How to have models.UUIDField field without dash

Question

I tried to have models.UUIDField without dash, by using default=uuid.uuid4().hex (Instead of default=uuid.uuid4())

class Profile(models.Model):
    user = models.OneToOneField(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    api_key = models.UUIDField(default=uuid.uuid4().hex, editable=False, unique=True)
    subscription = models.IntegerField(
        choices=[(s.value, s.name) for s in Subscription],
        null=False,
        blank=False
    )

    def __str__(self):
        return str(self.api_key)

However, the resultant result still come with dash.

django=# select * from users_profile;
 id |               api_key                | secret_key | subscription | user_id
----+--------------------------------------+------------+--------------+---------
  1 | 9da3546c-660c-46c6-adc4-6a13e6ee202b |            |            0 |       1
  2 | 9cbc3a68-7f50-4b18-9e61-7b009f22a0e8 |            |            0 |       2
(2 rows)

May I know how to have models.UUIDField field without dash?. I would like to store in database without dashes, and use it without dashes.

This question can mean two things: do you want to *store it in the database* without dashes, or *use it in Django* without dashes? — Willem Van Onsem, Aug 24 '18 at 13:43
Both, I would like to store in database without dashes, and use it without dashes. — Cheok Yan Cheng, Aug 24 '18 at 13:47

score 15 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 04 '19 at 00:44

15

Are you using PostgreSQL by any chance? The UUIDField may be using the native uuid type for the column. It stores it efficiently using only 16 bytes (without dashes). If that is the case, it is not storing the dashes, only showing them when you select.

The good news is that in Python code you are getting a UUID object, so you can do self.api_key.hex to get a string without dashes.

edited Oct 04 '19 at 00:44

Boris Verkhovskiy

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answered Aug 24 '18 at 13:58

user10269945

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JPG · Answer 2 · 2018-11-09T08:19:56.007

6

Use CharField field instead of UUIDField,

def generate_uuid():
    return uuid.uuid4().hex


class Profile(models.Model):
    api_key = models.CharField(default=generate_uuid, editable=False, unique=True, max_length=40)

edited Nov 09 '18 at 08:19

answered Aug 25 '18 at 03:23

JPG

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It's so wrong! all Profile instances get same uuid value (you called uuid4() and it will be fixed in migration files) – Yaser Khahani Nov 09 '18 at 08:07
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@YaserKH My bad :( I've updated the answer :) Anyway thanks for the update – JPG Nov 09 '18 at 08:20
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@JPG a uuid field will significantly outperform a charfield for most databases. – Steven Moseley Aug 06 '19 at 01:06

How to have models.UUIDField field without dash

2 Answers2