documentation/content/developer/reference/orm.rst

.. _reference/orm:

=======
ORM API
=======

Recordsets
==========

.. versionadded:: 8.0

    This page documents the New API added in Odoo 8.0 which should be the
    primary development API going forward. It also provides information about
    porting from or bridging with the "old API" of versions 7 and earlier, but
    does not explicitly document that API. See the old documentation for that.

Interaction with models and records is performed through recordsets, a sorted
set of records of the same model.

.. warning:: contrary to what the name implies, it is currently possible for
             recordsets to contain duplicates. This may change in the future.

Methods defined on a model are executed on a recordset, and their ``self`` is
a recordset::

    class AModel(models.Model):
        _name = 'a.model'
        def a_method(self):
            # self can be anywhere between 0 records and all records in the
            # database
            self.do_operation()

Iterating on a recordset will yield new sets of *a single record*
("singletons"), much like iterating on a Python string yields strings of a
single characters::

        def do_operation(self):
            print self # => a.model(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
            for record in self:
                print record # => a.model(1), then a.model(2), then a.model(3), ...

Field access
------------

Recordsets provide an "Active Record" interface: model fields can be read and
written directly from the record as attributes, but only on singletons
(single-record recordsets).
Field values can also be accessed like dict items, which is more elegant and
safer than ``getattr()`` for dynamic field names.
Setting a field's value triggers an update to the database::

    >>> record.name
    Example Name
    >>> record.company_id.name
    Company Name
    >>> record.name = "Bob"
    >>> field = "name"
    >>> record[field]
    Bob

Trying to read or write a field on multiple records will raise an error.

Accessing a relational field (:class:`~odoo.fields.Many2one`,
:class:`~odoo.fields.One2many`, :class:`~odoo.fields.Many2many`)
*always* returns a recordset, empty if the field is not set.

.. danger::

    each assignment to a field triggers a database update, when setting
    multiple fields at the same time or setting fields on multiple records
    (to the same value), use :meth:`~odoo.models.Model.write`::

        # 3 * len(records) database updates
        for record in records:
            record.a = 1
            record.b = 2
            record.c = 3

        # len(records) database updates
        for record in records:
            record.write({'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3})

        # 1 database update
        records.write({'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3})

Record cache and prefetching
----------------------------

Odoo maintains a cache for the fields of the records, so that not every field
access issues a database request, which would be terrible for performance. The
following example queries the database only for the first statement::

    record.name             # first access reads value from database
    record.name             # second access gets value from cache

To avoid reading one field on one record at a time, Odoo *prefetches* records
and fields following some heuristics to get good performance. Once a field must
be read on a given record, the ORM actually reads that field on a larger
recordset, and stores the returned values in cache for later use. The prefetched
recordset is usually the recordset from which the record comes by iteration.
Moreover, all simple stored fields (boolean, integer, float, char, text, date,
datetime, selection, many2one) are fetched altogether; they correspond to the
columns of the model's table, and are fetched efficiently in the same query.

Consider the following example, where ``partners`` is a recordset of 1000
records. Without prefetching, the loop would make 2000 queries to the database.
With prefetching, only one query is made::

    for partner in partners:
        print partner.name          # first pass prefetches 'name' and 'lang'
                                    # (and other fields) on all 'partners'
        print partner.lang

The prefetching also works on *secondary records*: when relational fields are
read, their values (which are records) are  subscribed for future prefetching.
Accessing one of those secondary records prefetches all secondary records from
the same model. This makes the following example generate only two queries, one
for partners and one for countries::

    countries = set()
    for partner in partners:
        country = partner.country_id        # first pass prefetches all partners
        countries.add(country.name)         # first pass prefetches all countries

Set operations
--------------

Recordsets are immutable, but sets of the same model can be combined using
various set operations, returning new recordsets. Set operations do *not*
preserve order.

.. addition preserves order but can introduce duplicates

* ``record in set`` returns whether ``record`` (which must be a 1-element
  recordset) is present in ``set``. ``record not in set`` is the inverse
  operation
* ``set1 <= set2`` and ``set1 < set2`` return whether ``set1`` is a subset
  of ``set2`` (resp. strict)
* ``set1 >= set2`` and ``set1 > set2`` return whether ``set1`` is a superset
  of ``set2`` (resp. strict)
* ``set1 | set2`` returns the union of the two recordsets, a new recordset
  containing all records present in either source
* ``set1 & set2`` returns the intersection of two recordsets, a new recordset
  containing only records present in both sources
* ``set1 - set2`` returns a new recordset containing only records of ``set1``
  which are *not* in ``set2``

Other recordset operations
--------------------------

Recordsets are iterable so the usual Python tools are available for
transformation (:func:`python:map`, :func:`python:sorted`,
:func:`~python:itertools.ifilter`, ...) however these return either a
:class:`python:list` or an :term:`python:iterator`, removing the ability to
call methods on their result, or to use set operations.

