[Django] #18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py startapp command

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May 10, 2012, 3:14:49 AM5/10/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command
--------------------------------------------+------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: nobody
Type: Cleanup/optimization | Status: new
Component: Core (Management commands) | Version: 1.4
Severity: Normal | Keywords: manage.py,
Triage Stage: Unreviewed | startapp
Easy pickings: 1 | Has patch: 0
| UI/UX: 0
--------------------------------------------+------------------------------
The structure of the project created by 'django-admin.py startproject' has
changed from Django 1.4. The 'manage.py' file is at the same level where
the project folder containing settings.py, urls.py is present. In order to
create an app within the project as was possible with Django < 1.4, the
command to be used is 'python manage.py startapp <app name> <destination
folder which is optional>. So if I execute the command "python manage.py
startapp myapp myproject", there is an error that says "Error: <full
path>/<project name>/<project name>/__init__.py already exists, overlaying
a project or app into an existing directory won't replace conflicting
files". The command actually expects an empty directory having the name of
the app inside the project directory to work correctly. So the user has to
create that directory and then create the app. This isn't very intuitive
and django should create the app directory if it doesn't exist and then
create the app to show the same behaviour as the previous versions.

One other way to work around this behaviour is to change to the project
directory and then execute python ../manage.py startapp appname.

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296>
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May 20, 2012, 1:04:52 PM5/20/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

Has patch: 0 | UI/UX: 0

Needs tests: 0 |
Easy pickings: 1 |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by jezdez):

* needs_better_patch: => 0
* stage: Unreviewed => Accepted
* needs_tests: => 0
* needs_docs: => 0

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:1>

Django

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May 28, 2012, 6:45:51 PM5/28/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes
Cleanup/optimization | Status: new
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.4
commands) | Resolution:
Severity: Normal | Triage Stage: Accepted
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Needs documentation: 0
Has patch: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0
Needs tests: 0 | UI/UX: 0
Easy pickings: 1 |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by vanessagomes):

* owner: nobody => vanessagomes

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:2>

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Jun 3, 2012, 2:15:38 PM6/3/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:

Has patch: 0 | UI/UX: 0

Needs tests: 0 |

Easy pickings: 1 |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by vanessagomes):

* owner: vanessagomes =>

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:3>

Django

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Jun 19, 2012, 8:07:33 PM6/19/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes
Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Needs tests: 0 | UI/UX: 0

Easy pickings: 1 |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by vanessagomes):

* owner: => vanessagomes

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:4>

Django

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Jun 19, 2012, 11:07:57 PM6/19/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Comment (by SmileyChris):

I agree that it's pretty unintuitive.

Both commands use the same base class, but it doesn't take into acount
that creating a project involves creating a workspace containing the
project module, whereas an app is nothing *but* the module -- you can't
put an app named 'app1' in anything but an app1 directory.

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:5>

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Jun 19, 2012, 11:13:53 PM6/19/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Comment (by SmileyChris):

Talking with Vanessa, we teased out the backwards incompatibilities of
always creating the app folder.

One solution is to only create the app folder if the target folder name
differs. This means that we keep backwards compatibility, but at the cost
of less consistent behaviour.

The other one is that we just assume the command should always create the
app folder. The easiest way to do this would be to move the contents of
`django/conf/template` to `django/conf/template/app_name`. This would
change the format from that implemented by any existing third-party app
templates, but that's not the end of the world.

I'm leaning towards simply moving the app templates.

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:6>

Django

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Jun 20, 2012, 1:01:02 AM6/20/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.4
commands) | Resolution:
Severity: Normal | Triage Stage: Accepted
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Needs documentation: 0

Has patch: 1 | Patch needs improvement: 0

Needs tests: 0 | UI/UX: 0

Easy pickings: 0 |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by vanessagomes):

* cc: vanessagomes (added)
* has_patch: 0 => 1
* easy: 1 => 0

Comment:

It was created a method who get the target's directory. And in
startapp.py, the get_target_dir() was overrided to deal with this special
issue.

