Use variables when saving objects in Django

Question

In Django, is there a way to identify which attribute of an object I want to edit by using a POST/GET variable instead of explicitly naming it?

For example, I want to do this:

def edit_user_profile(request):
    field_to_edit = request.POST.get('id')
    value = request.POST.get('value')
    user = User.objects.get(pk=request.user.id)
    user.field_to_edit = strip_tags(value);
    user.save()

instead of this:

def edit_user_profile(request):
    value = request.POST.get('value')
    user = User.objects.get(pk=request.user.id)
    user.first_name = strip_tags(value);
    user.save()

There's no reason to write user = User.objects.get(pk=request.user.id) -- request.user is already a User object — Ismail Badawi
– Ismail Badawi, Commented Aug 27, 2011 at 17:52

Sam Starling · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-27 17:58:18Z

3

Gabi's answer is exactly what you want. You could use setattr instead though:

setattr(user, field_to_edit, strip_tags(value))

Which is (very very slightly!) more intuitive.

answered Aug 27, 2011 at 17:58

Sam Starling

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Gabi Purcaru · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-27 17:50:13Z

0

You can use the getattr function:

getattr(user, field_to_edit) = strip_tags(value)

answered Aug 27, 2011 at 17:50

Gabi Purcaru

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