Recordsets therefore provide these operations returning recordsets themselves
(when possible):

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.filtered`
    returns a recordset containing only records satisfying the provided
    predicate function. The predicate can also be a string to filter by a
    field being true or false::

        # only keep records whose company is the current user's
        records.filtered(lambda r: r.company_id == user.company_id)

        # only keep records whose partner is a company
        records.filtered("partner_id.is_company")

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.sorted`
    returns a recordset sorted by the provided key function. If no key
    is provided, use the model's default sort order::

        # sort records by name
        records.sorted(key=lambda r: r.name)

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.mapped`
    applies the provided function to each record in the recordset, returns
    a recordset if the results are recordsets::

        # returns a list of summing two fields for each record in the set
        records.mapped(lambda r: r.field1 + r.field2)

    The provided function can be a string to get field values::

        # returns a list of names
        records.mapped('name')

        # returns a recordset of partners
        record.mapped('partner_id')

        # returns the union of all partner banks, with duplicates removed
        record.mapped('partner_id.bank_ids')

Environment
===========

The :class:`~odoo.api.Environment` stores various contextual data used by
the ORM: the database cursor (for database queries), the current user
(for access rights checking) and the current context (storing arbitrary
metadata). The environment also stores caches.

All recordsets have an environment, which is immutable, can be accessed
using :attr:`~odoo.models.Model.env` and gives access to the current user
(:attr:`~odoo.api.Environment.user`), the cursor
(:attr:`~odoo.api.Environment.cr`) or the context
(:attr:`~odoo.api.Environment.context`)::

    >>> records.env
    <Environment object ...>
    >>> records.env.user
    res.user(3)
    >>> records.env.cr
    <Cursor object ...)

When creating a recordset from an other recordset, the environment is
inherited. The environment can be used to get an empty recordset in an
other model, and query that model::

    >>> self.env['res.partner']
    res.partner
    >>> self.env['res.partner'].search([['is_company', '=', True], ['customer', '=', True]])
    res.partner(7, 18, 12, 14, 17, 19, 8, 31, 26, 16, 13, 20, 30, 22, 29, 15, 23, 28, 74)

Altering the environment
------------------------

The environment can be customized from a recordset. This returns a new
version of the recordset using the altered environment.

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.sudo`
    creates a new environment with the provided user set, uses the
    administrator if none is provided (to bypass access rights/rules in safe
    contexts), returns a copy of the recordset it is called on using the
    new environment::

        # create partner object as administrator
        env['res.partner'].sudo().create({'name': "A Partner"})

        # list partners visible by the "public" user
        public = env.ref('base.public_user')
        env['res.partner'].sudo(public).search([])

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.with_context`
    #. can take a single positional parameter, which replaces the current
       environment's context
    #. can take any number of parameters by keyword, which are added to either
       the current environment's context or the context set during step 1

    ::

        # look for partner, or create one with specified timezone if none is
        # found
        env['res.partner'].with_context(tz=a_tz).find_or_create(email_address)

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.with_env`
    replaces the existing environment entirely

Common ORM methods
==================

.. maybe these clarifications/examples should be in the APIDoc?

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.search`
   Takes a :ref:`search domain <reference/orm/domains>`, returns a recordset
   of matching records. Can return a subset of matching records (``offset``
   and ``limit`` parameters) and be ordered (``order`` parameter)::

        >>> # searches the current model
        >>> self.search([('is_company', '=', True), ('customer', '=', True)])
        res.partner(7, 18, 12, 14, 17, 19, 8, 31, 26, 16, 13, 20, 30, 22, 29, 15, 23, 28, 74)
        >>> self.search([('is_company', '=', True)], limit=1).name
        'Agrolait'

   .. tip:: to just check if any record matches a domain, or count the number
             of records which do, use
             :meth:`~odoo.models.Model.search_count`

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.create`
    Takes a dictionary of field values, or a list of such dictionaries, and
    returns a recordset containing the records created::

        >>> self.create({'name': "Joe"})
        res.partner(78)
        >>> self.create([{'name': "Jack"}, {'name': "William"}, {'name': "Averell"}])
        res.partner(79, 80, 81)

    See :ref:`how to define method \`create\` with one API or the other
    <reference/orm/oldapi>`.

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.write`
    Takes a number of field values, writes them to all the records in its
    recordset. Does not return anything::

        self.write({'name': "Newer Name"})

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.browse`
    Takes a database id or a list of ids and returns a recordset, useful when
    record ids are obtained from outside Odoo (e.g. round-trip through
    external system) or :ref:`when calling methods in the old API
    <reference/orm/oldapi>`::

        >>> self.browse([7, 18, 12])
        res.partner(7, 18, 12)

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.exists`
    Returns a new recordset containing only the records which exist in the
    database. Can be used to check whether a record (e.g. obtained externally)
    still exists::

        if not record.exists():
            raise Exception("The record has been deleted")

    or after calling a method which could have removed some records::

        records.may_remove_some()
        # only keep records which were not deleted
        records = records.exists()

:meth:`~odoo.api.Environment.ref`
    Environment method returning the record matching a provided
    :term:`external id`::

        >>> env.ref('base.group_public')
        res.groups(2)

:meth:`~odoo.models.Model.ensure_one`
    checks that the recordset is a singleton (only contains a single record),
    raises an error otherwise::

        records.ensure_one()
        # is equivalent to but clearer than:
        assert len(records) == 1, "Expected singleton"

Creating Models
===============

Model fields are defined as attributes on the model itself::

    from odoo import models, fields
    class AModel(models.Model):
        _name = 'a.model.name'

        field1 = fields.Char()

.. warning:: this means you can not define a field and a method with the same
             name, they will conflict

By default, the field's label (user-visible name) is a capitalized version of
the field name, this can be overridden with the ``string`` parameter::

        field2 = fields.Integer(string="an other field")

For the various field types and parameters, see :ref:`the fields reference
<reference/orm/fields>`.

