# SQLAlchemy 0.7 Documentation

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Release: 0.7.3 | Release Date: October 16, 2011

# Mutation Tracking

Provide support for tracking of in-place changes to scalar values, which are propagated into ORM change events on owning parent objects.

The `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable` extension replaces SQLAlchemy’s legacy approach to in-place mutations of scalar values, established by the `types.MutableType` class as well as the `mutable=True` type flag, with a system that allows change events to be propagated from the value to the owning parent, thereby removing the need for the ORM to maintain copies of values as well as the very expensive requirement of scanning through all “mutable” values on each flush call, looking for changes.

## Establishing Mutability on Scalar Column Values

A typical example of a “mutable” structure is a Python dictionary. Following the example introduced in Column and Data Types, we begin with a custom type that marshals Python dictionaries into JSON strings before being persisted:

    from sqlalchemy.types import TypeDecorator, VARCHAR
    import json

    class JSONEncodedDict(TypeDecorator):
        "Represents an immutable structure as a json-encoded string."

        impl = VARCHAR

        def process_bind_param(self, value, dialect):
            if value is not None:
                value = json.dumps(value)
            return value

        def process_result_value(self, value, dialect):
            if value is not None:
                value = json.loads(value)
            return value

The usage of `json` is only for the purposes of example. The `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable` extension can be used with any type whose target Python type may be mutable, including `PickleType`, `postgresql.ARRAY`, etc.

When using the `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable` extension, the value itself tracks all parents which reference it. Here we will replace the usage of plain Python dictionaries with a dict subclass that implements the `Mutable` mixin:

    import collections
    from sqlalchemy.ext.mutable import Mutable

    class MutationDict(Mutable, dict):
        @classmethod
        def coerce(cls, key, value):
            "Convert plain dictionaries to MutationDict."

            if not isinstance(value, MutationDict):
                if isinstance(value, dict):
                    return MutationDict(value)

                # this call will raise ValueError
                return Mutable.coerce(key, value)
            else:
                return value

        def __setitem__(self, key, value):
            "Detect dictionary set events and emit change events."

            dict.__setitem__(self, key, value)
            self.changed()

        def __delitem__(self, key):
            "Detect dictionary del events and emit change events."

            dict.__delitem__(self, key)
            self.changed()

The above dictionary class takes the approach of subclassing the Python built-in `dict` to produce a dict subclass which routes all mutation events through `__setitem__`. There are many variants on this approach, such as subclassing `UserDict.UserDict`, the newer `collections.MutableMapping`, etc. The part that’s important to this example is that the `Mutable.changed()` method is called whenever an in-place change to the datastructure takes place.

We also redefine the `Mutable.coerce()` method which will be used to convert any values that are not instances of `MutationDict`, such as the plain dictionaries returned by the `json` module, into the appropriate type. Defining this method is optional; we could just as well created our `JSONEncodedDict` such that it always returns an instance of `MutationDict`, and additionally ensured that all calling code uses `MutationDict` explicitly. When `Mutable.coerce()` is not overridden, any values applied to a parent object which are not instances of the mutable type will raise a `ValueError`.

Our new `MutationDict` type offers a class method `as_mutable()` which we can use within column metadata to associate with types. This method grabs the given type object or class and associates a listener that will detect all future mappings of this type, applying event listening instrumentation to the mapped attribute. Such as, with classical table metadata:

    from sqlalchemy import Table, Column, Integer

    my_data = Table('my_data', metadata,
        Column('id', Integer, primary_key=True),
        Column('data', MutationDict.as_mutable(JSONEncodedDict))
    )

Above, `as_mutable()` returns an instance of `JSONEncodedDict` (if the type object was not an instance already), which will intercept any attributes which are mapped against this type. Below we establish a simple mapping against the `my_data` table:

    from sqlalchemy import mapper

    class MyDataClass(object):
        pass

    # associates mutation listeners with MyDataClass.data
    mapper(MyDataClass, my_data)

The `MyDataClass.data` member will now be notified of in place changes to its value.

