# `cassandra.cqlengine.models` - Table models for object mapping

## Model

class cassandra.cqlengine.models.Model(\*\*kwargs)

  The initializer creates an instance of the model. Pass in keyword arguments for columns you’ve defined on the model.

      class Person(Model):
          id = columns.UUID(primary_key=True)
          first_name  = columns.Text()
          last_name = columns.Text()

      person = Person(first_name='Blake', last_name='Eggleston')
      person.first_name  #returns 'Blake'
      person.last_name  #returns 'Eggleston'

  Model attributes define how the model maps to tables in the database. These are class variables that should be set when defining Model deriviatives.

  __abstract__ = False

    Optional. Indicates that this model is only intended to be used as a base class for other models. You can’t create tables for abstract models, but checks around schema validity are skipped during class construction.

  __table_name__ = None

    Optional. Sets the name of the CQL table for this model. If left blank, the table name will be the name of the model, with it’s module name as it’s prefix. Manually defined table names are not inherited.

  __table_name_case_sensitive__ = False

    Optional. By default, __table_name__ is case insensitive. Set this to True if you want to preserve the case sensitivity.

  __keyspace__ = None

    Sets the name of the keyspace used by this model.

  __connection__ = None

    Sets the name of the default connection used by this model.

  __default_ttl__ = None

    Will be deprecated in release 4.0. You can set the default ttl by configuring the table `__options__`. See Default TTL and Per Query TTL for more details.

  __discriminator_value__ = None

    Optional Specifies a value for the discriminator column when using model inheritance.

    See Model Inheritance for usage examples.

  Each table can have its own set of configuration options, including compaction. Unspecified, these default to sensible values in the server. To override defaults, set options using the model `__options__` attribute, which allows options specified a dict.

  When a table is synced, it will be altered to match the options set on your table. This means that if you are changing settings manually they will be changed back on resync.

  Do not use the options settings of cqlengine if you want to manage your compaction settings manually.

  See the list of supported table properties for more information.

  __options__

    For example:

        class User(Model):
            __options__ = {'compaction': {'class': 'LeveledCompactionStrategy',
                                          'sstable_size_in_mb': '64',
                                          'tombstone_threshold': '.2'},
                           'comment': 'User data stored here'}

            user_id = columns.UUID(primary_key=True)
            name = columns.Text()

    or :

        class TimeData(Model):
            __options__ = {'compaction': {'class': 'SizeTieredCompactionStrategy',
                                          'bucket_low': '.3',
                                          'bucket_high': '2',
                                          'min_threshold': '2',
                                          'max_threshold': '64',
                                          'tombstone_compaction_interval': '86400'},
                           'gc_grace_seconds': '0'}

  __compute_routing_key__ = True

    Optional Setting False disables computing the routing key for TokenAwareRouting

  The base methods allow creating, storing, and querying modeled objects.

  classmethod create(**kwargs)

    Create an instance of this model in the database.

    Takes the model column values as keyword arguments. Setting a value to None is equivalent to running a CQL DELETE on that column.

    Returns the instance.

  if_not_exists()

    Check the existence of an object before insertion. The existence of an object is determined by its primary key(s). And please note using this flag would incur performance cost.

    If the insertion isn’t applied, a `LWTException` is raised.

        try:
            TestIfNotExistsModel.if_not_exists().create(id=id, count=9, text='111111111111')
        except LWTException as e:
            # handle failure case
            print e.existing  # dict containing LWT result fields

    This method is supported on Cassandra 2.0 or later.

  if_exists()

    Check the existence of an object before an update or delete. The existence of an object is determined by its primary key(s). And please note using this flag would incur performance cost.

    If the update or delete isn’t applied, a `LWTException` is raised.

        try:
            TestIfExistsModel.objects(id=id).if_exists().update(count=9, text='111111111111')
        except LWTException as e:
            # handle failure case
            pass

    This method is supported on Cassandra 2.0 or later.

  save()

    Saves an object to the database.

        #create a person instance
        person = Person(first_name='Kimberly', last_name='Eggleston')
        #saves it to Cassandra
        person.save()

  update(**values)

    Performs an update on the model instance. You can pass in values to set on the model for updating, or you can call without values to execute an update against any modified fields. If no fields on the model have been modified since loading, no query will be performed. Model validation is performed normally. Setting a value to None is equivalent to running a CQL DELETE on that column.

    It is possible to do a blind update, that is, to update a field without having first selected the object out of the database. See Blind Updates

  iff(**values)

    Checks to ensure that the values specified are correct on the Cassandra cluster. Simply specify the column(s) and the expected value(s). As with if_not_exists, this incurs a performance cost.

    If the insertion isn’t applied, a `LWTException` is raised.

        t = TestTransactionModel(text='some text', count=5)
        try:
             t.iff(count=5).update('other text')
        except LWTException as e:
            # handle failure case
            print e.existing # existing object

  classmethod get(*args, **kwargs)

    Returns a single object based on the passed filter constraints.

    This is a pass-through to the model objects().:method:~cqlengine.queries.get.

  classmethod filter(*args, **kwargs)

    Returns a queryset based on filter parameters.

    This is a pass-through to the model objects().:method:~cqlengine.queries.filter.

  classmethod all()

    Returns a queryset representing all stored objects

    This is a pass-through to the model objects().all()

  delete()

    Deletes the object from the database

  batch(batch_object)

    Sets the batch object to run instance updates and inserts queries with.

    See Batch Queries for usage examples

  timeout(timeout)

    Sets a timeout for use in `save()`, `update()`, and `delete()` operations

  timestamp(timedelta_or_datetime)

    Sets the timestamp for the query

  ttl(ttl_in_sec)

    Sets the ttl values to run instance updates and inserts queries with.

  using(connection=None)

    Change the context on the fly of the model instance (keyspace, connection)

  classmethod column_family_name(include_keyspace=True)

    Returns the column family name if it’s been defined otherwise, it creates it from the module and class name

  Models also support dict-like access:

  len(m)

    Returns the number of columns defined in the model

  m[col_name]

    Returns the value of column `col_name`

  m[col_name] = value

    Set `m[col_name]` to value

  keys()

    Returns a list of column IDs.

  values()

    Returns list of column values.

  items()

    Returns a list of column ID/value tuples.