Sqlalchemy: joinedload + limit

Question

Given the following statement:

p = db.query(Profile).options(joinedload('*')).filter_by(id=p.id).limit(1).one()

I will get a subquery + a join, instead of a "pure" join:

SELECT [...] 
FROM (SELECT profile.id AS profile_id, ...
FROM profile 
WHERE profile.id = %(id_1)s 
LIMIT %(param_1)s) AS anon_1 LEFT OUTER JOIN city AS city_1 ON city_1.id = anon_1.profile_city LEFT OUTER JOIN country AS country_1 ON country_1.id = city_1.country LEFT OUTER JOIN state AS state_1 ON country_1.id = state_1.country LEFT OUTER JOIN state AS state_2 ON state_2.id = city_1.state LEFT OUTER JOIN country AS country_2 ON country_2.id = state_2.country LEFT OUTER JOIN state AS state_3 ON state_3.id = city_1.state LEFT OUTER JOIN country AS country_3 ON country_3.id = state_3.country LEFT OUTER JOIN starred AS starred_1 ON anon_1.profile_id = starred_1.star LEFT OUTER JOIN profiletext AS profiletext_1 ON anon_1.profile_id = profiletext_1.profile LEFT OUTER JOIN starred AS starred_2 ON anon_1.profile_id = starred_2.idprofile LEFT OUTER JOIN photo AS photo_1 ON anon_1.profile_id = photo_1.profile LEFT OUTER JOIN gps AS gps_1 ON anon_1.profile_id = gps_1.idprofile

but what I really need is:

SELECT ...
FROM profile LEFT OUTER JOIN city AS city_1 ON city_1.id = profile.city LEFT OUTER JOIN country AS country_1 ON country_1.id = city_1.country LEFT OUTER JOIN state AS state_1 ON country_1.id = state_1.country LEFT OUTER JOIN state AS state_2 ON state_2.id = city_1.state     
LEFT OUTER JOIN country AS country_2 ON country_2.id = state_2.country LEFT OUTER JOIN state AS state_3 ON state_3.id = city_1.state LEFT OUTER JOIN country AS country_3 ON country_3.id = state_3.country LEFT OUTER JOIN starred AS starred_1 ON profile.id = starred_1.star LEFT OUTER JOIN profiletext AS profiletext_1 ON profile.id = profiletext_1.profile LEFT OUTER JOIN starred AS starred_2 ON profile.id = starred_2.idprofile LEFT OUTER JOIN photo AS photo_1 ON profile.id = photo_1.profile LEFT OUTER JOIN gps AS gps_1 
ON profile.id = gps_1.idprofile                                                                                                                                                                                                    
WHERE profile.id = 4 
limit 1;

i.e. no subquery.

database: postgresql 9.2

Answer 1

This seems like expected behavior according to The Zen of Eager Loading

When using joined eager loading, if the query contains a modifier that impacts the rows returned externally to the joins, such as when using DISTINCT, LIMIT, OFFSET or equivalent, the completed statement is first wrapped inside a subquery, and the joins used specifically for joined eager loading are applied to the subquery. SQLAlchemy’s joined eager loading goes the extra mile, and then ten miles further, to absolutely ensure that it does not affect the end result of the query, only the way collections and related objects are loaded, no matter what the format of the query is.

I realize this is an old question, but is there a reason the generated SQL doesn't work?