Default values are defined as parameters on fields, either a value::

    a_field = fields.Char(default="a value")

or a function called to compute the default value, which should return that
value::

    def compute_default_value(self):
        return self.get_value()
    a_field = fields.Char(default=compute_default_value)

Computed fields
---------------

Fields can be computed (instead of read straight from the database) using the
``compute`` parameter. **It must assign the computed value to the field**. If
it uses the values of other *fields*, it should specify those fields using
:func:`~odoo.api.depends`::

    from odoo import api
    total = fields.Float(compute='_compute_total')

    @api.depends('value', 'tax')
    def _compute_total(self):
        for record in self:
            record.total = record.value + record.value * record.tax

* dependencies can be dotted paths when using sub-fields::

    @api.depends('line_ids.value')
    def _compute_total(self):
        for record in self:
            record.total = sum(line.value for line in record.line_ids)

* computed fields are not stored by default, they are computed and
  returned when requested. Setting ``store=True`` will store them in the
  database and automatically enable searching
* searching on a computed field can also be enabled by setting the ``search``
  parameter. The value is a method name returning a
  :ref:`reference/orm/domains`::

    upper_name = field.Char(compute='_compute_upper', search='_search_upper')

    def _search_upper(self, operator, value):
        if operator == 'like':
            operator = 'ilike'
        return [('name', operator, value)]

* to allow *setting* values on a computed field, use the ``inverse``
  parameter. It is the name of a function reversing the computation and
  setting the relevant fields::

    document = fields.Char(compute='_get_document', inverse='_set_document')

    def _get_document(self):
        for record in self:
            with open(record.get_document_path) as f:
                record.document = f.read()
    def _set_document(self):
        for record in self:
            if not record.document: continue
            with open(record.get_document_path()) as f:
                f.write(record.document)

* multiple fields can be computed at the same time by the same method, just
  use the same method on all fields and set all of them::

    discount_value = fields.Float(compute='_apply_discount')
    total = fields.Float(compute='_apply_discount')

    @depends('value', 'discount')
    def _apply_discount(self):
        for record in self:
            # compute actual discount from discount percentage
            discount = record.value * record.discount
            record.discount_value = discount
            record.total = record.value - discount

Related fields
''''''''''''''

A special case of computed fields are *related* (proxy) fields, which provide
the value of a sub-field on the current record. They are defined by setting
the ``related`` parameter and like regular computed fields they can be
stored::

    nickname = fields.Char(related='user_id.partner_id.name', store=True)

.. warning::

    You cannot chain :class:`~odoo.fields.Many2many` or :class:`~odoo.fields.One2many` fields in ``related`` fields dependencies.

    ``related`` can be used to refer to a :class:`~odoo.fields.One2many` or
    :class:`~odoo.fields.Many2many` field on another model on the
    condition that it's done through a ``Many2one`` relation on the current model.
    ``One2many`` and ``Many2many`` are not supported and the results will not be
    aggregated correctly::

      m2o_id = fields.Many2one()
      m2m_ids = fields.Many2many()
      o2m_ids = fields.One2many()

      # Supported
      d_ids = fields.Many2many(related="m2o_id.m2m_ids")
      e_ids = fields.One2many(related="m2o_id.o2m_ids")

      # Won't work: use a custom Many2many computed field instead
      f_ids = fields.Many2many(related="m2m_ids.m2m_ids")
      g_ids = fields.One2many(related="o2m_ids.o2m_ids")

onchange: updating UI on the fly
--------------------------------

When a user changes a field's value in a form (but hasn't saved the form yet),
it can be useful to automatically update other fields based on that value
e.g. updating a final total when the tax is changed or a new invoice line is
added.

* computed fields are automatically checked and recomputed, they do not need
  an ``onchange``
* for non-computed fields, the :func:`~odoo.api.onchange` decorator is used
  to provide new field values::

    @api.onchange('field1', 'field2') # if these fields are changed, call method
    def check_change(self):
        if self.field1 < self.field2:
            self.field3 = True

  the changes performed during the method are then sent to the client program
  and become visible to the user

* Both computed fields and new-API onchanges are automatically called by the
  client without having to add them in views
* It is possible to suppress the trigger from a specific field by adding
  ``on_change="0"`` in a view::

    <field name="name" on_change="0"/>

  will not trigger any interface update when the field is edited by the user,
  even if there are function fields or explicit onchange depending on that
  field.

.. note::

    ``onchange`` methods work on virtual records assignment on these records
    is not written to the database, just used to know which value to send back
    to the client
    
.. warning::

    It is not possible for a ``one2many`` or ``many2many`` field to modify 
    itself via onchange. This is a webclient limitation - see `#2693 <https://github.com/odoo/odoo/issues/2693>`_.

Low-level SQL
-------------

The :attr:`~odoo.api.Environment.cr` attribute on environments is the
cursor for the current database transaction and allows executing SQL directly,
either for queries which are difficult to express using the ORM (e.g. complex
joins) or for performance reasons::

    self.env.cr.execute("some_sql", params)

Because models use the same cursor and the :class:`~odoo.api.Environment`
holds various caches, these caches must be invalidated when *altering* the
database in raw SQL, or further uses of models may become incoherent. It is
necessary to clear caches when using ``CREATE``, ``UPDATE`` or ``DELETE`` in
SQL, but not ``SELECT`` (which simply reads the database).

Clearing caches can be performed using the
:meth:`~odoo.models.BaseModel.invalidate_cache` method of the
:class:`~odoo.models.BaseModel` object.


.. _reference/orm/oldapi:

Compatibility between new API and old API
=========================================

Odoo is currently transitioning from an older (less regular) API, it can be
necessary to manually bridge from one to the other manually:

* RPC layers (both XML-RPC and JSON-RPC) are expressed in terms of the old
  API, methods expressed purely in the new API are not available over RPC
* overridable methods may be called from older pieces of code still written
  in the old API style

The big differences between the old and new APIs are:

* values of the :class:`~odoo.api.Environment` (cursor, user id and
  context) are passed explicitly to methods instead
* record data (:attr:`~odoo.models.Model.ids`) are passed explicitly to
  methods, and possibly not passed at all
* methods tend to work on lists of ids instead of recordsets

By default, methods are assumed to use the new API style and are not callable
from the old API style.

.. tip:: calls from the new API to the old API are bridged
    :class: aphorism

    when using the new API style, calls to methods defined using the old API
    are automatically converted on-the-fly, there should be no need to do
    anything special::

        >>> # method in the old API style
        >>> def old_method(self, cr, uid, ids, context=None):
        ...    print ids

        >>> # method in the new API style
        >>> def new_method(self):
        ...     # system automatically infers how to call the old-style
        ...     # method from the new-style method
        ...     self.old_method()

        >>> env[model].browse([1, 2, 3, 4]).new_method()
        [1, 2, 3, 4]

Two decorators can expose a new-style method to the old API:

:func:`~odoo.api.model`
    the method is exposed as not using ids, its recordset will generally be
    empty. Its "old API" signature is ``cr, uid, *arguments, context``::

        @api.model
        def some_method(self, a_value):
            pass
        # can be called as
        old_style_model.some_method(cr, uid, a_value, context=context)

:func:`~odoo.api.multi`
    the method is exposed as taking a list of ids (possibly empty), its
    "old API" signature is ``cr, uid, ids, *arguments, context``::

        @api.multi
        def some_method(self, a_value):
            pass
        # can be called as
        old_style_model.some_method(cr, uid, [id1, id2], a_value, context=context)

Note that a method `create` decorated with :func:`~odoo.api.model` will always
be called with a single dictionary. A method `create` decorated with the variant
:func:`~odoo.api.model_create_multi` will always be called with a list of dicts.
The decorators take care of converting the argument to one form or the other::

    @api.model
    def create(self, vals):
        ...

    @api.model_create_multi
    def create(self, vals_list):
        ...

Because new-style APIs tend to return recordsets and old-style APIs tend to
return lists of ids, there is also a decorator managing this:

:func:`~odoo.api.returns`
    the function is assumed to return a recordset, the first parameter should
    be the name of the recordset's model or ``self`` (for the current model).

    No effect if the method is called in new API style, but transforms the
    recordset into a list of ids when called from the old API style::

        >>> @api.multi
        ... @api.returns('self')
        ... def some_method(self):
        ...     return self
        >>> new_style_model = env['a.model'].browse(1, 2, 3)
        >>> new_style_model.some_method()
        a.model(1, 2, 3)
        >>> old_style_model = pool['a.model']
        >>> old_style_model.some_method(cr, uid, [1, 2, 3], context=context)
        [1, 2, 3]

.. _reference/orm/model:

Model Reference
===============

.. - can't get autoattribute to import docstrings, so use regular attribute
   - no autoclassmethod

.. currentmodule:: odoo.models

.. autoclass:: odoo.models.Model

    .. rubric:: Structural attributes

    .. attribute:: _name

        business object name, in dot-notation (in module namespace)

    .. attribute:: _rec_name

        Alternative field to use as name, used by osv’s name_get()
        (default: ``'name'``)

    .. attribute:: _inherit

        * If :attr:`._name` is set, names of parent models to inherit from.
          Can be a ``str`` if inheriting from a single parent
        * If :attr:`._name` is unset, name of a single model to extend
          in-place

        See :ref:`reference/orm/inheritance`.

    .. attribute:: _order

        Ordering field when searching without an ordering specified (default:
        ``'id'``)

        :type: str

    .. attribute:: _auto

        Whether a database table should be created (default: ``True``)

        If set to ``False``, override :meth:`.init` to create the database
        table
        
     .. tip:: To create a model without any table, inherit
              from ``odoo.models.AbstractModel``

    .. attribute:: _table

        Name of the table backing the model created when
        :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._auto`, automatically generated by
        default.

