How to convert Django Model object to dict with its fields and values

Question

How does one convert a Django Model object to a dict with all of its fields  All ideally includes foreign keys and fields with editable False   Let me elaborate  Let s say I have a Django model like the following   from django db import models  class OtherModel models Model   pass  class SomeModel models Model       normal value   models IntegerField       readonly value   models IntegerField editable False      auto now add   models DateTimeField auto now add True      foreign key   models ForeignKey OtherModel  related name  ref1       many to many   models ManyToManyField OtherModel  related name  ref2     In the terminal  I have done the following   other model   OtherModel   other model save   instance   SomeModel   instance normal value   1 instance readonly value   2 instance foreign key   other model instance save   instance many to many add other model  instance save     I want to convert this to the following dictionary     auto now add   datetime datetime 2015  3  16  21  34  14  926738  tzinfo  lt UTC gt      foreign key   1    id   1    many to many    1     normal value   1    readonly value   2      Questions with unsatisfactory answers   Django  Converting an entire set of a Model  39 s objects into a single dictionary  How can I turn Django Model objects into a dictionary and still have their foreign keys

User · Accepted Answer

There are many ways to convert an instance to a dictionary, with varying degrees of corner case handling and closeness to the desired result.

1. `instance.dict`

instance.__dict__

which returns

{'_foreign_key_cache': <OtherModel: OtherModel object>,
 '_state': <django.db.models.base.ModelState at 0x7ff0993f6908>,
 'auto_now_add': datetime.datetime(2018, 12, 20, 21, 34, 29, 494827, tzinfo=<UTC>),
 'foreign_key_id': 2,
 'id': 1,
 'normal_value': 1,
 'readonly_value': 2}

This is by far the simplest, but is missing many_to_many, foreign_key is misnamed, and it has two unwanted extra things in it.

2. `model_to_dict`

from django.forms.models import model_to_dict
model_to_dict(instance)

which returns

{'foreign_key': 2,
 'id': 1,
 'many_to_many': [<OtherModel: OtherModel object>],
 'normal_value': 1}

This is the only one with many_to_many, but is missing the uneditable fields.

3. `model_to_dict(..., fields=...)`

from django.forms.models import model_to_dict
model_to_dict(instance, fields=[field.name for field in instance._meta.fields])

which returns

{'foreign_key': 2, 'id': 1, 'normal_value': 1}

This is strictly worse than the standard model_to_dict invocation.

4. `query_set.values()`

SomeModel.objects.filter(id=instance.id).values()[0]

which returns

{'auto_now_add': datetime.datetime(2018, 12, 20, 21, 34, 29, 494827, tzinfo=<UTC>),
 'foreign_key_id': 2,
 'id': 1,
 'normal_value': 1,
 'readonly_value': 2}

This is the same output as instance.__dict__ but without the extra fields. foreign_key_id is still wrong and many_to_many is still missing.

5. Custom Function

The code for django's model_to_dict had most of the answer. It explicitly removed non-editable fields, so removing that check and getting the ids of foreign keys for many to many fields results in the following code which behaves as desired:

from itertools import chain

def to_dict(instance):
    opts = instance._meta
    data = {}
    for f in chain(opts.concrete_fields, opts.private_fields):
        data[f.name] = f.value_from_object(instance)
    for f in opts.many_to_many:
        data[f.name] = [i.id for i in f.value_from_object(instance)]
    return data

While this is the most complicated option, calling to_dict(instance) gives us exactly the desired result:

{'auto_now_add': datetime.datetime(2018, 12, 20, 21, 34, 29, 494827, tzinfo=<UTC>),
 'foreign_key': 2,
 'id': 1,
 'many_to_many': [2],
 'normal_value': 1,
 'readonly_value': 2}

6. Use Serializers

Django Rest Framework's ModelSerialzer allows you to build a serializer automatically from a model.

from rest_framework import serializers
class SomeModelSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = SomeModel
        fields = "__all__"

SomeModelSerializer(instance).data

returns

{'auto_now_add': '2018-12-20T21:34:29.494827Z',
 'foreign_key': 2,
 'id': 1,
 'many_to_many': [2],
 'normal_value': 1,
 'readonly_value': 2}

This is almost as good as the custom function, but auto_now_add is a string instead of a datetime object.

