Managing filesLink to this heading#

Using files in modelsLink to this heading#

When you use a FileField or ImageField, Django provides a set of APIs you can use to deal with that file.

Consider the following model, using an ImageField to store a photo:

from django.db import models


class Car(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=255)
    price = models.DecimalField(max_digits=5, decimal_places=2)
    photo = models.ImageField(upload_to="cars")
    specs = models.FileField(upload_to="specs")

Any Car instance will have a photo attribute that you can use to get at the details of the attached photo:

>>> car = Car.objects.get(name="57 Chevy")
>>> car.photo
<ImageFieldFile: cars/chevy.jpg>
>>> car.photo.name
'cars/chevy.jpg'
>>> car.photo.path
'/media/cars/chevy.jpg'
>>> car.photo.url
'https://media.example.com/cars/chevy.jpg'

This object – car.photo in the example – is a File object, which means it has all the methods and attributes described below.

For example, you can change the file name by setting the file’s name to a path relative to the file storage’s location (MEDIA_ROOT if you are using the default FileSystemStorage):

>>> import os
>>> from django.conf import settings
>>> initial_path = car.photo.path
>>> car.photo.name = "cars/chevy_ii.jpg"
>>> new_path = os.path.join(settings.MEDIA_ROOT, car.photo.name)
>>> # Move the file on the filesystem
>>> os.rename(initial_path, new_path)
>>> car.save()
>>> car.photo.path
'/media/cars/chevy_ii.jpg'
>>> car.photo.path == new_path
True

To save an existing file on disk to a FileField:

>>> from pathlib import Path
>>> from django.core.files import File
>>> path = Path("/some/external/specs.pdf")
>>> car = Car.objects.get(name="57 Chevy")
>>> with path.open(mode="rb") as f:
...     car.specs = File(f, name=path.name)
...     car.save()
...

The File objectLink to this heading#

Internally, Django uses a django.core.files.File instance any time it needs to represent a file.

Most of the time you’ll use a File that Django’s given you (i.e. a file attached to a model as above, or perhaps an uploaded file).

If you need to construct a File yourself, the easiest way is to create one using a Python built-in file object:

>>> from django.core.files import File

# Create a Python file object using open()
>>> f = open("/path/to/hello.world", "w")
>>> myfile = File(f)

Now you can use any of the documented attributes and methods of the File class.

Be aware that files created in this way are not automatically closed. The following approach may be used to close files automatically:

>>> from django.core.files import File

# Create a Python file object using open() and the with statement
>>> with open("/path/to/hello.world", "w") as f:
...     myfile = File(f)
...     myfile.write("Hello World")
...
>>> myfile.closed
True
>>> f.closed
True

Closing files is especially important when accessing file fields in a loop over a large number of objects. If files are not manually closed after accessing them, the risk of running out of file descriptors may arise. This may lead to the following error:

OSError: [Errno 24] Too many open files

File storageLink to this heading#

Behind the scenes, Django delegates decisions about how and where to store files to a file storage system. This is the object that actually understands things like file systems, opening and reading files, etc.

Django’s default file storage is 'django.core.files.storage.FileSystemStorage'. If you don’t explicitly provide a storage system in the default key of the STORAGES setting, this is the one that will be used.

See below for details of the built-in default file storage system, and see How to write a custom storage class for information on writing your own file storage system.

>>> from django.core.files.base import ContentFile
>>> from django.core.files.storage import default_storage

>>> path = default_storage.save("path/to/file", ContentFile(b"new content"))
>>> path
'path/to/file'

>>> default_storage.size(path)
11
>>> default_storage.open(path).read()
b'new content'

>>> default_storage.delete(path)
>>> default_storage.exists(path)
False

from django.core.files.storage import FileSystemStorage
from django.db import models

fs = FileSystemStorage(location="/media/photos")


class Car(models.Model):
    ...
    photo = models.ImageField(storage=fs)

from django.conf import settings
from django.db import models
from .storages import MyLocalStorage, MyRemoteStorage


def select_storage():
    return MyLocalStorage() if settings.DEBUG else MyRemoteStorage()


class MyModel(models.Model):
    my_file = models.FileField(storage=select_storage)

from django.core.files.storage import storages


def select_storage():
    return storages["mystorage"]


class MyModel(models.Model):
    upload = models.FileField(storage=select_storage)

from django.core.files.storage import storages
from django.utils.functional import LazyObject


class OtherStorage(LazyObject):
    def _setup(self):
        self._wrapped = storages["mystorage"]


my_storage = OtherStorage()


class MyModel(models.Model):
    upload = models.FileField(storage=my_storage)

@override_settings(
    STORAGES={
        "mystorage": {
            "BACKEND": "django.core.files.storage.InMemoryStorage",
        }
    }
)
def test_storage():
    model = MyModel()
    assert isinstance(model.upload.storage, InMemoryStorage)