    .. attribute:: _inherits

        dictionary mapping the _name of the parent business objects to the
        names of the corresponding foreign key fields to use::

            _inherits = {
                'a.model': 'a_field_id',
                'b.model': 'b_field_id'
            }

        implements composition-based inheritance: the new model exposes all
        the fields of the :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._inherits`-ed model but
        stores none of them: the values themselves remain stored on the linked
        record.

        .. warning::

            if the same field is defined on multiple
            :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._inherits`-ed

    .. attribute:: _constraints

        list of ``(constraint_function, message, fields)`` defining Python
        constraints. The fields list is indicative

        .. deprecated:: 8.0

            use :func:`~odoo.api.constrains`

    .. attribute:: _sql_constraints

        list of ``(name, sql_definition, message)`` triples defining SQL
        constraints to execute when generating the backing table

    .. attribute:: _parent_store

        Alongside a :attr:`~.parent_path` field, sets up an indexed storage
        of the tree structure of records, to enable faster hierarchical queries
        on the records of the current model using the ``child_of`` and
        ``parent_of`` domain operators.
        (default: ``False``)

        :type: bool

    .. attribute:: _parent_name

      Alternative field to use as parent, used by indexed storage of the tree structure of records
      (default: ``'parent_id'``)

         :type: str

    .. attribute:: _date_name

      Alternative field to use for default calendar view
      (default: ``'date'``)

         :type: str     

    .. attribute:: _fold_name

      Alternative field to determine folded groups in kanban views
      (default: ``'fold'``)

         :type: str 

    .. attribute:: _translate

      False disables translations export for this model
      (default: ``True``)

         :type: bool

    .. rubric:: CRUD

    .. automethod:: create
    .. automethod:: browse
    .. automethod:: unlink
    .. automethod:: write

    .. automethod:: read
    .. automethod:: read_group

    .. rubric:: Searching

    .. automethod:: search
    .. automethod:: search_count
    .. automethod:: name_search

    .. rubric:: Recordset operations

    .. autoattribute:: ids
    .. automethod:: ensure_one
    .. automethod:: exists
    .. automethod:: filtered
    .. automethod:: sorted
    .. automethod:: mapped

    .. rubric:: Environment swapping

    .. automethod:: sudo
    .. automethod:: with_context
    .. automethod:: with_env

    .. rubric:: Fields and views querying

    .. automethod:: fields_get
    .. automethod:: fields_view_get

    .. rubric:: Miscellaneous methods

    .. automethod:: default_get
    .. automethod:: copy
    .. automethod:: name_get
    .. automethod:: name_create

    .. _reference/orm/model/automatic:

    .. rubric:: Automatic fields

    .. attribute:: id

        Identifier :class:`field <odoo.fields.Field>`

    .. attribute:: _log_access

        Whether log access fields (``create_date``, ``write_uid``, ...) should
        be generated (default: ``True``)

    .. attribute:: create_date

        Date at which the record was created

        :type: :class:`~odoo.field.Datetime`

    .. attribute:: create_uid

        Relational field to the user who created the record

        :type: ``res.users``

    .. attribute:: write_date

        Date at which the record was last modified

        :type: :class:`~odoo.field.Datetime`

    .. attribute:: write_uid

        Relational field to the last user who modified the record

        :type: ``res.users``

    .. rubric:: Reserved field names

    A few field names are reserved for pre-defined behaviors beyond that of
    automated fields. They should be defined on a model when the related
    behavior is desired:

    .. attribute:: name

        default value for :attr:`~._rec_name`, used to
        display records in context where a representative "naming" is
        necessary.

        :type: :class:`~odoo.fields.Char`

    .. attribute:: active

        toggles the global visibility of the record, if ``active`` is set to
        ``False`` the record is invisible in most searches and listing

        :type: :class:`~odoo.fields.Boolean`

    .. attribute:: sequence

        Alterable ordering criteria, allows drag-and-drop reordering of models
        in list views

        :type: :class:`~odoo.fields.Integer`

    .. attribute:: state

        lifecycle stages of the object, used by the ``states`` attribute on
        :class:`fields <odoo.fields.Field>`

        :type: :class:`~odoo.fields.Selection`

    .. attribute:: parent_id

        used to order records in a tree structure and enables the ``child_of``
        and ``parent_of`` operators in domains

        :type: :class:`~odoo.fields.Many2one`

    .. attribute:: parent_path

        used to store an index of the tree structure when :attr:`~._parent_store`
        is set to True - must be declared with ``index=True`` for proper operation.

        :type: :class:`~odoo.fields.Char`


.. _reference/orm/decorators:

Method decorators
=================

.. automodule:: odoo.api
    :members: multi, model, depends, constrains, onchange, returns,
              one, v7, v8

.. _reference/orm/fields:

Fields
======

.. _reference/orm/fields/basic:

Basic fields
------------

.. autodoc documents descriptors as attributes, even for the *definition* of
   descriptors. As a result automodule:: odoo.fields lists all the field
   classes as attributes without providing inheritance info or methods (though
   we don't document methods as they're not useful for "external" devs)
   (because we don't support pluggable field types) (or do we?)