Bonus Round: better model printing

If you want a django model that has a better python command-line display, have your models child-class the following:

from django.db import models
from itertools import chain

class PrintableModel(models.Model):
    def __repr__(self):
        return str(self.to_dict())

    def to_dict(instance):
        opts = instance._meta
        data = {}
        for f in chain(opts.concrete_fields, opts.private_fields):
            data[f.name] = f.value_from_object(instance)
        for f in opts.many_to_many:
            data[f.name] = [i.id for i in f.value_from_object(instance)]
        return data

    class Meta:
        abstract = True

So, for example, if we define our models as such:

class OtherModel(PrintableModel): pass

class SomeModel(PrintableModel):
    normal_value = models.IntegerField()
    readonly_value = models.IntegerField(editable=False)
    auto_now_add = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    foreign_key = models.ForeignKey(OtherModel, related_name="ref1")
    many_to_many = models.ManyToManyField(OtherModel, related_name="ref2")

Calling SomeModel.objects.first() now gives output like this:

{'auto_now_add': datetime.datetime(2018, 12, 20, 21, 34, 29, 494827, tzinfo=<UTC>),
 'foreign_key': 2,
 'id': 1,
 'many_to_many': [2],
 'normal_value': 1,
 'readonly_value': 2}

User · Answer

The answer from  zags is comprehensive and should suffice but the  5 method  which is the best one IMO  throws an error so I improved the helper function   As the OP requested for converting many to many fields into a list of primary keys rather than a list of objects  I enhanced the function so the return value is now JSON serializable - by converting datetime objects into str and many to many objects to a list of id s   import datetime  def ModelToDict instance               Returns a dictionary object containing complete field-value pairs of the given instance      Convertion rules           datetime date -- gt  str         many to many -- gt  list of id s               concrete fields   instance  meta concrete fields     m2m fields   instance  meta many to many     data           for field in concrete fields          key   field name         value   field value from object instance          if type value     datetime datetime              value   str field value from object instance           data key    value      for field in m2m fields          key   field name         value   field value from object instance          data key     rel id for rel in value       return data

User · Answer

just vars obj    it will state the whole values of the object   gt  gt  gt  obj attrs   vars obj   gt  gt  gt  obj attrs     file data cache    lt FileData  Data gt       state    lt django db models base ModelState at 0x7f5c6733bad0 gt      aggregator id   24     amount   5 0     biller id   23     datetime   datetime datetime 2018  1  31  18  43  58  933277  tzinfo  lt UTC gt       file data id   797719       You can add this also   gt  gt  gt  keys   obj attrs keys    gt  gt  gt  temp    obj attrs pop key  if key startswith      else None for key in keys   gt  gt  gt  del temp  gt  gt  gt  obj attrs           aggregator id   24       amount   5 0       biller id   23       datetime   datetime datetime 2018  1  31  18  43  58  933277  tzinfo  lt UTC gt         file data id   797719

User · Answer

Zags solution was gorgeous   I would add  though  a condition for datefields in order to make it JSON friendly   Bonus Round  If you want a django model that has a better python command-line display  have your models child class the following   from django db import models from django db models fields related import ManyToManyField  class PrintableModel models Model       def   repr   self           return str self to dict         def to dict self           opts   self  meta         data              for f in opts concrete fields   opts many to many              if isinstance f  ManyToManyField                   if self pk is None                      data f name                       else                      data f name    list f value from object self  values list  pk   flat True               elif isinstance f  DateTimeField                   if f value from object self  is not None                      data f name    f value from object self  timestamp               else                  data f name    None             else                  data f name    f value from object self          return data      class Meta          abstract   True   So  for example  if we define our models as such   class OtherModel PrintableModel   pass  class SomeModel PrintableModel       value   models IntegerField       value2   models IntegerField editable False      created   models DateTimeField auto now add True      reference1   models ForeignKey OtherModel  related name  ref1       reference2   models ManyToManyField OtherModel  related name  ref2     Calling SomeModel objects first   now gives output like this     created   1426552454 926738   value   1   value2   2   reference1   1  u id   1   reference2    1

User · Answer

The easier way is to just use pprint  which is in base Python  import pprint item   MyDjangoModel objects get name    foo   pprint pprint item   dict    indent   4    This gives output that looks similar to json dumps      indent   4  but it correctly handles the weird data types that might be embedded in your model instance  such as ModelState and UUID  etc   Tested on Python 3 7

