django-from-excel 0.1.2

Automatically build Django models from an Excel file

Have an Excel tool that you'd like to quickly convert to a Django project? django-from-excel is the answer.

Features

1. Generates models.py file:
   1. Generate a Django model for each table/sheet in your Excel file
   2. Create appropriate field types for each of your table columns, with Pythonic naming
   3. TODO: Detect nullable columns
   4. TODO: Identify columns that should be foreign keys, and create corresponding models with choice fields
2. Generates admin.py file:
   1. Registers all models created in Step 1
3. Optionally creates migration files and migrates the schema
4. Optionally generates fixtures and loads data into your database

With a single command, you will be able to explore your data in the Django admin.

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Usage

The following instructions assume you already have a Django project and at least one app set up.

Installation

pip install django-from-excel

Setup

Locate the Excel file that has the data you want to build models from. It should have a table of data, like this:

Copy this file to a location in the project that is easy to reference. The simplest approach is to place it in the same directory as manage.py, as that is where you'll need to run the command from.

Before continuing, make sure you have created an app, and that it is registered in settings.INSTALLED_APPS.

Add django_from_excel to settings.INSTALLED_APPS.

At this point, also confirm your database settings.

Run

Example:

manage.py buildfrom fleet.xlsx app --overwrite --migrate --loaddata

The following options are available for the buildfrom command:

filepath:

Required. The filepath or path/to/filepath for the Excel file to generate models from.

app:

Required. The app to generate models.py and admin.py files in. Must already exist, and must be listed in settings.INSTALLED_APPS.

--overwrite:

Will overwrite existing admin.py and models.py files in the target app; otherwise, a unique hex string will be appended to the file names, such as models_120f77f8.py.

WARNING: If you have existing models and specify --overwrite, they will be lost forever!

--migrate:

After generating the models, this will automatically run manage.py makemigrations and manage.py migrate.

--loaddata:

Once migrations are complete, this will generate a convertedmodel.json file in <app>/fixtures, and will then call the manage.py loaddata convertedmodel.json <app> command. Must be used in conjunction with --migrate.

[
    {
        "model": "app.convertedmodel",
        "pk": 1,
        "fields": {
            "vin": "JN8AF5MV9BT005581",
            "year": 2021,
            "make": "Chevrolet",
            "model": "Silverado 1500",
            "mileage": 25000,
            "color": "White",
            "engine_size_liters": 6.2,
            "fuel_type": "gasoline",
            "avg_mpg": 24.5394832,
            "is_leased": true
        }
    }
]

Inspect

View the models.py and admin.py files that were generated.

If you chose the --migrate option:

Log in to the Django admin. Your converted model(s) should be listed there.

If you specified --loaddata:

Open the model, and you should have a record for each row in the original Excel file.

Eject

Once you are satisfied with the results, you can remove django_from_excel from settings.INSTALLED_APPS and uninstall django-from-excel and any other dependencies you don't need for your project.

TODO: Create an eject command to handle this automatically.

Build Your Dream App

This is only intended to create a starting point. You'll want to inspect the models to make sure the field types are correct, you'll likely need to add some nullable fields or unique constraints, and you may need to spin some fields off into their own tables, with foreign keys linking back.

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Common Errors

Unknown command: 'buildfrom'

Solution: Add django_from_excel to settings.INSTALLED_APPS.