Support for using existing declarative models (closes #60)

README.md

@@ -230,6 +230,14 @@ Questions or comments about `sandman`? Hit me up at [[email protected]](mailto:
 
 # Changelog
 
+## Version 0.9.6
+
+* Support for using existing declarative models alongside `sandman` generated models
+    * If you have an existing app and want to include sandman in it, simply pass
+      your existing models in to the `register()` function along with any
+      `sanmdman` generated classes. `sandman` will detect the existing models
+      and augment them.
+
 ## Version 0.9.5
 
 * Fixes a critical bug where code used by the new `etag` decorators was

README.rst

@@ -256,6 +256,17 @@ [email protected].
 Changelog
 =========
 
+Version 0.9.6
+-------------
+
+-  Support for using existing declarative models alongside ``sandman``
+   generated models
+
+   -  If you have an existing app and want to include sandman in it,
+      simply pass your existing models in to the ``register()`` function
+      along with any ``sanmdman`` generated classes. ``sandman`` will
+      detect the existing models and augment them.
+
 Version 0.9.5
 -------------
 

docs/using_sandman.rst

@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ following:
 - ``links``, ``primary_key``, and ``resource_uri`` methods that provide access
   to various attributes of the object derived from the underlying database model
 
-Creating a `models.py` file allows you to get *even more* out of ``sandman``. In the file,
-create a class that derives from `sandman.models.Model` for each table you want to
+Creating a ``models.py`` file allows you to get *even more* out of ``sandman``. In the file,
+create a class that derives from ``sandman.models.Model`` for each table you want to
 turn into a RESTful resource. Here's a simple example using the Chinook test database
 (widely available online)::
 
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ turn into a RESTful resource. Here's a simple example using the Chinook test dat
 Hooking up Models
 -----------------
 
-The `__tablename__` attribute is used to tell ``sandman`` which database table
+The ``__tablename__`` attribute is used to tell ``sandman`` which database table
 this class is modeling. It has *no default* and is *required* for all classes.
 
 Providing a custom endpoint
@@ -329,4 +329,11 @@ following example, ``sandman``-related endpoints can be accessed by adding the
 This allows both apps to coexist; ``my_app`` will be rooted at ``/`` and
 ``sandman`` at ``/sandman``.
 
+Using existing declarative models
+---------------------------------
+
+If you have a Flask/SQLAlchemy application that already has a number of existing
+declarative models, you can register these with ``sandman`` as if they were
+auto-generated classes. Simply add your existing classes in the call to :func:`sandman.model.register`
+
 .. _here: http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/patterns/appdispatch/#app-dispatch

sandman/model/models.py

@@ -39,19 +39,27 @@ class Model(object):
     __table__ = None
     """Will be populated by SQLAlchemy with the table's meta-information."""
 
+    __from_class__ = None
+    """Is this class being generated from an existing declarative SQLAlchemy
+    class?"""
+
     @classmethod
     def endpoint(cls):
         """Return the :class:`sandman.model.Model`'s endpoint.
 
         :rtype: string
 
         """
+        endpoint = ''
         if cls.__endpoint__ is not None:
             return cls.__endpoint__
-        value = cls.__tablename__.lower()
-        if not value.endswith('s'):
-            value += 's'
-        return value
+        elif cls.__from_class__ is not None:
+            endpoint = cls.__from_class__.__name__.lower()
+        else:
+            endpoint = cls.__tablename__.lower()
+        if not endpoint.endswith('s'):
+            endpoint += 's'
+        return endpoint
 
     def resource_uri(self):
         """Return the URI at which the resource can be found.
@@ -70,6 +78,8 @@ def primary_key(cls):
 
         """
 
+        if cls.__from_class__:
+            cls = cls.__from_class__
         return cls.__table__.primary_key.columns.values()[0].name
 
     def links(self):
@@ -150,6 +160,8 @@ def replace(self, dictionary):
 
     @classmethod
     def meta(cls):
+        if __from_class__:
+            cls = self.__from_class__
         attribute_info = {}
         for name, value in cls.__table__.columns.items():
             attribute_info[name] = str(value.type).lower()

sandman/model/utils.py

@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ def register_internal_data(cls):
 
     """
     with app.app_context():
+        if getattr(cls, 'endpoint', None) is None:
+            orig_class = cls
+            cls = type('Sandman' + cls.__name__, (cls, Model), {})
+            cls.__from_class__ = orig_class
         current_app.class_references[cls.__tablename__] = cls
         current_app.class_references[cls.__name__] = cls
         current_app.class_references[cls.endpoint()] = cls