There’s no difference in usage when using declarative:

    from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base

    Base = declarative_base()

    class MyDataClass(Base):
        __tablename__ = 'my_data'
        id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
        data = Column(MutationDict.as_mutable(JSONEncodedDict))

Any in-place changes to the `MyDataClass.data` member will flag the attribute as “dirty” on the parent object:

    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import Session

    >>> sess = Session()
    >>> m1 = MyDataClass(data={'value1':'foo'})
    >>> sess.add(m1)
    >>> sess.commit()

    >>> m1.data['value1'] = 'bar'
    >>> assert m1 in sess.dirty
    True

The `MutationDict` can be associated with all future instances of `JSONEncodedDict` in one step, using `associate_with()`. This is similar to `as_mutable()` except it will intercept all occurrences of `MutationDict` in all mappings unconditionally, without the need to declare it individually:

    MutationDict.associate_with(JSONEncodedDict)

    class MyDataClass(Base):
        __tablename__ = 'my_data'
        id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
        data = Column(JSONEncodedDict)

### Supporting Pickling

The key to the `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable` extension relies upon the placement of a `weakref.WeakKeyDictionary` upon the value object, which stores a mapping of parent mapped objects keyed to the attribute name under which they are associated with this value. `WeakKeyDictionary` objects are not picklable, due to the fact that they contain weakrefs and function callbacks. In our case, this is a good thing, since if this dictionary were picklable, it could lead to an excessively large pickle size for our value objects that are pickled by themselves outside of the context of the parent. The developer responsiblity here is only to provide a `__getstate__` method that excludes the `_parents()` collection from the pickle stream:

    class MyMutableType(Mutable):
        def __getstate__(self):
            d = self.__dict__.copy()
            d.pop('_parents', None)
            return d

With our dictionary example, we need to return the contents of the dict itself (and also restore them on __setstate__):

    class MutationDict(Mutable, dict):
        # ....

        def __getstate__(self):
            return dict(self)

        def __setstate__(self, state):
            self.update(state)

In the case that our mutable value object is pickled as it is attached to one or more parent objects that are also part of the pickle, the `Mutable` mixin will re-establish the `Mutable._parents` collection on each value object as the owning parents themselves are unpickled.

## Establishing Mutability on Composites

Composites are a special ORM feature which allow a single scalar attribute to be assigned an object value which represents information “composed” from one or more columns from the underlying mapped table. The usual example is that of a geometric “point”, and is introduced in Composite Column Types.

As of SQLAlchemy 0.7, the internals of `orm.composite()` have been greatly simplified and in-place mutation detection is no longer enabled by default; instead, the user-defined value must detect changes on its own and propagate them to all owning parents. The `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable` extension provides the helper class `MutableComposite`, which is a slight variant on the `Mutable` class.

As is the case with `Mutable`, the user-defined composite class subclasses `MutableComposite` as a mixin, and detects and delivers change events to its parents via the `MutableComposite.changed()` method. In the case of a composite class, the detection is usually via the usage of Python descriptors (i.e. `@property`), or alternatively via the special Python method `__setattr__()`. Below we expand upon the `Point` class introduced in Composite Column Types to subclass `MutableComposite` and to also route attribute set events via `__setattr__` to the `MutableComposite.changed()` method:

    from sqlalchemy.ext.mutable import MutableComposite

    class Point(MutableComposite):
        def __init__(self, x, y):
            self.x = x
            self.y = y

        def __setattr__(self, key, value):
            "Intercept set events"

            # set the attribute
            object.__setattr__(self, key, value)

            # alert all parents to the change
            self.changed()

        def __composite_values__(self):
            return self.x, self.y

        def __eq__(self, other):
            return isinstance(other, Point) and \
                other.x == self.x and \
                other.y == self.y

        def __ne__(self, other):
            return not self.__eq__(other)

The `MutableComposite` class uses a Python metaclass to automatically establish listeners for any usage of `orm.composite()` that specifies our `Point` type. Below, when `Point` is mapped to the `Vertex` class, listeners are established which will route change events from `Point` objects to each of the `Vertex.start` and `Vertex.end` attributes:

    from sqlalchemy.orm import composite, mapper
    from sqlalchemy import Table, Column

    vertices = Table('vertices', metadata,
        Column('id', Integer, primary_key=True),
        Column('x1', Integer),
        Column('y1', Integer),
        Column('x2', Integer),
        Column('y2', Integer),
        )

    class Vertex(object):
        pass

    mapper(Vertex, vertices, properties={
        'start': composite(Point, vertices.c.x1, vertices.c.y1),
        'end': composite(Point, vertices.c.x2, vertices.c.y2)
    })

