API Reference for Django Hierarchical Models

This document provides a detailed reference of all classes, methods, and attributes in the Django Hierarchical Models package.

Models

HierarchicalModelMixin

The core mixin that provides hierarchical inheritance capabilities to Django models.

Attributes

• HIERARCHICAL_PARENT_ATTR: (str, default: ‘hierarchical_parent’) - The attribute name used to access the parent object
• SKIP_AUTO_PROPERTIES: (list) - List of fields to exclude from automatic property creation

Methods

• _get_hierarchical_value(field_name, visited_objects=None): Retrieves a value from the hierarchy for a given field
• _set_hierarchical_value(field_name, value): Sets an override value for a field
• clear_override(field_name): Clears an override to revert to inherited value
• has_hierarchical_field(field_name): Checks if the model has a hierarchical field with the given name
• _ensure_property_accessors(): Creates property accessors for shadow fields
• _get_shadow_fields(): Gets all shadow fields defined on this model

HierarchicalManagerMixin

A mixin for model managers that adds support for hierarchical property fields.

Methods

• create(**kwargs): Creates a new instance with handling for hierarchical fields

HierarchicalManager

A ready-to-use manager for hierarchical models that extends HierarchicalManagerMixin and Django’s default models.Manager.

Forms

The forms module has been simplified. Standard Django forms should be used with hierarchical models by directly handling the shadow fields (prefixed with underscore).

See the Forms Integration document for examples and best practices.

Admin

HierarchicalModelAdmin

A custom ModelAdmin for Django admin integration.

Methods

• formfield_for_dbfield(db_field, request, **kwargs): Customizes form fields for hierarchical fields
• Additional methods will be documented here…

Utility Functions

has_hierarchical_field(model_class, field_name)

Checks if a model class has a hierarchical field with the given name.

Parameters

• model_class: The model class to check
• field_name: The name of the field without underscore prefix

Returns

• True if the model has the hierarchical field, False otherwise

get_hierarchical_setting(key, default=None)

Gets a setting from the HIERARCHICAL_MODELS settings dictionary.

Parameters

• key: The key to look up in HIERARCHICAL_MODELS
• default: Default value if the key is not found

Returns

• The setting value or the default