CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythondjangodjango-timezone
Atma
Atma

Reputation: 29767

handle django time zone with char field or django-time-zone field?

I have been using django-time-zone for some time, but I am now experiencing a lot of problems with django 1.7

https://github.com/mfogel/django-timezone-field

I get the feeling that since Django doesn't have official support for a time zone field this is something I should handle with a char field and pytz.

Is this assumption true? Or should I continue to use django-time-zone?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 205

Answers (1)

Carl Meyer
Carl Meyer

Reputation: 126591

There is nothing wrong with the concept of a dedicated Field class for storing a timezone in a model field, validating that the stored value is in fact a real timezone, and making the value available on the model as an actual pytz timezone instance (all of which django-timezone-field appears to do, based on its documentation). Seems pretty useful to me.

The fact that such a field is not built in to Django indicates only that it has never been in high enough demand to warrant adding to core Django. But there is a reason that the Field class is publicly documented as subclassable; it is intended that third-party packages like django-timezone-field should be able to provide useful field types that aren't in core.

So I would say that your assumption is false; you should not assume that simply because a certain specialized field type is not provided by Django itself, that it's a bad idea or should not be used. There are many high-quality and useful third-party field classes.

I can't speak to the implementation quality of django-timezone-field specifically, because I haven't used it or reviewed its code (though its documentation and test coverage speak well of it). And I can't speak to the specific issues you are encountering using it with Django 1.7, because you didn't explain what they are.

Upvotes: 1

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