So, when you use

{{{
python manage.py startapp myapp1
}}}

or

{{{
python manage.py startapp myapp2 myproject
}}}

It's working well.

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:7>

Django

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Jun 20, 2012, 2:00:14 AM6/20/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.4
commands) | Resolution:
Severity: Normal | Triage Stage: Accepted
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Needs documentation: 0

Has patch: 1 | Patch needs improvement: 1

Needs tests: 0 | UI/UX: 0
Easy pickings: 0 |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Changes (by hvdklauw):

* needs_better_patch: 0 => 1

Comment:

Why is the get_backend_info stuff in the diff? It's totally unrelated. You
might have accidentally left another patch in there.

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:8>

Django

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Jun 20, 2012, 7:38:38 AM6/20/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.4
commands) | Resolution:
Severity: Normal | Triage Stage: Accepted
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Needs documentation: 0

Has patch: 1 | Patch needs improvement: 0

Needs tests: 0 | UI/UX: 0
Easy pickings: 0 |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Changes (by vanessagomes):

* cc: vanessagomes (removed)
* needs_better_patch: 1 => 0

Comment:

I replaced the old patch, and Now we have the right patch.

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:9>

Django

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Jun 20, 2012, 5:49:54 PM6/20/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Needs tests: 1 | UI/UX: 0
Easy pickings: 0 |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by ptone):

* needs_tests: 0 => 1

Comment:

Thanks for the work on this.

To be clear, this is not a bug. For the currently documented behavior,
this should never work:

{{{
(django-dev)element:tmp$ django-admin.py startproject myproject
(django-dev)element:tmp$ cd myproject
(django-dev)element:myproject$ ./manage.py startapp myapp myproject
}}}

Because the destination argument to startapp should be a folder *into
which* the app package contents are injected, not a containing folder, if
that sequence ran without error, it would result in an app and a project
inside the same python package (sharing a single __init__, having a
models.py next to a settings.py etc).

The docs are: "If the optional destination is provided, Django will use
that existing directory rather than creating a new one. You can use '.' to
denote the current working directory."

If you instead meant:

{{{
./manage.py startapp myapp myproject/somedir
}}}

you instead get an error about the directory not existing and to create it
first - I'm not sure that Django shouldn't just create it if it doesn't
exist - that would be a different ticket.

If you see a way to clarify the docs on this, perhaps a documentation
ticket could be opened as well?

I see doing:

{{{
cd myproject
../manage.py startapp myapp
or
django-admin.py startapp myapp
}}}

as preferable to a backwards incompatible design change as proposed by the
patch - but that is getting into DDN territory...

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:10>

Django

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Jun 26, 2012, 8:52:57 AM6/26/12

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Changes (by vanessagomes):

* cc: vanessagomes (added)

Comment:

I think we should open a new ticket about the docs, so we can discuss if
we should change a little bit of...

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:11>

Django

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Aug 29, 2013, 2:25:34 AM8/29/13

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new

Comment (by anonymous):

this link might be useful to Create an app in a sub-directory :
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12841565/django-cant-create-app-in-
subfolder

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:12>

Django

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Aug 29, 2013, 2:30:13 AM8/29/13

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: closed
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) | Resolution: fixed

Changes (by anonymous):

* status: new => closed
* version: 1.4 => 1.5
* resolution: => fixed

Comment:

{{{
mkdir Apps\newapp
python manage.py startapp NewApp Apps/newapp
}}}

{{{
python manage.py startapp myApp ./Apps/myApp
}}}
'''src:'''
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12841565/django-cant-create-app-in-
subfolder
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.4/ref/django-admin/#startapp-appname-
destination

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:13>

Django

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Aug 29, 2013, 3:25:24 AM8/29/13

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner:
Type: | vanessagomes

Cleanup/optimization | Status: new
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) | Resolution:

Changes (by aaugustin):

* status: closed => new
* resolution: fixed =>

Comment:

The discussion above contains several ideas that weren't taken into
account or rejected; the ticket isn't fixed until we make a decision.

