Database.Persist.TH

This module provides the tools for defining your database schema and using it to generate Haskell data types and migrations.

For documentation on the domain specific language used for defining database models, see Database.Persist.Quasi.

Parse entity defs

persistWith :: PersistSettings -> QuasiQuoter

Converts a quasi-quoted syntax into a list of entity definitions, to be used as input to the template haskell generation code (mkPersist).

persistUpperCase :: QuasiQuoter

Apply persistWith to upperCaseSettings.

persistLowerCase :: QuasiQuoter

Apply persistWith to lowerCaseSettings.

persistFileWith :: PersistSettings -> FilePath -> Q Exp

Same as persistWith, but uses an external file instead of a quasiquotation. The recommended file extension is .persistentmodels.

persistManyFileWith :: PersistSettings -> [FilePath] -> Q Exp

Same as persistFileWith, but uses several external files instead of one. Splitting your Persistent definitions into multiple modules can potentially dramatically speed up compile times.

The recommended file extension is .persistentmodels.

Examples

Split your Persistent definitions into multiple files (models1, models2), then create a new module for each new file and run mkPersist there:

-- Model1.hs
share
    [mkPersist sqlSettings]
    $(persistFileWith lowerCaseSettings "models1")

-- Model2.hs
share
    [mkPersist sqlSettings]
    $(persistFileWith lowerCaseSettings "models2")

Use persistManyFileWith to create your migrations:

-- Migrate.hs
mkMigrate "migrateAll"
    $(persistManyFileWith lowerCaseSettings ["models1.persistentmodels","models2.persistentmodels"])

Tip: To get the same import behavior as if you were declaring all your models in one file, import your new files as Name into another file, then export module Name.

This approach may be used in the future to reduce memory usage during compilation, but so far we've only seen mild reductions.

See persistent#778 and persistent#791 for more details.

Since: 2.5.4

Turn EntityDefs into types

mkPersist :: MkPersistSettings -> [UnboundEntityDef] -> Q [Dec]

Create data types and appropriate PersistEntity instances for the given UnboundEntityDefs.

This function should be used if you are only defining a single block of Persistent models for the entire application. If you intend on defining multiple blocks in different fiels, see mkPersistWith which allows you to provide existing entity definitions so foreign key references work.

Example:

mkPersist sqlSettings [persistLowerCase|
     User
         name    Text
         age     Int

     Dog
         name    Text
         owner   UserId

|]

Example from a file:

mkPersist sqlSettings $(persistFileWith lowerCaseSettings "models.persistentmodels")

For full information on the QuasiQuoter syntax, see Database.Persist.Quasi documentation.

mkPersistWith :: MkPersistSettings -> [EntityDef] -> [UnboundEntityDef] -> Q [Dec]

Like mkPersist, but allows you to provide a [EntityDef] representing the predefined entities. This function will include those EntityDef when looking for foreign key references.

You should use this if you intend on defining Persistent models in multiple files.

Suppose we define a table Foo which has no dependencies.

module DB.Foo where

    mkPersistWith sqlSettings [] [persistLowerCase|
        Foo
           name    Text
       |]

Then, we define a table Bar which depends on Foo:

module DB.Bar where

    import DB.Foo

    mkPersistWith sqlSettings [entityDef (Proxy :: Proxy Foo)] [persistLowerCase|
        Bar
            fooId  FooId
     |]

Writing out the list of EntityDef can be annoying. The $(discoverEntities) shortcut will work to reduce this boilerplate.

module DB.Quux where

    import DB.Foo
    import DB.Bar

    mkPersistWith sqlSettings $(discoverEntities) [persistLowerCase|
        Quux
            name     Text
            fooId    FooId
            barId    BarId
     |]

Since: 2.13.0.0

Configuring Entity Definition

data MkPersistSettings

Settings to be passed to the mkPersist function.

mkPersistSettings

Arguments

:: Type

Value for mpsBackend

-> MkPersistSettings

Create an MkPersistSettings with default values.

sqlSettings :: MkPersistSettings

Use the SqlPersist backend.

