Re: [Django] #35224: Make GenericForeignKey a subclass of Field (was: Make GenericForeignKey subclass Field)

[Django]

#35224: Make GenericForeignKey a subclass of Field
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: Adam Johnson | Owner: nobody
Type: | Status: assigned
Cleanup/optimization |
Component: | Version: dev
contrib.contenttypes |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: | Triage Stage:
| Unreviewed
Has patch: 0 | Needs documentation: 0
Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0
Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by Adam Johnson):

* summary: Make GenericForeignKey subclass Field => Make GenericForeignKey
a subclass of Field


Old description:

> When introduced in bca5327b21eb2e3ee18292cbe532d6d0071201d8,
> GenericForeignKey was created as its own class. Since then, it has grown
> to resemble a field, particularly in
> fb48eb05816b1ac87d58696cdfe48be18c901f16.
>
> GenericForeignKey *not* being a `Field` leads to several issues:
> 1. It is added as a “field” and returned by `Model._meta.get_fields()`, a
> type confusion [https://github.com/typeddjango/django-
> stubs/blob/5a8e7b3855ea6f7be2b2ab928d02eff9a748d917/django-
> stubs/db/models/options.pyi#L122-L124 reflected in django-stubs].
> 2. It duplicates code, such as `_check_field_name()`.
> 3. It misses methods like `__repr__()`.
>
> I think we should make it a subclass of `Field`.

New description:

When introduced in bca5327b21eb2e3ee18292cbe532d6d0071201d8,
GenericForeignKey was created as its own class. Since then, it has grown
to resemble a field, particularly in
fb48eb05816b1ac87d58696cdfe48be18c901f16.

GenericForeignKey *not* being a `Field` leads to several issues:
1. It is added as a “field” and returned by `Model._meta.get_fields()`, a
type confusion [https://github.com/typeddjango/django-
stubs/blob/5a8e7b3855ea6f7be2b2ab928d02eff9a748d917/django-
stubs/db/models/options.pyi#L122-L124 reflected in django-stubs].
2. It duplicates code, such as `_check_field_name()`.
3. It misses methods like `__repr__()`.

I think we should make it a subclass of `Field`.

(`GenericRelation` has always been a subclass of `Field`.)

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Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/35224#comment:2>
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