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Field

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Char
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Boolean
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Integer
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Float
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Text
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Selection
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Html
    :show-inheritance:

.. _reference/orm/fields/date_datetime:

Date and Datetime fields
------------------------

Dates and Datetimes are very important fields in any kind of business
application, they are heavily used in many popular Odoo applications such as
logistics or accounting and their misuse can create invisible yet painful
bugs, this excerpt aims to provide Odoo developers with the knowledge required
to avoid misusing these fields.

When assigning a value to a Date/Datetime field, the following options are valid:
    * A string in the proper server format **(YYYY-MM-DD)** for Date fields,
      **(YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)** for Datetime fields.
    * A `date` or `datetime` object.
    * `False` or `None`.

If not sure of the type of the value being assigned to a Date/Datetime object,
the best course of action is to pass the value to
:func:`~odoo.fields.Date.to_date` or :func:`~odoo.fields.Datetime.to_datetime`
which will attempt to convert the value to a date or datetime object
respectively, which can then be assigned to the field in question.

.. admonition:: Example

    To parse date/datetimes coming from external sources::

        fields.Date.to_date(self._context.get('date_from'))

Date / Datetime comparison best practices:
    * Date fields can **only** be compared to date objects.
    * Datetime fields can **only** be compared to datetime objects.

    .. warning:: Strings representing dates and datetimes can be compared
                 between each other, however the result may not be the expected
                 result, as a datetime string will always be greater than a
                 date string, therefore this practice is **heavily**
                 discouraged.

Common operations with dates and datetimes such as addition, subtraction or
fetching the start/end of a period are exposed through both
:class:`~odoo.fields.Date` and :class:`~odoo.fields.Datetime`.
These helpers are also available by importing `odoo.tools.date_utils`.

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Date
    :show-inheritance:
    :members: today, context_today, to_date, to_string, start_of, end_of, add, subtract

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Datetime
    :show-inheritance:
    :members: now, today, context_timestamp, to_datetime, to_string, start_of, end_of, add, subtract

.. _reference/orm/fields/relational:

Relational fields
-----------------

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Many2one
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.One2many
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Many2many
    :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: odoo.fields.Reference
    :show-inheritance:

.. _reference/orm/inheritance:

Inheritance and extension
=========================

Odoo provides three different mechanisms to extend models in a modular way:

* creating a new model from an existing one, adding new information to the
  copy but leaving the original module as-is
* extending models defined in other modules in-place, replacing the previous
  version
* delegating some of the model's fields to records it contains

.. image:: ../images/inheritance_methods.png
    :align: center

Classical inheritance
---------------------

When using the :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._inherit` and
:attr:`~odoo.models.Model._name` attributes together, Odoo creates a new
model using the existing one (provided via
:attr:`~odoo.models.Model._inherit`) as a base. The new model gets all the
fields, methods and meta-information (defaults & al) from its base.

.. code-block:: python3

    class Inheritance0(models.Model):
        _name = 'inheritance.0'
        _description = 'Inheritance Zero'

        name = fields.Char()

        def call(self):
            return self.check("model 0")

        def check(self, s):
            return "This is {} record {}".format(s, self.name)

    class Inheritance1(models.Model):
        _name = 'inheritance.1'
        _inherit = 'inheritance.0'
        _description = 'Inheritance One'

        def call(self):
            return self.check("model 1")

and using them::

    a = env['inheritance.0'].create({'name': 'A'})
    b = env['inheritance.1'].create({'name': 'B'})

    a.call()
    b.call()

will yield::

    "This is model 0 record A"
    "This is model 1 record B"

the second model has inherited from the first model's ``check`` method and its
``name`` field, but overridden the ``call`` method, as when using standard
:ref:`Python inheritance <python:tut-inheritance>`.

Extension
---------

When using :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._inherit` but leaving out
:attr:`~odoo.models.Model._name`, the new model replaces the existing one,
essentially extending it in-place. This is useful to add new fields or methods
to existing models (created in other modules), or to customize or reconfigure
them (e.g. to change their default sort order)::

    class Extension0(models.Model):
        _name = 'extension.0'
        _description = 'Extension zero'

        name = fields.Char(default="A")

    class Extension1(models.Model):
        _inherit = 'extension.0'

        description = fields.Char(default="Extended")

.. code-block:: python3

    record = env['extension.0'].create({})
    record.read()[0]

will yield::

    {'name': "A", 'description': "Extended"}

Delegation
----------

The third inheritance mechanism provides more flexibility (it can be altered
at runtime) but less power: using the :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._inherits`
a model *delegates* the lookup of any field not found on the current model
to "children" models. The delegation is performed via
:class:`~odoo.fields.Reference` fields automatically set up on the parent
model.