Record Fields (for update/viewing settings)

mpsBackend :: MkPersistSettings -> Type

Which database backend we're using. This type is used for the PersistEntityBackend associated type in the entities that are generated.

If the mpsGeneric value is set to True, then this type is used for the non-Generic type alias. The data and type will be named:

data ModelGeneric backend = Model { ... }

And, for convenience's sake, we provide a type alias:

type Model = ModelGeneric $(the type you give here)

mpsGeneric :: MkPersistSettings -> Bool

Deprecated: The mpsGeneric function adds a considerable amount of overhead and complexity to the library without bringing significant benefit. We would like to remove it. If you require this feature, please comment on the linked GitHub issue, and we'll either keep it around, or we can figure out a nicer way to solve your problem. Github: https://github.com/yesodweb/persistent/issues/1204

Create generic types that can be used with multiple backends. Good for reusable code, but makes error messages harder to understand. Default: False.

mpsPrefixFields :: MkPersistSettings -> Bool

Prefix field names with the model name. Default: True.

Note: this field is deprecated. Use the mpsFieldLabelModifier and mpsConstraintLabelModifier instead.

mpsFieldLabelModifier :: MkPersistSettings -> Text -> Text -> Text

Customise the field accessors and lens names using the entity and field name. Both arguments are upper cased.

Default: appends entity and field.

Note: this setting is ignored if mpsPrefixFields is set to False.

Since: 2.11.0.0

mpsConstraintLabelModifier :: MkPersistSettings -> Text -> Text -> Text

Customise the Constraint names using the entity and field name. The result should be a valid haskell type (start with an upper cased letter).

Default: appends entity and field

Note: this setting is ignored if mpsPrefixFields is set to False.

Since: 2.11.0.0

mpsEntityJSON :: MkPersistSettings -> Maybe EntityJSON

Generate ToJSON/FromJSON instances for each model types. If it's Nothing, no instances will be generated. Default:

 Just EntityJSON
     { entityToJSON = 'entityIdToJSON
     , entityFromJSON = 'entityIdFromJSON
     }

mpsGenerateLenses :: MkPersistSettings -> Bool

Instead of generating normal field accessors, generator lens-style accessors.

Default: False

Since: 1.3.1

mpsDeriveInstances :: MkPersistSettings -> [Name]

Automatically derive these typeclass instances for all record and key types.

Default: []

Since: 2.8.1

mpsCamelCaseCompositeKeySelector :: MkPersistSettings -> Bool

Should we generate composite key accessors in the correct CamelCase style.

If the mpsCamelCaseCompositeKeySelector value is set to False, then the field part of the accessor starts with the lowercase. This is a legacy style.

data Key CompanyUser = CompanyUserKey
  { companyUserKeycompanyId :: CompanyId
  , companyUserKeyuserId :: UserId
  }

If the mpsCamelCaseCompositeKeySelector value is set to True, then field accessors are generated in CamelCase style.

data Key CompanyUser = CompanyUserKey
  { companyUserKeyCompanyId :: CompanyId
  , companyUserKeyUserId :: UserId
  }

data EntityJSON

Constructors

EntityJSON

Fields

• entityToJSON :: Name

  Name of the toJSON implementation for Entity a.

• entityFromJSON :: Name

  Name of the fromJSON implementation for Entity a.

Implicit ID Columns

data ImplicitIdDef

A specification for how the implied ID columns are created.

By default, persistent will give each table a default column named id (customizable by PersistSettings), and the column type will be whatever you'd expect from BackendKey yourBackendType. For The SqlBackend type, this is an auto incrementing integer primary key.

You might want to give a different example. A common use case in postgresql is to use the UUID type, and automatically generate them using a SQL function.

Previously, you'd need to add a custom Id annotation for each model.

