django.forms.PasswordInput` form widget, intended for use
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with form fields which represent passwords, accepts a boolean keyword
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argument ``render_value`` indicating whether to send its data back to
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the browser when displaying a submitted form with errors. Prior to
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Django 1.3, this argument defaulted to ``True``, meaning that the
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submitted password would be sent back to the browser as part of the
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form. Developers who wished to add a bit of additional security by
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excluding that value from the redisplayed form could instantiate a
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:class:`~django.forms.PasswordInput` passing ``render_value=False`` .
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Due to the sensitive nature of passwords, however, Django 1.3 takes
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this step automatically; the default value of ``render_value`` is now
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``False``, and developers who want the password value returned to the
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browser on a submission with errors (the previous behavior) must now
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explicitly indicate this. For example::
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class LoginForm(forms.Form):
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username = forms.CharField(max_length=100)
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password = forms.CharField(widget=forms.PasswordInput(render_value=True))
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Clearable default widget for FileField
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Django 1.3 now includes a ``ClearableFileInput`` form widget in addition to
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``FileInput``. ``ClearableFileInput`` renders with a checkbox to clear the
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field's value (if the field has a value and is not required); ``FileInput``
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provided no means for clearing an existing file from a ``FileField``.
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``ClearableFileInput`` is now the default widget for a ``FileField``, so
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existing forms including ``FileField`` without assigning a custom widget will
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need to account for the possible extra checkbox in the rendered form output.
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To return to the previous rendering (without the ability to clear the
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``FileField``), use the ``FileInput`` widget in place of
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``ClearableFileInput``. For instance, in a ``ModelForm`` for a hypothetical
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``Document`` model with a ``FileField`` named ``document``::
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from django import forms
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from myapp.models import Document
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class DocumentForm(forms.ModelForm):
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class Meta:
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model = Document
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widgets = {'document': forms.FileInput}
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New index on database session table
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Prior to Django 1.3, the database table used by the database backend
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for the :doc:`sessions </topics/http/sessions>` app had no index on
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the ``expire_date`` column. As a result, date-based queries on the
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session table -- such as the query that is needed to purge old
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sessions -- would be very slow if there were lots of sessions.
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If you have an existing project that is using the database session
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backend, you don't have to do anything to accommodate this change.
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However, you may get a significant performance boost if you manually
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add the new index to the session table. The SQL that will add the
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index can be found by running the :djadmin:`sqlindexes` admin
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command::
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python manage.py sqlindexes sessions
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No more naughty words
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Django has historically provided (and enforced) a list of profanities.
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The :doc:`comments app </ref/contrib/comments/index>` has enforced this
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list of profanities, preventing people from submitting comments that
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contained one of those profanities.
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Unfortunately, the technique used to implement this profanities list
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was woefully naive, and prone to the `Scunthorpe problem`_. Fixing the
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built in filter to fix this problem would require significant effort,
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and since natural language processing isn't the normal domain of a web
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framework, we have "fixed" the problem by making the list of
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prohibited words an empty list.
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If you want to restore the old behavior, simply put a
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:setting:`PROFANITIES_LIST` setting in your settings file that includes the
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words that you want to prohibit (see the `commit that implemented this
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change`_ if you want to see the list of words that was historically
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prohibited). However, if avoiding profanities is important to you, you
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would be well advised to seek out a better, less naive approach to the
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problem.
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.. _Scunthorpe problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem
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.. _commit that implemented this change: http://code.djangoproject.com/changeset/13996
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Localflavor changes
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Django 1.3 introduces the following backwards-incompatible changes to
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local flavors:
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* Indonesia (id) -- The province "Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD)"
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has been removed from the province list in favor of the new
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official designation "Aceh (ACE)".
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Features deprecated in 1.3
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==========================
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Django 1.3 deprecates some features from earlier releases.
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These features are still supported, but will be gradually phased out
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over the next few release cycles.
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Code taking advantage of any of the features below will raise a
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``PendingDeprecationWarning`` in Django 1.3. This warning will be
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silent by default, but may be turned on using Python's `warnings
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module`_, or by running Python with a ``-Wd`` or `-Wall` flag.
