How can I create model instances in a .py file?

Question

So when I create a model instance using the CLI, it works.

The model:

class Post(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    cover = models.ImageField(upload_to='images/')
    description = models.TextField(blank=True)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.title

Then I did:

$ python manage.py shell
>>>from blog.models import Post
>>>filename = 'images/s.png'
>>>Post.objects.create(title=filename.split('/')[-1], cover=filename, description='testing')

And it worked, it showed up on the page that I'm displaying these models at.

However, when I take this same code and put it in a file, portfolio_sync.py, it doesn't work.

from blog.models import Post

filename = 'images/s.png'
Post.objects.create(title=filename.split('/')[-1], cover=filename, description='testing')

I get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "portolio_sync.py", line 1, in <module>
    from models import Post
  File "/Users/rfrigo/dev/ryanfrigo/blog/models.py", line 4, in <module>
    class Post(models.Model):
  File "/Users/rfrigo/anaconda3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/models/base.py", line 87, in __new__
    app_config = apps.get_containing_app_config(module)
  File "/Users/rfrigo/anaconda3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 249, in get_containing_app_config
    self.check_apps_ready()
  File "/Users/rfrigo/anaconda3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 131, in check_apps_ready
    settings.INSTALLED_APPS
  File "/Users/rfrigo/anaconda3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/conf/__init__.py", line 57, in __getattr__
    self._setup(name)
  File "/Users/rfrigo/anaconda3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/conf/__init__.py", line 42, in _setup
    % (desc, ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE))
django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: Requested setting INSTALLED_APPS, but settings are not configured. You must either define the environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE or call settings.configure() before accessing settings.

How can I fix this, and create a model instance in a .py file? (Because I need to loop through a bunch of file names).

Thanks for your help!!

Does this answer your question? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26082128/improperlyconfigured-you-must-either-define-the-environment-variable-django-set — JLeno46, Nov 28 '20 at 19:07
I think what you want to do is this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16853649/how-to-execute-a-python-script-from-the-django-shell — Diego Aaron, Nov 28 '20 at 19:10

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 28 '20 at 19:19

1

you have to run this script in shell

for executing this script in shell, open terminal and do like this:

python manage.py shell < myscriptname.py

answered Nov 28 '20 at 19:19

Reza GH

1,504
1
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16

For Python 4.0+ this won't work. We need to use exec() inside the shell instead – Ixion Chowdhury Sep 19 '22 at 19:12

How can I create model instances in a .py file?

1 Answers1