User
    Id   UUID default="uuid_generate_v1mc()"
    name Text

Dog
    Id   UUID default="uuid_generate_v1mc()"
    name Text
    user UserId

Now, you can simply create an ImplicitIdDef that corresponds to this declaration.

newtype UUID = UUID ByteString

instance PersistField UUID where
    toPersistValue (UUID bs) =
        PersistLiteral_ Escaped bs
    fromPersistValue pv =
        case pv of
            PersistLiteral_ Escaped bs ->
                Right (UUID bs)
            _ ->
                Left "nope"

instance PersistFieldSql UUID where
    sqlType _ = SqlOther UUID

With this instance at the ready, we can now create our implicit definition:

uuidDef :: ImplicitIdDef
uuidDef = mkImplicitIdDef @UUID "uuid_generate_v1mc()"

And we can use setImplicitIdDef to use this with the MkPersistSettings for our block.

mkPersist (setImplicitIdDef uuidDef sqlSettings) [persistLowerCase| ... |]

TODO: either explain interaction with mkMigrate or fix it. see issue #1249 for more details.

Since: 2.13.0.0

setImplicitIdDef :: ImplicitIdDef -> MkPersistSettings -> MkPersistSettings

Set the ImplicitIdDef in the given MkPersistSettings. The default value is autoIncrementingInteger.

Since: 2.13.0.0

Various other TH functions

mkMigrate :: String -> [UnboundEntityDef] -> Q [Dec]

Creates a single function to perform all migrations for the entities defined here. One thing to be aware of is dependencies: if you have entities with foreign references, make sure to place those definitions after the entities they reference.

In persistent-2.13.0.0, this was changed to *ignore* the input entity def list, and instead defer to mkEntityDefList to get the correct entities. This avoids problems where the QuasiQuoter is unable to know what the right reference types are. This sets mkPersist to be the "single source of truth" for entity definitions.

migrateModels :: [EntityDef] -> Migration

The basic function for migrating models, no Template Haskell required.

It's probably best to use this in concert with mkEntityDefList, and then call migrateModels with the result from that function.

share [mkPersist sqlSettings, mkEntityDefList "entities"] [persistLowerCase| ... |]

migrateAll = migrateModels entities

The function mkMigrate currently implements exactly this behavior now. If you're splitting up the entity definitions into separate files, then it is better to use the entity definition list and the concatenate all the models together into a big list to call with migrateModels.

module Foo where

    share [mkPersist s, mkEntityDefList "fooModels"] ...


module Bar where

    share [mkPersist s, mkEntityDefList "barModels"] ...

module Migration where

    import Foo
    import Bar

    migrateAll = migrateModels (fooModels <> barModels)

Since: 2.13.0.0

discoverEntities :: Q Exp

Splice in a list of all EntityDef in scope. This is useful when running mkPersist to ensure that all entity definitions are available for setting foreign keys, and for performing migrations with all entities available.

mkPersist has the type MkPersistSettings -> [EntityDef] -> DecsQ. So, to account for entities defined elsewhere, you'll mappend $(discoverEntities).

For example,

share
  [ mkPersistWith sqlSettings $(discoverEntities)
  ]
  [persistLowerCase| ... |]

Likewise, to run migrations with all entity instances in scope, you'd write:

migrateAll = migrateModels $(discoverEntities)

Note that there is some odd behavior with Template Haskell and splicing groups. If you call discoverEntities in the same module that defines PersistEntity instances, you need to ensure they are in different top-level binding groups. You can write $(pure []) at the top level to do this.

-- Foo and Bar both export an instance of PersistEntity
import Foo
import Bar

-- Since Foo and Bar are both imported, discoverEntities can find them here.
mkPersistWith sqlSettings $(discoverEntities) [persistLowerCase|
  User
    name Text
    age  Int
  |]

-- onlyFooBar is defined in the same 'top level group' as the above generated
-- instance for User, so it isn't present in this list.
onlyFooBar :: [EntityDef]
onlyFooBar = $(discoverEntities)

-- We can manually create a new binding group with this, which splices an
-- empty list of declarations in.
$(pure [])

-- fooBarUser is able to see the User instance.
fooBarUser :: [EntityDef]
fooBarUser = $(discoverEntities)

Since: 2.13.0.0

mkEntityDefList

Arguments

:: String

The name that will be given to the EntityDef list.

