ticket 4436 questions

[Scott Moonen]

I'm hitting the problem reported in ticket #4436.  This ticket is currently closed as wontfix.

I'm ok with using the --settings option to override this.  However, I do question the decision to close the ticket, for two reasons.  First, the settings option is not immediately obvious because this problem prevents the "help" subcommand from even working:

$ export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=apps.myapp.settings
$ ./manage.py help
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./manage.py", line 11, in ?
    execute_manager(settings)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 301, in execute_manager
    utility.execute()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 238, in execute
    sys.stderr.write(self.main_help_text() + '\n')
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 188, in main_help_text
    commands = get_commands(self.user_commands, self.project_directory).keys()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 86, in get_commands
    for app_name in settings.INSTALLED_APPS:
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/django/conf/__init__.py", line 28, in __getattr__
    self._import_settings()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/django/conf/__init__.py", line 59, in _import_settings
    self._target = Settings(settings_module)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/django/conf/__init__.py", line 94, in __init__
    raise ImportError, "Could not import settings '%s' (Is it on sys.path? Does it have syntax errors?): %s" % (self.SETTINGS_MODULE, e)
ImportError: Could not import settings 'myapp.settings' (Is it on sys.path? Does it have syntax errors?): No module named settings

Worse, it looks like the --settings option has been retired since this ticket was closed.  I see that --settings works on an SVN extract I did sometime back in February or so (although it is not documented on running "manage.py help"), but it does not work on the current level:

$ ./manage.py --settings=apps.myapp.settings
Unknown command: '--settings=apps.myapp.settings'
Type 'manage.py help' for usage.
$ ./manage.py --settings apps.myapp.settings
Unknown command: '--settings'
Type 'manage.py help' for usage.

I think this warrants reopening ticket 4436.  Either we should reintroduce --settings, make sure that the "help" option runs without first importing settings, and describe the use of --settings in the help output; or else we should allow DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE from the environment to either override the computed value, or perhaps be reverted to as a fallback case.

Is it ok if I reopen this ticket?  I'd like to get some feedback first rather than doing it unilaterally. :)  Thanks,


  -- Scott

--
http://scott.andstuff.org/ | http://truthadorned.org/

[Scott Moonen]

Ok, a few more details.  Looks like --settings does work, as long as you specify a command (so, "./manage.py help --settings=apps.myapp.settings").  But still, there's a chicken-and-egg problem in that help itself doesn't work if I don't specify --settings and also help doesn't report the availability of the --settings option; seems like a globally applicable option like that does belong on the main help display.

Just some thoughts.  It is working for me now to specify --settings in combination with a command (silly me), but it certainly was a long road from start to finish to arrive at the solution. :)  I do still believe that reopening the ticket would be a good idea,

  -- Scott

[Russell Keith-Magee]

On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 8:41 AM, Scott Moonen <smo...@andstuff.org> wrote:
> Ok, a few more details. Looks like --settings does work, as long as you
> specify a command (so, "./manage.py help --settings=apps.myapp.settings").
> But still, there's a chicken-and-egg problem in that help itself doesn't
> work if I don't specify --settings and also help doesn't report the
> availability of the --settings option; seems like a globally applicable
> option like that does belong on the main help display.

I wouldn't reopen #4436 - I'd open a new ticket.

#4436 documents the design decision that --settings overrides the
environment. ./manage.py has an implied --settings option, so
./manage.py by itself will ignore the environment.

The issue you're describing here is that misconfigured settings can
prevent you from seeing the very help message that would tell you what
is going wrong. This is a legitimate fault, so it should be documented
separately.

Yours,
Russ Magee %-)