1 ==================================

     2 Integrating with a legacy database

     3 ==================================

     4 

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

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

     7 utilities to automate as much of this process as possible.

     8 

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

    10 `official tutorial`_.

    11 

    12 .. _official tutorial: ../tutorial1/

    13 

    14 Give Django your database parameters

    15 ====================================

    16 

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

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

    19 `settings file`_:

    20 

    21     * `DATABASE_NAME`

    22     * `DATABASE_ENGINE`_

    23     * `DATABASE_USER`_

    24     * `DATABASE_PASSWORD`_

    25     * `DATABASE_HOST`_

    26     * `DATABASE_PORT`_

    27 

    28 .. _settings file: ../settings/

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

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

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

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

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

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

    35 

    36 Auto-generate the models

    37 ========================

    38 

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

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

    41 

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

    43 

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

    45 

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

    47 

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

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

    50 

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

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

    53 ``INSTALLED_APPS`` setting.

    54 

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

    56 

    57 Install the core Django tables

    58 ==============================

    59 

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

    61 records such as admin permissions and content types::

    62 

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

    64 

    65 See whether it worked

    66 =====================

    67 

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

    69 objects via Django's admin site.