==================================

Integrating with a legacy database

==================================

While Django is best suited for developing new applications, it's quite

possible to integrate it into legacy databases. Django includes a couple of

utilities to automate as much of this process as possible.

This document assumes you know the Django basics, as covered in the

`official tutorial`_.

.. _official tutorial: ../tutorial1/

Give Django your database parameters

====================================

You'll need to tell Django what your database connection parameters are, and

what the name of the database is. Do that by editing these settings in your

`settings file`_:

    * `DATABASE_NAME`

    * `DATABASE_ENGINE`_

    * `DATABASE_USER`_

    * `DATABASE_PASSWORD`_

    * `DATABASE_HOST`_

    * `DATABASE_PORT`_

.. _settings file: ../settings/

.. _DATABASE_NAME: ../settings/#database-name

.. _DATABASE_ENGINE: ../settings/#database-engine

.. _DATABASE_USER: ../settings/#database-user

.. _DATABASE_PASSWORD: ../settings/#database-password

.. _DATABASE_HOST: ../settings/#database-host

.. _DATABASE_PORT: ../settings/#database-port

Auto-generate the models

========================

Django comes with a utility that can create models by introspecting an existing

database. You can view the output by running this command::

    django-admin.py inspectdb --settings=path.to.settings

Save this as a file by using standard Unix output redirection::

    django-admin.py inspectdb --settings=path.to.settings > models.py

This feature is meant as a shortcut, not as definitive model generation. See

the `django-admin.py documentation`_ for more information.

Once you've cleaned up your models, name the file ``models.py`` and put it in

the Python package that holds your app. Then add the app to your

``INSTALLED_APPS`` setting.

.. _django-admin.py documentation: ../django_admin/

Install the core Django tables

==============================

Next, run the ``manage.py syncdb`` command to install any extra needed database

records such as admin permissions and content types::

    django-admin.py init --settings=path.to.settings

See whether it worked

=====================

That's it. Try accessing your data via the Django database API, and try editing

objects via Django's admin site.