Constraints referenceLink to this heading

The classes defined in this module create database constraints. They are added in the model Meta.constraints option.

BaseConstraintLink to this heading

class BaseConstraint(name, violation_error_message=None)Link to this definition

Base class for all constraints. Subclasses must implement constraint_sql(), create_sql(), remove_sql() and validate() methods.

All constraints have the following parameters in common:

nameLink to this heading

BaseConstraint.nameLink to this definition

The name of the constraint. You must always specify a unique name for the constraint.

violation_error_messageLink to this heading

BaseConstraint.violation_error_messageLink to this definition

The error message used when ValidationError is raised during model validation. Defaults to "Constraint “%(name)s” is violated.".

validate()Link to this heading

BaseConstraint.validate(model, instance, exclude=None, using=DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS)Link to this definition

Validates that the constraint, defined on model, is respected on the instance. This will do a query on the database to ensure that the constraint is respected. If fields in the exclude list are needed to validate the constraint, the constraint is ignored.

Raise a ValidationError if the constraint is violated.

This method must be implemented by a subclass.

CheckConstraintLink to this heading

class CheckConstraint(*, check, name, violation_error_message=None)Link to this definition

Creates a check constraint in the database.

checkLink to this heading

CheckConstraint.checkLink to this definition

A Q object or boolean Expression that specifies the check you want the constraint to enforce.

For example, CheckConstraint(check=Q(age__gte=18), name='age_gte_18') ensures the age field is never less than 18.

UniqueConstraintLink to this heading

class UniqueConstraint(*expressions, fields=(), name=None, condition=None, deferrable=None, include=None, opclasses=(), violation_error_message=None)Link to this definition

Creates a unique constraint in the database.

expressionsLink to this heading

UniqueConstraint.expressionsLink to this definition

Positional argument *expressions allows creating functional unique constraints on expressions and database functions.

For example:

Code
UniqueConstraint(Lower("name").desc(), "category", name="unique_lower_name_category")

creates a unique constraint on the lowercased value of the name field in descending order and the category field in the default ascending order.

Functional unique constraints have the same database restrictions as Index.expressions.

fieldsLink to this heading

UniqueConstraint.fieldsLink to this definition

A list of field names that specifies the unique set of columns you want the constraint to enforce.

For example, UniqueConstraint(fields=['room', 'date'], name='unique_booking') ensures each room can only be booked once for each date.

conditionLink to this heading

UniqueConstraint.conditionLink to this definition

A Q object that specifies the condition you want the constraint to enforce.

For example:

Code
UniqueConstraint(fields=["user"], condition=Q(status="DRAFT"), name="unique_draft_user")

ensures that each user only has one draft.

These conditions have the same database restrictions as Index.condition.

deferrableLink to this heading

UniqueConstraint.deferrableLink to this definition

Set this parameter to create a deferrable unique constraint. Accepted values are Deferrable.DEFERRED or Deferrable.IMMEDIATE. For example:

Code
from django.db.models import Deferrable, UniqueConstraint

UniqueConstraint(
    name="unique_order",
    fields=["order"],
    deferrable=Deferrable.DEFERRED,
)

By default constraints are not deferred. A deferred constraint will not be enforced until the end of the transaction. An immediate constraint will be enforced immediately after every command.

includeLink to this heading

UniqueConstraint.includeLink to this definition

A list or tuple of the names of the fields to be included in the covering unique index as non-key columns. This allows index-only scans to be used for queries that select only included fields (include) and filter only by unique fields (fields).

For example:

Code
UniqueConstraint(name="unique_booking", fields=["room", "date"], include=["full_name"])

will allow filtering on room and date, also selecting full_name, while fetching data only from the index.

include is supported only on PostgreSQL.

Non-key columns have the same database restrictions as Index.include.

opclassesLink to this heading

UniqueConstraint.opclassesLink to this definition

The names of the PostgreSQL operator classes to use for this unique index. If you require a custom operator class, you must provide one for each field in the index.

For example:

Code
UniqueConstraint(
    name="unique_username", fields=["username"], opclasses=["varchar_pattern_ops"]
)

creates a unique index on username using varchar_pattern_ops.

opclasses are ignored for databases besides PostgreSQL.

violation_error_messageLink to this heading

UniqueConstraint.violation_error_messageLink to this definition

The error message used when ValidationError is raised during model validation. Defaults to BaseConstraint.violation_error_message.

This message is not used for UniqueConstraints with fields and without a condition. Such UniqueConstraints show the same message as constraints defined with Field.unique or in Meta.unique_together.