.. _db_sqlalchemy:

SQLAlchemy & Elixir
===================

**Note:** This assumes that you have Elixir installed and enabled in your web framework. Refer to your framework's documentation for details on how to do this.

Define Model
------------

Add the following to your model file. The actual file depends on the framework::

    import elixir as el

    class Movie(el.Entity):
        title = el.Field(el.String(100))
        description = el.Field(el.Text)
        year = el.Field(el.Integer)
        genera = el.Field(el.String(100))
        release_date = el.Field(el.Date)

    el.setup_all()

Elixir automatically creates an integer primary key column, called ``id``. Note: ``el.setup_all()`` may not be necessary, depending on your framework.

When you've done this, you need to tell your web framework to create the database tables, see the framework-specific instructions.


Load Data
---------

In the ``movie`` controller method, replace the following lines::

    # TBD: load movie from database
    movie = None

With::

    movie = id is not None and db.Movie.get(id)
    if id is not None and not movie:
        raise Exception('Movie ID not found')


Save Data
---------

In the ``save_movie`` controller method, replace the line::

    # TBD: save movie to database

With::

    if id is not None:
        movie = db.Movie.get(id)
        if not movie:
            raise Exception('Movie ID not found')
    else:
        movie = db.Movie()
    movie.from_dict(kw)