Django Multi-Table Inheritance VS Specifying Explicit OneToOne Relationship in Models

Question

Hope all this makes sense :) I\'ll clarify via comments if necessary. Also, I am experimenting using bold text in this question, and will edit it out if I (or you) find it distr

Answer 1

I'd like to expand on the solution by @thornomad.

Extending Django's User class directly can cause all kinds of trouble with the internal django.auth mechanisms. What I've done in a similar situation is precisely what @thornomad suggests - I made my own UserProfile model linked one-to-one with the Django User model, in which I held additional user data and from which I inherited models for different types of users.

Something to fit what you described:

class UserProfile(models.Model):
    user = models.OneToOneField(User, blank=True, related_name='profile')
    class Meta:
        abstract = True


class PositionHolderUserProfile(UserProfile):
    first_name = models.CharField(max_length=30)
    last_name = models.CharField(max_length=30)
    landline = models.CharField(blank=True, max_length=20)    
    mobile = models.CharField(blank=True, max_length=20)
    created_by = models.ForeignKey(PositionHolderUserProfile, editable=False, blank=True, related_name="created_users")    
    modified_by = models.ForeignKey(PositionHolderUserProfile, editable=False, blank=True, related_name="modified_users")

class Principal(PositionHolderUserProfile):
    branchoffice = models.ForeignKey(BranchOffice)

class Administrator(PositionHolderUserProfile):
    superior = models.ForeignKey(Principal, related_name="subordinates")
    province = models.ForeignKey(Province)

class Coordinator(PositionHolderUserProfile):
    superior = models.ForeignKey(Administrator, related_name="subordinates")


class Company(UserProfile):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=50)

class Product(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
    produced_by = models.ForeignKey(Company)

class Buyer(UserProfile):
    first_name = models.CharField(max_length=30)
    last_name = models.CharField(max_length=30)
    products_bought = models.ManyToManyField(Product)