SQLAlchemy: Any constraint to check one of the two columns is not null?

Question

This may be totally stupid thing to ask but I have such a requirement in my model where atleast either category or parent_category is not null

My model looks like

class BudgetCategories(db.Model):
    __tablename__ = 'budget_categories'
    uuid = Column('uuid', GUID(), default=uuid.uuid4, primary_key=True,
                  unique=True)
    budget_id = Column(GUID(), ForeignKey('budgets.uuid'), nullable=False)
    budget = relationship('Budget', backref='budgetCategories')
    category = Column('category', sa.types.String, nullable=True)
    parent_category = Column('parent_category', sa.types.String, nullable=True)
    amount = Column('amount', Numeric(10, 2), nullable=False)
    recurring = Column('recurring', sa.types.Boolean,
                       nullable=False)
    created_on = Column('created_on', sa.types.DateTime(timezone=True),
                        nullable=False)

How can I specify that. I don't even know what to try

Any pointers appreciated

I am using PostgreSQL as the backend database

Answer 1

I needed XOR behavior in my SQLalchemy models. I come up with the following definition (backend used: PostgreSQL):

from sqlalchemy.schema import (
    CheckConstraint
)

class ScheduledNotebook(Base):
    __table_args__ = (
        (CheckConstraint('(uuid::text IS NULL) <> (notebook_path IS NULL)', name='uuid_xor_notebook_path')),
    )

    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
    notebook_path = Column(String, nullable=True, unique=True)
    uuid = Column(UUID(as_uuid=True), primary_key=True, unique=True, nullable=True)

and following alembic migration (note: autogenerate won't detect it - you have to add it manually):

def upgrade():
    op.create_check_constraint(
        'uuid_xor_notebook_path',
        table_name='scheduled_notebooks',
        schema='metadata',
        condition='(uuid::text IS NULL) <> (notebook_path IS NULL)'
    )


def downgrade():
    op.drop_constraint('uuid_xor_notebook_path')

and it works like a charm:

- only notebook_path - OK

datalake=#  INSERT INTO scheduled_notebooks (schedule,enabled,owner, notebook_path) VALUES ('{"kind":"hourly"}',true,'akos', '/a/b/c/d/e.ipynb');
INSERT 0 1

- only uuid - OK

datalake=#  INSERT INTO scheduled_notebooks (schedule,enabled,owner, uuid) VALUES ('{"kind":"hourly"}',true,'akos', '7792bd5f-5819-45bf-8902-8cf43102434d');
INSERT 0 1

- both uuid and notebook_path - FAILS as desired

datalake=#  INSERT INTO scheduled_notebooks (schedule,enabled,owner, uuid, notebook_path) VALUES ('{"kind":"hourly"}',true,'akos', '7792bd5f-5819-45bf-8902-8cf43102434f', '/a/b/c/d');
ERROR:  new row for relation "scheduled_notebooks" violates check constraint "uuid_xor_notebook_path"
DETAIL:  Failing row contains (567, /a/b/c/d, {"kind": "hourly"}, t, akos, null, null, null, 7792bd5f-5819-45bf-8902-8cf43102434f).

- neither uuid nor notebook_path - FAILS as desired

datalake=#  INSERT INTO scheduled_notebooks (schedule,enabled,owner) VALUES ('{"kind":"hourly"}',true,'akos');
ERROR:  new row for relation "scheduled_notebooks" violates check constraint "uuid_xor_notebook_path"
DETAIL:  Failing row contains (568, null, {"kind": "hourly"}, t, akos, null, null, null, null).

Answer 2

I am not 100% sure about the PostgreSQL syntax, but following addition to your BudgetCategories model should do the trick using CheckConstraint:

class BudgetCategories(Base):
    __tablename__ = 'budget_categories'
    # ...

    # @note: new
    __table_args__ = (
            CheckConstraint('NOT(category IS NULL AND parent_category IS NULL)'),
            )