User · Answer

Best solution you have ever see   Convert django db models Model instance and all related ForeignKey  ManyToManyField and  Property function fields into dict       Convert django db models Model instance and all related ForeignKey  ManyToManyField and  property function fields into dict  Usage      class MyDjangoModel     PrintableModel           to dict fields                 to dict exclude                         a dict    inst to dict fields      exclude      for inst in MyDjangoModel objects all        import typing  import django core exceptions import django db models import django forms models   def get decorators dir cls  exclude  typing Optional set  None  - gt  set              Ref  https   stackoverflow com questions 4930414 how-can-i-introspect-properties-and-model-fields-in-django      param exclude  set or None      param cls       return  a set of decorators             default exclude     pk    objects       if not exclude          exclude   default exclude     else          exclude   exclude union default exclude       return set  name for name in dir cls  if name not in exclude and isinstance getattr cls  name   property      class PrintableModel django db models Model        class Meta          abstract   True      def   repr   self           return str self to dict         def to dict self  fields  typing Optional typing Iterable  None  exclude  typing Optional typing Iterable  None           opts   self  meta         data                 support fields filters and excludes         if not fields              fields   set           else              fields   set fields          default fields   getattr self   to dict fields   set            fields   fields union default fields           if not exclude              exclude   set           else              exclude   set exclude          default exclude   getattr self   to dict exclude   set            exclude   exclude union default exclude             support syntax  field  childField               self fields   set           child fields   dict           if fields              for i in fields                  splits   i split                       if len splits     1                      self fields add splits 0                   else                      self fields add splits 0                        field name   splits 0                      child fields setdefault field name  set                        child fields field name  add      join splits 1              self exclude   set           child exclude   dict           if exclude              for i in exclude                  splits   i split                       if len splits     1                      self exclude add splits 0                   else                      field name   splits 0                      if field name not in child exclude                          child exclude field name    set                       child exclude field name  add      join splits 1              for f in opts concrete fields   opts many to many              if self fields and f name not in self fields                  continue             if self exclude and f name in self exclude                  continue              if isinstance f  django db models ManyToManyField                   if self pk is None                      data f name                       else                      result                          m2m inst   f value from object self                      for obj in m2m inst                          if isinstance PrintableModel  obj  and hasattr obj   to dict                                d   obj to dict                                  fields child fields get f name                                   exclude child exclude get f name                                                         else                              d   django forms models model to dict                                  obj                                  fields child fields get f name                                   exclude child exclude get f name                                                        result append d                      data f name    result             elif isinstance f  django db models ForeignKey                   if self pk is None                      data f name                       else                      data f name    None                     try                          foreign inst   getattr self  f name                      except django core exceptions ObjectDoesNotExist                          pass                     else                          if isinstance foreign inst  PrintableModel  and hasattr foreign inst   to dict                                data f name    foreign inst to dict                                  fields child fields get f name                                   exclude child exclude get f name                                                        elif foreign inst is not None                              data f name    django forms models model to dict                                  foreign inst                                  fields child fields get f name                                   exclude child exclude get f name                                              elif isinstance f   django db models DateTimeField  django db models DateField                    v   f value from object self                  if v is not None                      data f name    v isoformat                   else                      data f name    None             else                  data f name    f value from object self             support  property decorator functions         decorator names   get decorators dir self   class            for name in decorator names              if self fields and name not in self fields                  continue             if self exclude and name in self exclude                  continue              value   getattr self  name              if isinstance value  PrintableModel  and hasattr value   to dict                    data name    value to dict                      fields child fields get name                       exclude child exclude get name                                elif hasattr value    meta                      make sure it is a instance of django db models fields Field                 data name    django forms models model to dict                      value                      fields child fields get name                       exclude child exclude get name                                 elif isinstance value   set                      data name    list value              else                  data name    value          return data   https   gist github com shuge f543dc2094a3183f69488df2bfb51a52