The main difference is in the meaning. When using Delegation, the model
**has one** instead of **is one**, turning the relationship in a composition
instead of inheritance::

    class Screen(models.Model):
        _name = 'delegation.screen'
        _description = 'Screen'

        size = fields.Float(string='Screen Size in inches')

    class Keyboard(models.Model):
        _name = 'delegation.keyboard'
        _description = 'Keyboard'

        layout = fields.Char(string='Layout')

    class Laptop(models.Model):
        _name = 'delegation.laptop'
        _description = 'Laptop'

        _inherits = {
            'delegation.screen': 'screen_id',
            'delegation.keyboard': 'keyboard_id',
        }

        name = fields.Char(string='Name')
        maker = fields.Char(string='Maker')

        # a Laptop has a screen
        screen_id = fields.Many2one('delegation.screen', required=True, ondelete="cascade")
        # a Laptop has a keyboard
        keyboard_id = fields.Many2one('delegation.keyboard', required=True, ondelete="cascade")

.. code-block:: python3

    record = env['delegation.laptop'].create({
        'screen_id': env['delegation.screen'].create({'size': 13.0}).id,
        'keyboard_id': env['delegation.keyboard'].create({'layout': 'QWERTY'}).id,
    })
    record.size
    record.layout

will result in::

    13.0
    'QWERTY'

and it's possible to write directly on the delegated field::

    record.write({'size': 14.0})

.. warning:: when using delegation inheritance, methods are *not* inherited,
             only fields

.. warning::

    * `_inherits` is more or less implemented, avoid it if you can;
    * chained `_inherits` is essentially not implemented, we cannot guarantee anything on the final behavior.

.. _reference/orm/domains:

Domains
=======

A domain is a list of criteria, each criterion being a triple (either a
``list`` or a ``tuple``) of ``(field_name, operator, value)`` where:

``field_name`` (``str``)
    a field name of the current model, or a relationship traversal through
    a :class:`~odoo.fields.Many2one` using dot-notation e.g. ``'street'``
    or ``'partner_id.country'``
``operator`` (``str``)
    an operator used to compare the ``field_name`` with the ``value``. Valid
    operators are:

    ``=``
        equals to
    ``!=``
        not equals to
    ``>``
        greater than
    ``>=``
        greater than or equal to
    ``<``
        less than
    ``<=``
        less than or equal to
    ``=?``
        unset or equals to (returns true if ``value`` is either ``None`` or
        ``False``, otherwise behaves like ``=``)
    ``=like``
        matches ``field_name`` against the ``value`` pattern. An underscore
        ``_`` in the pattern stands for (matches) any single character; a
        percent sign ``%`` matches any string of zero or more characters.
    ``like``
        matches ``field_name`` against the ``%value%`` pattern. Similar to
        ``=like`` but wraps ``value`` with '%' before matching
    ``not like``
        doesn't match against the ``%value%`` pattern
    ``ilike``
        case insensitive ``like``
    ``not ilike``
        case insensitive ``not like``
    ``=ilike``
        case insensitive ``=like``
    ``in``
        is equal to any of the items from ``value``, ``value`` should be a
        list of items
    ``not in``
        is unequal to all of the items from ``value``
    ``child_of``
        is a child (descendant) of a ``value`` record.

        Takes the semantics of the model into account (i.e following the
        relationship field named by
        :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._parent_name`).
    ``parent_of``
        is a parent (ascendant) of a ``value`` record.

        Takes the semantics of the model into account (i.e following the
        relationship field named by
        :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._parent_name`). 

``value``
    variable type, must be comparable (through ``operator``) to the named
    field

Domain criteria can be combined using logical operators in *prefix* form:

``'&'``
    logical *AND*, default operation to combine criteria following one
    another. Arity 2 (uses the next 2 criteria or combinations).
``'|'``
    logical *OR*, arity 2.
``'!'``
    logical *NOT*, arity 1.

    .. tip:: Mostly to negate combinations of criteria
        :class: aphorism

        Individual criterion generally have a negative form (e.g. ``=`` ->
        ``!=``, ``<`` -> ``>=``) which is simpler than negating the positive.

.. admonition:: Example

    To search for partners named *ABC*, from belgium or germany, whose language
    is not english::

        [('name','=','ABC'),
         ('language.code','!=','en_US'),
         '|',('country_id.code','=','be'),
             ('country_id.code','=','de')]

    This domain is interpreted as:

    .. code-block:: text

            (name is 'ABC')
        AND (language is NOT english)
        AND (country is Belgium OR Germany)

Porting from the old API to the new API
=======================================

* bare lists of ids are to be avoided in the new API, use recordsets instead
* methods still written in the old API should be automatically bridged by the
  ORM, no need to switch to the old API, just call them as if they were a new
  API method. See :ref:`reference/orm/oldapi/bridging` for more details.
* :meth:`~odoo.models.Model.search` returns a recordset, no point in e.g.
  browsing its result
* ``fields.related`` and ``fields.function`` are replaced by using a normal
  field type with either a ``related=`` or a ``compute=`` parameter
* :func:`~odoo.api.depends` on ``compute=`` methods **must be complete**,
  it must list **all** the fields and sub-fields which the compute method
  uses. It is better to have too many dependencies (will recompute the field
  in cases where that is not needed) than not enough (will forget to recompute
  the field and then values will be incorrect)
* **remove** all ``onchange`` methods on computed fields. Computed fields are
  automatically re-computed when one of their dependencies is changed, and
  that is used to auto-generate ``onchange`` by the client
* the decorators :func:`~odoo.api.model` and :func:`~odoo.api.multi` are
  for bridging *when calling from the old API context*, for internal or pure
  new-api (e.g. compute) they are useless
* remove :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._default`, replace by ``default=``
  parameter on corresponding fields
* if a field's ``string=`` is the titlecased version of the field name::

