[soc2009/multidb] Added documentation about the potential complications trying to migrate an object between databases. Patch from Russell Keith-Magee.

git-svn-id: http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/branches/soc2009/multidb@11811 bcc190cf-cafb-0310-a4f2-bffc1f526a37

1 files changed, 53 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/docs/topics/db/multi-db.txt b/docs/topics/db/multi-db.txt
index 6d57372ae2..f3d2b9af95 100644
--- a/docs/topics/db/multi-db.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/db/multi-db.txt
@@ -46,6 +46,59 @@ wanted to save to the ``'legacy_users'`` database you would do::
 
 To save the user.
 
+Moving an object from one database to another
+---------------------------------------------
+
+If you have saved an instance to one database, it might be tempting to use
+``save(using=...)`` as a way to migrate the instance to a new database. However,
+if you don't take appropriate steps, this could have some unexpected consequences.
+
+Consider the following example::
+
+    >>> p = Person(name='Fred')
+    >>> p.save(using='first') # (1)
+    # some other processing ...
+    >>> p.save(using='second') # (2)
+
+In statement 1, a new Person object is saved to the ``first``
+database. At this time, ``p`` doesn't have a primary key, so Django
+issues a SQL ``INSERT`` statement. This creates a primary key, and
+Django assigns that primary key to ``p``.
+
+When the save occurs in statement 2, ``p`` already has a primary key
+value, and Django will attempt to use that primary key on the new
+database. If the primary key value isn't in use in the ``second``
+database, then you won't have any problems -- the object will be
+copied to the new databse.
+
+However, if the primary key of ``p`` is already in use on the
+``second`` database, the existing object on the ``second`` database
+will be lost when ``p`` is saved.
+
+There are two ways to avoid this outcome. Firstly, you can clear the
+primary key of the instance. If an object has no primary key, Django
+will treat it as a new object, avoiding any loss of data on the
+``second`` database::
+
+    >>> p = Person(name='Fred')
+    >>> p.save(using='first')
+    # some other processing ...
+    >>> p.pk = None # Clear the PK
+    >>> p.save(using='second') # Write a completely new object
+
+Secondly, you can use the ``force_insert`` option to ``save()`` to ensure that
+Django does a SQL ``INSERT``::
+
+    >>> p = Person(name='Fred')
+    >>> p.save(using='first')
+    # some other processing ...
+    >>> p.save(using='second', force_insert=True)
+
+This will ensure that the person named ``Fred`` will have the same
+primary key on both databases. If that primary key is already in use
+when you try to save onto the ``second`` database, an error will be
+raised.
+
 Select a Database to Delete a Model From
 ========================================