Question

I am trying Chapter 6 from Django book.

After changing some fields to blank=True, and null=True, we are told to update the table using dbshell.

When I type: python manage.py dbshell, the following error appears:

C:\Users\Rafa\Documents\Python\book>python manage.py dbshell
Error: near: "Documents": syntax error.

I tried installing sqlite3.exe in my book directory and running directly from there. I still get the same error anytime I try to run a command. For example, once on the sqlite3 shell (opening executable file):

sqlite>ALTER TABLE books_book ALTER COLUMN publication_date DROP NOT NULL;
Error: near "ALTER": syntax error.

I know the commands may be wrong, but I can try anything and it will always point the same error and show the first word of the command in the “”.

Any help?

Answer 1

I realize now that Django does not support database migrations very well. Once you do the initial migration and the original table is set, it is impossible to add or modify fields with Django only. You need a database migration schema like South.