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.. _warnings module: http://docs.python.org/library/warnings.html
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In Django 1.4, these warnings will become a ``DeprecationWarning``,
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which is *not* silent. In Django 1.5 support for these features will
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be removed entirely.
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.. seealso::
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For more details, see the documentation :doc:`Django's release process
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</internals/release-process>` and our :doc:`deprecation timeline
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</internals/deprecation>`.
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``mod_python`` support
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The ``mod_python`` library has not had a release since 2007 or a commit since
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2008. The Apache Foundation board voted to remove ``mod_python`` from the set
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of active projects in its version control repositories, and its lead developer
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has shifted all of his efforts toward the lighter, slimmer, more stable, and
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more flexible ``mod_wsgi`` backend.
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If you are currently using the ``mod_python`` request handler, you are strongly
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encouraged to redeploy your Django instances using :doc:`mod_wsgi
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</howto/deployment/modwsgi>`.
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Function-based generic views
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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As a result of the introduction of class-based generic views, the
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function-based generic views provided by Django have been deprecated.
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The following modules and the views they contain have been deprecated:
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* :mod:`django.views.generic.create_update`
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* :mod:`django.views.generic.date_based`
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* :mod:`django.views.generic.list_detail`
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* :mod:`django.views.generic.simple`
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Test client response ``template`` attribute
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Django's :ref:`test client <test-client>` returns
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:class:`~django.test.client.Response` objects annotated with extra testing
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information. In Django versions prior to 1.3, this included a
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:attr:`~django.test.client.Response.template` attribute containing information
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about templates rendered in generating the response: either None, a single
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:class:`~django.template.Template` object, or a list of
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:class:`~django.template.Template` objects. This inconsistency in return values
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(sometimes a list, sometimes not) made the attribute difficult to work with.
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In Django 1.3 the :attr:`~django.test.client.Response.template` attribute is
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deprecated in favor of a new :attr:`~django.test.client.Response.templates`
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attribute, which is always a list, even if it has only a single element or no
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elements.
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``DjangoTestRunner``
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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As a result of the introduction of support for unittest2, the features
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of :class:`django.test.simple.DjangoTestRunner` (including fail-fast
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and Ctrl-C test termination) have been made redundant. In view of this
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redundancy, :class:`~django.test.simple.DjangoTestRunner` has been
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turned into an empty placeholder class, and will be removed entirely
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in Django 1.5.
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The Django 1.3 roadmap
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======================
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Before the final Django 1.3 release, several other preview/development
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releases will be made available. The current schedule consists of at
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least the following:
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* Week of **November 29, 2010**: First Django 1.3 beta release. Final
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feature freeze for Django 1.3.
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* Week of **January 10, 2011**: First Django 1.3 release
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candidate. String freeze for translations.
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* Week of **January 17, 2011**: Django 1.3 final release.
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If necessary, additional alpha, beta or release-candidate packages
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will be issued prior to the final 1.3 release. Django 1.3 will be
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released approximately one week after the final release candidate.
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What you can do to help
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=======================
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In order to provide a high-quality 1.3 release, we need your help. Although this
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alpha release is, again, *not* intended for production use, you can help the
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Django team by trying out the alpha codebase in a safe test environment and
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reporting any bugs or issues you encounter. The Django ticket tracker is the
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central place to search for open issues:
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* http://code.djangoproject.com/timeline
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Please open new tickets if no existing ticket corresponds to a problem you're
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running into.
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Additionally, discussion of Django development, including progress toward the
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1.3 release, takes place daily on the django-developers mailing list:
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* http://groups.google.com/group/django-developers
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... and in the ``#django-dev`` IRC channel on ``irc.freenode.net``. If you're
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interested in helping out with Django's development, feel free to join the
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discussions there.
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Django's online documentation also includes pointers on how to contribute to
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Django:
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* :doc:`How to contribute to Django </internals/contributing/index>`
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Contributions on any level -- developing code, writing documentation or simply
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triaging tickets and helping to test proposed bugfixes -- are always welcome and
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appreciated.
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Several development sprints will also be taking place before the 1.3
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release; these will typically be announced in advance on the
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django-developers mailing list, and anyone who wants to help is
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welcome to join in. |