==================
Database Functions
==================

.. module:: django.db.models.functions
    :synopsis: Database Functions

.. versionadded:: 1.8

The classes documented below provide a way for users to use functions provided
by the underlying database as annotations, aggregations, or filters in Django.
Functions are also :doc:`expressions <expressions>`, so they can be used and
combined with other expressions like :ref:`aggregate functions
<aggregation-functions>`.

We'll be using the following model in examples of each function::

    class Author(models.Model):
        name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
        age = models.PositiveIntegerField(null=True, blank=True)
        alias = models.CharField(max_length=50, null=True, blank=True)
        goes_by = models.CharField(max_length=50, null=True, blank=True)

We don't usually recommend allowing ``null=True`` for ``CharField`` since this
allows the field to have two "empty values", but it's important for the
``Coalesce`` example below.

Coalesce
--------

.. class:: Coalesce(*expressions, **extra)

Accepts a list of at least two field names or expressions and returns the
first non-null value (note that an empty string is not considered a null
value). Each argument must be of a similar type, so mixing text and numbers
will result in a database error.

Usage examples::

    >>> # Get a screen name from least to most public
    >>> from django.db.models import Sum, Value as V
    >>> from django.db.models.functions import Coalesce
    >>> Author.objects.create(name='Margaret Smith', goes_by='Maggie')
    >>> author = Author.objects.annotate(
    ...    screen_name=Coalesce('alias', 'goes_by', 'name')).get()
    >>> print(author.screen_name)
    Maggie

    >>> # Prevent an aggregate Sum() from returning None
    >>> aggregated = Author.objects.aggregate(
    ...    combined_age=Coalesce(Sum('age'), V(0)),
    ...    combined_age_default=Sum('age'))
    >>> print(aggregated['combined_age'])
    0
    >>> print(aggregated['combined_age_default'])
    None

Concat
------

.. class:: Concat(*expressions, **extra)

Accepts a list of at least two text fields or expressions and returns the
concatenated text. Each argument must be of a text or char type. If you want
to concatenate a ``TextField()`` with a ``CharField()``, then be sure to tell
Django that the ``output_field`` should be a ``TextField()``. This is also
required when concatenating a ``Value`` as in the example below.

This function will never have a null result. On backends where a null argument
results in the entire expression being null, Django will ensure that each null
part is converted to an empty string first.

Usage example::

    >>> # Get the display name as "name (goes_by)"
    >>> from django.db.models import CharField, Value as V
    >>> from django.db.models.functions import Concat
    >>> Author.objects.create(name='Margaret Smith', goes_by='Maggie')
    >>> author = Author.objects.annotate(
    ...    screen_name=Concat('name', V(' ('), 'goes_by', V(')'),
    ...    output_field=CharField())).get()
    >>> print(author.screen_name)
    Margaret Smith (Maggie)

Length
------

.. class:: Length(expression, **extra)

Accepts a single text field or expression and returns the number of characters
the value has. If the expression is null, then the length will also be null.

Usage example::

    >>> # Get the length of the name and goes_by fields
    >>> from django.db.models.functions import Length
    >>> Author.objects.create(name='Margaret Smith')
    >>> author = Author.objects.annotate(
    ...    name_length=Length('name'),
    ...    goes_by_length=Length('goes_by')).get()
    >>> print(author.name_length, author.goes_by_length)
    (14, None)

Lower
------

.. class:: Lower(expression, **extra)

Accepts a single text field or expression and returns the lowercase
representation.

Usage example::

    >>> from django.db.models.functions import Lower
    >>> Author.objects.create(name='Margaret Smith')
    >>> author = Author.objects.annotate(name_lower=Lower('name')).get()
    >>> print(author.name_lower)
    margaret smith

Substr
------

.. class:: Substr(expression, pos, length=None, **extra)

Returns a substring of length ``length`` from the field or expression starting
at position ``pos``. The position is 1-indexed, so the position must be greater
than 0. If ``length`` is ``None``, then the rest of the string will be returned.

Usage example::

    >>> # Set the alias to the first 5 characters of the name as lowercase
    >>> from django.db.models.functions import Substr, Lower
    >>> Author.objects.create(name='Margaret Smith')
    >>> Author.objects.update(alias=Lower(Substr('name', 1, 5)))
    1
    >>> print(Author.objects.get(name='Margaret Smith').alias)
    marga

Upper
------

.. class:: Upper(expression, **extra)

Accepts a single text field or expression and returns the uppercase
representation.

Usage example::

    >>> from django.db.models.functions import Upper
    >>> Author.objects.create(name='Margaret Smith')
    >>> author = Author.objects.annotate(name_upper=Upper('name')).get()
    >>> print(author.name_upper)
    MARGARET SMITH