Any in-place changes to the `Vertex.start` or `Vertex.end` members will flag the attribute as “dirty” on the parent object:

    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import Session

    >>> sess = Session()
    >>> v1 = Vertex(start=Point(3, 4), end=Point(12, 15))
    >>> sess.add(v1)
    >>> sess.commit()

    >>> v1.end.x = 8
    >>> assert v1 in sess.dirty
    True

### Supporting Pickling

As is the case with `Mutable`, the `MutableComposite` helper class uses a `weakref.WeakKeyDictionary` available via the `MutableBase._parents()` attribute which isn’t picklable. If we need to pickle instances of `Point` or its owning class `Vertex`, we at least need to define a `__getstate__` that doesn’t include the `_parents` dictionary. Below we define both a `__getstate__` and a `__setstate__` that package up the minimal form of our `Point` class:

    class Point(MutableComposite):
        # ...

        def __getstate__(self):
            return self.x, self.y

        def __setstate__(self, state):
            self.x, self.y = state

As with `Mutable`, the `MutableComposite` augments the pickling process of the parent’s object-relational state so that the `MutableBase._parents()` collection is restored to all `Point` objects.

## API Reference

class `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable.``MutableBase`

  Common base class to `Mutable` and `MutableComposite`.

  `_parents`

    Dictionary of parent object->attribute name on the parent.

    This attribute is a so-called “memoized” property. It initializes itself with a new `weakref.WeakKeyDictionary` the first time it is accessed, returning the same object upon subsequent access.

class `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable.``Mutable`

  Bases: `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable.MutableBase`

  Mixin that defines transparent propagation of change events to a parent object.

  See the example in Establishing Mutability on Scalar Column Values for usage information.

  classmethod `as_mutable`(sqltype)

    Associate a SQL type with this mutable Python type.

    This establishes listeners that will detect ORM mappings against the given type, adding mutation event trackers to those mappings.

    The type is returned, unconditionally as an instance, so that `as_mutable()` can be used inline:

        Table('mytable', metadata,
            Column('id', Integer, primary_key=True),
            Column('data', MyMutableType.as_mutable(PickleType))
        )

    Note that the returned type is always an instance, even if a class is given, and that only columns which are declared specifically with that type instance receive additional instrumentation.

    To associate a particular mutable type with all occurrences of a particular type, use the `Mutable.associate_with()` classmethod of the particular `Mutable()` subclass to establish a global association.

    Warning

    The listeners established by this method are global to all mappers, and are not garbage collected. Only use `as_mutable()` for types that are permanent to an application, not with ad-hoc types else this will cause unbounded growth in memory usage.

  classmethod `associate_with`(sqltype)

    Associate this wrapper with all future mapped columns of the given type.

    This is a convenience method that calls `associate_with_attribute` automatically.

    Warning

    The listeners established by this method are global to all mappers, and are not garbage collected. Only use `associate_with()` for types that are permanent to an application, not with ad-hoc types else this will cause unbounded growth in memory usage.

  classmethod `associate_with_attribute`(attribute)

    Establish this type as a mutation listener for the given mapped descriptor.

  `changed`()

    Subclasses should call this method whenever change events occur.

class `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable.``MutableComposite`

  Bases: `sqlalchemy.ext.mutable.MutableBase`

  Mixin that defines transparent propagation of change events on a SQLAlchemy “composite” object to its owning parent or parents.

  See the example in Establishing Mutability on Composites for usage information.

  Warning

  The listeners established by the `MutableComposite` class are global to all mappers, and are not garbage collected. Only use `MutableComposite` for types that are permanent to an application, not with ad-hoc types else this will cause unbounded growth in memory usage.

  `changed`()

    Subclasses should call this method whenever change events occur.