NO DATA LOSS EXAMPLE
I would say: If machine cannot do something for us, then let's help it!
Because the problem that OP put here can have multiple mutations, I will try to explain how to struggle with that kind of problem in a simple way.
Let's assume we have a model (in the app called users) like this:
from django.db import models
class Person(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
def __str__(self):
return self.name
class Group(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
members = models.ManyToManyField(Person)
def __str__(self):
return self.name
but after some while we need to add a date of a member join. So we want this:
class Group(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
members = models.ManyToManyField(Person, through='Membership') # <-- through model
def __str__(self):
return self.name
# and through Model itself
class Membership(models.Model):
person = models.ForeignKey(Person, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
group = models.ForeignKey(Group, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
date_joined = models.DateField()
Now, normally you will hit the same problem as OP wrote. To solve it, follow these steps:
start from this point:
from django.db import models
class Person(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
def __str__(self):
return self.name
class Group(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
members = models.ManyToManyField(Person)
def __str__(self):
return self.name
create through model and run python manage.py makemigrations (but don't put through property in the Group.members field yet):
from django.db import models
class Person(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
def __str__(self):
return self.name
class Group(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
members = models.ManyToManyField(Person) # <-- no through property yet!
def __str__(self):
return self.name
class Membership(models.Model): # <--- through model
person = models.ForeignKey(Person, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
group = models.ForeignKey(Group, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
date_joined = models.DateField()
create an empty migration using python manage.py makemigrations users --empty command and create conversion script in python (more about the python migrations here) which creates new relations (Membership) for an old field (Group.members). It could look like this:
# Generated by Django A.B on YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
import datetime
from django.db import migrations
def create_through_relations(apps, schema_editor):
Group = apps.get_model('users', 'Group')
Membership = apps.get_model('users', 'Membership')
for group in Group.objects.all():
for member in group.members.all():
Membership(
person=member,
group=group,
date_joined=datetime.date.today()
).save()
class Migration(migrations.Migration):
dependencies = [
('myapp', '0005_create_models'),
]
operations = [
migrations.RunPython(create_through_relations, reverse_code=migrations.RunPython.noop),
]
remove members field in the Group model and run python manage.py makemigrations, so our Group will look like this:
class Group(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
add members field the the Group model, but now with through property and run python manage.py makemigrations:
class Group(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
members = models.ManyToManyField(Person, through='Membership')
and that's it!
Now you need to change creation of members in a new way in your code - by through model. More about here.
You can also optionally tidy it up, by squashing these migrations.