    name = fields.Char(string="Name")

  it is useless and should be removed
* the ``multi=`` parameter does not do anything on new API fields use the same
  ``compute=`` methods on all relevant fields for the same result
* provide ``compute=``, ``inverse=`` and ``search=`` methods by name (as a
  string), this makes them overridable (removes the need for an intermediate
  "trampoline" function)
* double check that all fields and methods have different names, there is no
  warning in case of collision (because Python handles it before Odoo sees
  anything)
* the normal new-api import is ``from odoo import fields, models``. If
  compatibility decorators are necessary, use ``from odoo import api,
  fields, models``
* avoid the :func:`~odoo.api.one` decorator, it probably does not do what
  you expect
* remove explicit definition of :attr:`~odoo.models.Model.create_uid`,
  :attr:`~odoo.models.Model.create_date`,
  :attr:`~odoo.models.Model.write_uid` and
  :attr:`~odoo.models.Model.write_date` fields: they are now created as
  regular "legitimate" fields, and can be read and written like any other
  field out-of-the-box
* when straight conversion is impossible (semantics can not be bridged) or the
  "old API" version is not desirable and could be improved for the new API, it
  is possible to use completely different "old API" and "new API"
  implementations for the same method name using :func:`~odoo.api.v7` and
  :func:`~odoo.api.v8`. The method should first be defined using the
  old-API style and decorated with :func:`~odoo.api.v7`, it should then be
  re-defined using the exact same name but the new-API style and decorated
  with :func:`~odoo.api.v8`. Calls from an old-API context will be
  dispatched to the first implementation and calls from a new-API context will
  be dispatched to the second implementation. One implementation can call (and
  frequently does) call the other by switching context.

  .. danger:: using these decorators makes methods extremely difficult to
              override and harder to understand and document
* uses of :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._columns` or
  :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._all_columns` should be replaced by
  :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._fields`, which provides access to instances of
  new-style :class:`odoo.fields.Field` instances (rather than old-style
  :class:`odoo.osv.fields._column`).

  Non-stored computed fields created using the new API style are *not*
  available in :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._columns` and can only be
  inspected through :attr:`~odoo.models.Model._fields`
* reassigning ``self`` in a method is probably unnecessary and may break
  translation introspection
* :class:`~odoo.api.Environment` objects rely on some threadlocal state,
  which has to be set up before using them. It is necessary to do so using the
  :meth:`odoo.api.Environment.manage` context manager when trying to use
  the new API in contexts where it hasn't been set up yet, such as new threads
  or a Python interactive environment::

    >>> from odoo import api, modules
    >>> r = modules.registry.RegistryManager.get('test')
    >>> cr = r.cursor()
    >>> env = api.Environment(cr, 1, {})
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      ...
    AttributeError: environments
    >>> with api.Environment.manage():
    ...     env = api.Environment(cr, 1, {})
    ...     print env['res.partner'].browse(1)
    ...
    res.partner(1,)

.. _reference/orm/oldapi/bridging:

Automatic bridging of old API methods
-------------------------------------

When models are initialized, all methods are automatically scanned and bridged
if they look like models declared in the old API style. This bridging makes
them transparently callable from new-API-style methods.

Methods are matched as "old-API style" if their second positional parameter
(after ``self``) is called either ``cr`` or ``cursor``. The system also
recognizes the third positional parameter being called ``uid`` or ``user`` and
the fourth being called ``id`` or ``ids``. It also recognizes the presence of
any parameter called ``context``.

When calling such methods from a new API context, the system will
automatically fill matched parameters from the current
:class:`~odoo.api.Environment` (for :attr:`~odoo.api.Environment.cr`,
:attr:`~odoo.api.Environment.user` and
:attr:`~odoo.api.Environment.context`) or the current recordset (for ``id``
and ``ids``).

In the rare cases where it is necessary, the bridging can be customized by
decorating the old-style method:

* disabling it entirely, by decorating a method with
  :func:`~odoo.api.noguess` there will be no bridging and methods will be
  called the exact same way from the new and old API styles
* defining the bridge explicitly, this is mostly for methods which are matched
  incorrectly (because parameters are named in unexpected ways):

  :func:`~odoo.api.cr`
     will automatically prepend the current cursor to explicitly provided
     parameters, positionally
  :func:`~odoo.api.cr_uid`
     will automatically prepend the current cursor and user's id to explicitly
     provided parameters
  :func:`~odoo.api.cr_uid_ids`
     will automatically prepend the current cursor, user's id and recordset's
     ids to explicitly provided parameters
  :func:`~odoo.api.cr_uid_id`
     will loop over the current recordset and call the method once for each
     record, prepending the current cursor, user's id and record's id to
     explicitly provided parameters.

     .. danger:: the result of this wrapper is *always a list* when calling
                 from a new-API context

  All of these methods have a ``_context``-suffixed version
  (e.g. :func:`~odoo.api.cr_uid_context`) which also passes the current
  context *by keyword*.
* dual implementations using :func:`~odoo.api.v7` and
  :func:`~odoo.api.v8` will be ignored as they provide their own "bridging"