User · Answer

Update  The newer aggregated answer posted by  zags is more complete and elegant than my own  Please refer to that answer instead   Original  If you are willing to define your own to dict method like  karthiker suggested  then that just boils this problem down to a sets problem    gt  gt  gt   Returns a set of all keys excluding editable   False keys  gt  gt  gt dict   model to dict instance   gt  gt  gt dict   u id   1L   reference1   1L   reference2    1L    value   1     gt  gt  gt   Returns a set of editable   False keys  misnamed foreign keys  and normal keys  gt  gt  gt otherDict   SomeModel objects filter id instance id  values   0   gt  gt  gt otherDict    created   datetime datetime 2014  2  21  4  38  51  tzinfo  lt UTC gt     u id   1L    reference1 id   1L    value   1L    value2   2L    We need to remove the mislabeled foreign keys from otherDict   To do this  we can use a loop that makes a new dictionary that has every item except those with underscores in them  Or  to save time  we can just add those to the original dict since dictionaries are just sets under the hood    gt  gt  gt for item in otherDict items           if     not in item 0                  dict update  item 0  item 1         gt  gt  gt    Thus we are left with the following dict    gt  gt  gt dict   created   datetime datetime 2014  2  21  4  38  51  tzinfo  lt UTC gt     u id   1L    reference1   1L    reference2    1L     value   1    value2   2L    And you just return that   On the downside  you can t use underscores in your editable false field names  On the upside  this will work for any set of fields where the user-made fields do not contain underscores   This is not the best way of doing this  but it could work as a temporary solution until a more direct method is found   For the example below  dict would be formed based on model to dict and otherDict would be formed by filter s values method  I would have done this with the models themselves  but I can t get my machine to accept otherModel    gt  gt  gt  import datetime  gt  gt  gt  dict    u id   1   reference1   1   reference2    1    value   1   gt  gt  gt  otherDict     created   datetime datetime 2014  2  21  4  38  51   u id   1   reference1 id   1   value   1   value2   2   gt  gt  gt  for item in otherDict items            if     not in item 0                   dict update  item 0  item 1         gt  gt  gt  dict   reference1   1   created   datetime datetime 2014  2  21  4  38  51    value2   2   value   1   id   1   reference2    1    gt  gt  gt    That should put you in a rough ballpark of the answer to your question  I hope

User · Answer

Simplest way    If your query is Model Objects get     get   will return single instance so you can direct use   dict   from your instance  model dict   Model Objects get     dict   for filter   all     all   filter   will return list of instances so you can use values   to get list of objects   model values   Model Objects all   values

User · Answer

did not mean to make the comment   Ok  it doesn t really depend on types in that way  I may have mis-understood the original question here so forgive me if that is the case  If you create serliazers py then in there you create classes that have meta classes   Class MyModelSerializer serializers ModelSerializer       class Meta          model   modelName         fields    csv   of   fields     Then when you get the data in the view class you can   model data - Model objects filter      serializer   MyModelSerializer model data  many True  return Response   data   serilaizer data   status status HTTP 200 OK    That is pretty much what I have in a vareity of places and it returns nice JSON via the JSONRenderer   As I said this is courtesy of the DjangoRestFramework so it s worth looking into that

User · Answer

I found a neat solution to get to result   Suppose you have an model object o   Just call   type o  objects filter pk o pk  values   first

User · Answer

Lots of interesting solutions here   My solution was to add an as dict method to my model with a dict comprehension   def as dict self       return dict  f name  getattr self  f name   for f in self  meta fields    As a bonus  this solution paired with an list comprehension over a query makes for a nice solution if you want export your models to another library   For example   dumping your models into a pandas dataframe   pandas awesomeness   pd DataFrame  m as dict   for m in SomeModel objects all

User · Answer

Maybe this help you  May this not covert many to many relantionship  but es pretty handy when you want to send your model in json format   def serial model modelobj     opts   modelobj  meta fields   modeldict   model to dict modelobj    for m in opts      if m is relation          foreignkey   getattr modelobj  m name          if foreignkey              try                  modeldict m name    serial model foreignkey              except                  pass   return modeldict

[python] How to convert Django Model object to dict with its fields and values?

1. `instance.dict`

2. `model_to_dict`

3. `model_to_dict(..., fields=...)`

4. `query_set.values()`

5. Custom Function

6. Use Serializers

Bonus Round: better model printing

Examples related to python

Examples related to django

Examples related to dictionary

Examples related to django-models

Examples related to django-orm

[python] How to convert Django Model object to dict with its fields and values?

1. instance.__dict__

2. model_to_dict

3. model_to_dict(..., fields=...)

4. query_set.values()

5. Custom Function

6. Use Serializers

Bonus Round: better model printing

Examples related to python

Examples related to django

Examples related to dictionary

Examples related to django-models

Examples related to django-orm

1. `instance.dict`

2. `model_to_dict`

3. `model_to_dict(..., fields=...)`

4. `query_set.values()`