Django MySQL distinct query for getting multiple values

Question

I have a MySQL database unfortunately used with Django 1.4.1. Distinct function is only working for POSTGRESQL if i get it right.

I have to make a distinct query consist of multiple values while only distinct one,

Like; This one works for POSTGRE but not with MYSQL, I get the following error;

DISTINCT ON fields is not supported by this database backend

staff = Staff.objects.order_by('person__full_name').distinct('person__full_name')

Then I tried

staff = Staff.objects.values('person__full_name','staff_job_categories').distinct().order_by('person__full_name')

But I do not get distinct values because i get also the staff job categories. But when I dont contain it I could not get it as array.

Any idea ?

Answer 1

.distinct([*fields]) only works in PostgresSQL.

From distinct documentation

Here's the difference. For a normal distinct() call, the database compares each field in each row when determining which rows are distinct. For a distinct() call with specified field names, the database will only compare the specified field names.

As stated all fields in a record are checked. Mostly likely in your case you are getting records with different field values (more likely a case if you are queries multiple tables ManyToMany or ForeignKey relations).

For consolidating as array you can refer your earlier question Django Query distinct values works but i cant use the query result

Answer 2

names = Staff.objects.order_by('person__full_name').values('person__full_name').distinct()

will give you distinct full names, and you can do a similar thing to get distinct job categories.

These will give you lists of values, not objects themselves, but if I interpret your question correctly then I think these will give you what you want.

Answer 3

Not all database support Distinct('field name'). So what we can do is use very simple problem solving skill

 class vendor_ready_distinct(APIView):
        def get(self, request):
            obj_readyproduct = vendor_list_readyProduct.objects.all().order_by('mobile_number')

            unique_list = []
            list = []
            for x in obj_readyproduct:
                # check if exists in unique_list or not
                if x.mobile_number not in list:
                    unique_list.append(x)
                    list.append(x.mobile_number)
    
            seri_obj = vendor_list_readyProductSerializer(unique_list, many=True)
            return Response(seri_obj.data)

here we are getting the distinct row by using method 1 from geeksforgeeks