-> [UnboundEntityDef]

-> Q [Dec]

Creates a declaration for the [EntityDef] from the persistent schema. This is necessary because the Persistent QuasiQuoter is unable to know the correct type of ID fields, and assumes that they are all Int64.

Provide this in the list you give to share, much like mkMigrate.

share [mkMigrate "migrateAll", mkEntityDefList "entityDefs"] [...]

Since: 2.7.1

share :: [[a] -> Q [Dec]] -> [a] -> Q [Dec]

Apply the given list of functions to the same EntityDefs.

This function is useful for cases such as:

share [mkEntityDefList "myDefs", mkPersist sqlSettings] [persistLowerCase|
    -- ...
|]

If you only have a single function, though, you don't need this. The following is redundant:

share [mkPersist sqlSettings] [persistLowerCase|
     -- ...
|]

Most functions require a full [EntityDef], which can be provided using $(discoverEntities) for all entites in scope, or defining mkEntityDefList to define a list of entities from the given block.

derivePersistField :: String -> Q [Dec]

Automatically creates a valid PersistField instance for any datatype that has valid Show and Read instances. Can be very convenient for Enum types.

derivePersistFieldJSON :: String -> Q [Dec]

Automatically creates a valid PersistField instance for any datatype that has valid ToJSON and FromJSON instances. For a datatype T it generates instances similar to these:

   instance PersistField T where
       toPersistValue = PersistByteString . L.toStrict . encode
       fromPersistValue = (left T.pack) . eitherDecodeStrict' <=< fromPersistValue
   instance PersistFieldSql T where
       sqlType _ = SqlString

persistFieldFromEntity :: MkPersistSettings -> UnboundEntityDef -> Q [Dec]

Produce code similar to the following:

  instance PersistEntity e => PersistField e where
     toPersistValue = entityToPersistValueHelper
     fromPersistValue = entityFromPersistValueHelper ["col1", "col2"]
     sqlType _ = SqlString

Internal

lensPTH :: (s -> a) -> (s -> b -> t) -> Lens s t a b

parseReferences :: PersistSettings -> Text -> Q Exp

Calls parse to Quasi.parse individual entities in isolation afterwards, sets references to other entities

In 2.13.0.0, this was changed to splice in [UnboundEntityDef] instead of [EntityDef].

Since: 2.5.3

embedEntityDefs

Arguments

:: [EntityDef]

A list of EntityDef that have been defined in a previous mkPersist call.

Since: 2.13.0.0

-> [UnboundEntityDef]

-> [UnboundEntityDef]

Takes a list of (potentially) independently defined entities and properly links all foreign keys to reference the right EntityDef, tying the knot between entities.

Allows users to define entities indepedently or in separate modules and then fix the cross-references between them at runtime to create a Migration.

Since: 2.7.2

fieldError :: Text -> Text -> Text -> Text

Render an error message based on the tableName and fieldName with the provided message.

Since: 2.8.2

class PersistEntity record => AtLeastOneUniqueKey record where

This class is used to ensure that functions requring at least one unique key are not called with records that have 0 unique keys. The quasiquoter automatically writes working instances for appropriate entities, and generates TypeError instances for records that have 0 unique keys.

Since: 2.10.0

Methods

requireUniquesP :: record -> NonEmpty (Unique record)

class PersistEntity record => OnlyOneUniqueKey record where

This class is used to ensure that upsert is only called on records that have a single Unique key. The quasiquoter automatically generates working instances for appropriate records, and generates TypeError instances for records that have 0 or multiple unique keys.

Since: 2.10.0

Methods

onlyUniqueP :: record -> Unique record

pkNewtype :: MkPersistSettings -> UnboundEntityDef -> Bool

Returns True if the key definition has less than 2 fields.

Since: 2.11.0.0