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:14>

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Jul 18, 2024, 12:32:20 PM7/18/24

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#18296: Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned

Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |

Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0
Needs tests: 1 | Patch needs improvement: 0
Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by Bruno Alla):

* owner: vanessagomes => Bruno Alla
* status: new => assigned

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:15>

Django

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Jan 20, 2025, 2:37:36 AM1/20/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp

-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0
Needs tests: 1 | Patch needs improvement: 0
Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Changes (by Sarah Boyce):

* summary:

Make creating apps inside project folder more intuitive with manage.py
startapp command

=> Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp

Comment:

Note that #36113 was a duplicate.
The next step would be to raise this on the
[https://forum.djangoproject.com/c/internals/5 forum] to confirm what
behavior would be the most intuitive
--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:16>

Django

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Jan 26, 2025, 6:10:19 PM1/26/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0
Needs tests: 1 | Patch needs improvement: 0
Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Comment (by Bruno Alla):

Fair enough, link to the forum topic: https://forum.djangoproject.com/t
/improving-startapp-appname-directory-name-ticket-18296/38260
--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:17>

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Feb 18, 2025, 1:10:32 PM2/18/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0

Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0

Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Changes (by Bruno Alla):

* needs_tests: 1 => 0

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:18>

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Feb 25, 2025, 5:43:56 AM2/25/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0

Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 1

Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Changes (by Sarah Boyce):

* needs_better_patch: 0 => 1

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:19>

Django

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Mar 2, 2025, 7:02:28 AM3/2/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0

Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0

Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Changes (by Bruno Alla):

* needs_better_patch: 1 => 0

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:20>

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Mar 2, 2025, 7:43:12 AM3/2/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0

Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 1

Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by Bruno Alla):

* needs_better_patch: 0 => 1

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:21>

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Mar 2, 2025, 4:28:48 PM3/2/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0

Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0

Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by Bruno Alla):

* needs_better_patch: 1 => 0

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:22>

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Apr 26, 2025, 12:05:18 PM4/26/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:

Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Ready for
| checkin

Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0
Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0
Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Changes (by Tom Hall):

* stage: Accepted => Ready for checkin

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:23>

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Apr 27, 2025, 6:08:11 AM4/27/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:

Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Accepted

Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0

Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 1

Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Changes (by Sarah Boyce):

* needs_better_patch: 0 => 1

* stage: Ready for checkin => Accepted

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:24>

Django

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Apr 27, 2025, 9:03:59 AM4/27/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: assigned
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution:

Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Ready for
| checkin

Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0

Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0

Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Changes (by Sarah Boyce):

* needs_better_patch: 1 => 0

* stage: Accepted => Ready for checkin

--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:25>

Django

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Apr 27, 2025, 9:41:37 AM4/27/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla

Cleanup/optimization | Status: closed

Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |

Severity: Normal | Resolution: fixed

Changes (by Sarah Boyce <42296566+sarahboyce@…>):

* resolution: => fixed
* status: assigned => closed

Comment:

In [changeset:"bc21bc4282d854053c1218e8fb3ea39387ccca72" bc21bc42]:
{{{#!CommitTicketReference repository=""
revision="bc21bc4282d854053c1218e8fb3ea39387ccca72"
Fixed #18296 -- Created missing custom target directory for startproject
and startapp.
}}}
--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:26>

Django

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Apr 27, 2025, 9:47:43 PM4/27/25

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#18296: Create the non-existing specified directory when running startapp
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: lgp171188@… | Owner: Bruno
Type: | Alla
Cleanup/optimization | Status: closed
Component: Core (Management | Version: 1.5
commands) |
Severity: Normal | Resolution: fixed
Keywords: manage.py, startapp | Triage Stage: Ready for
| checkin
Has patch: 1 | Needs documentation: 0
Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0
Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

Comment (by Tim Graham):

Sarah, as a point of feedback, I'd suggest that the commit message would
be more clear if it said something like, "Made startproject/startapp
create the target directory."

(My initial impression of the message was that the commit adds a missing
directory in Django, or perhaps in the test suite.)
--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18296#comment:27>

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