Question

I receive the following error when trying to run a shell command using Python Tool for Visual Studio. I have added the database to the settings file, and have been able to run the django app without errors, but when I try to add data using the shell, it throws this error:

>>> from ProjectTrackerServer.projects.models import Project
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "C:\djangoapps\ProjectTrackerServer\ProjectTrackerServer\projects\models.py", line 1, in <module>
    from django.db import models
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\db\__init__.py", line 11, in <module>
    if DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS not in settings.DATABASES:
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\utils\functional.py", line 184, in inner
    self._setup()
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\django\conf\__init__.py", line 40, in _setup
    raise ImportError("Settings cannot be imported, because environment variable %s is undefined." % ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE)
ImportError: Settings cannot be imported, because environment variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE is undefined.

Answer 1

The error states the issue. It occurred because you forgot to supply the project setting DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE. You can fix it by supplying it. You need to set the DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE environment variable.

When you use Django, you have to tell it which settings
you're using. Do this by using an environment variable, 
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE.

The value of DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE should be in 
Python path syntax, e.g. mysite.settings. Note 
that the settings module should be on the 
Python import search path.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/settings/