Provides an API for creation of custom ClauseElements and compilers.
Usage involves the creation of one or more ClauseElement subclasses and one or more callables defining its compilation:
from sqlalchemy.ext.compiler import compiles
from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import ColumnClause
class MyColumn(ColumnClause):
pass
@compiles(MyColumn)
def compile_mycolumn(element, compiler, **kw):
return "[%s]" % element.name
Above, MyColumn extends ColumnClause, the base expression element for named column objects. The compiles decorator registers itself with the MyColumn class so that it is invoked when the object is compiled to a string:
from sqlalchemy import select
s = select([MyColumn('x'), MyColumn('y')])
print str(s)
Produces:
SELECT [x], [y]
Compilers can also be made dialect-specific. The appropriate compiler will be invoked for the dialect in use:
from sqlalchemy.schema import DDLElement
class AlterColumn(DDLElement):
def __init__(self, column, cmd):
self.column = column
self.cmd = cmd
@compiles(AlterColumn)
def visit_alter_column(element, compiler, **kw):
return "ALTER COLUMN %s ..." % element.column.name
@compiles(AlterColumn, 'postgresql')
def visit_alter_column(element, compiler, **kw):
return "ALTER TABLE %s ALTER COLUMN %s ..." % (element.table.name, element.column.name)
The second visit_alter_table will be invoked when any postgresql dialect is used.
The compiler argument is the Compiled object in use. This object can be inspected for any information about the in-progress compilation, including compiler.dialect, compiler.statement etc. The SQLCompiler and DDLCompiler both include a process() method which can be used for compilation of embedded attributes:
class InsertFromSelect(ClauseElement):
def __init__(self, table, select):
self.table = table
self.select = select
@compiles(InsertFromSelect)
def visit_insert_from_select(element, compiler, **kw):
return "INSERT INTO %s (%s)" % (
compiler.process(element.table, asfrom=True),
compiler.process(element.select)
)
insert = InsertFromSelect(t1, select([t1]).where(t1.c.x>5))
print insert
Produces:
"INSERT INTO mytable (SELECT mytable.x, mytable.y, mytable.z FROM mytable WHERE mytable.x > :x_1)"
SQL and DDL constructs are each compiled using different base compilers - SQLCompiler and DDLCompiler. A common need is to access the compilation rules of SQL expressions from within a DDL expression. The DDLCompiler includes an accessor sql_compiler for this reason, such as below where we generate a CHECK constraint that embeds a SQL expression:
@compiles(MyConstraint)
def compile_my_constraint(constraint, ddlcompiler, **kw):
return "CONSTRAINT %s CHECK (%s)" % (
constraint.name,
ddlcompiler.sql_compiler.process(constraint.expression)
)
The compiler extension applies just as well to the existing constructs. When overriding the compilation of a built in SQL construct, the @compiles decorator is invoked upon the appropriate class (be sure to use the class, i.e. Insert or Select, instead of the creation function such as insert() or select()).
Within the new compilation function, to get at the “original” compilation routine, use the appropriate visit_XXX method - this because compiler.process() will call upon the overriding routine and cause an endless loop. Such as, to add “prefix” to all insert statements:
from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import Insert
@compiles(Insert)
def prefix_inserts(insert, compiler, **kw):
return compiler.visit_insert(insert.prefix_with("some prefix"), **kw)
The above compiler will prefix all INSERT statements with “some prefix” when compiled.
A big part of using the compiler extension is subclassing SQLAlchemy expression constructs. To make this easier, the expression and schema packages feature a set of “bases” intended for common tasks. A synopsis is as follows: