django/docs/releases/1.7.txt

============================================
Django 1.7 release notes - UNDER DEVELOPMENT
============================================

Welcome to Django 1.7!

These release notes cover the `new features`_, as well as some `backwards
incompatible changes`_ you'll want to be aware of when upgrading from Django
1.6 or older versions. We've also dropped some features, which are detailed in
:doc:`our deprecation plan </internals/deprecation>`, and we've `begun the
deprecation process for some features`_.

.. _`new features`: `What's new in Django 1.7`_
.. _`backwards incompatible changes`: `Backwards incompatible changes in 1.7`_
.. _`begun the deprecation process for some features`: `Features deprecated in 1.7`_

Python compatibility
====================

Django 1.7 requires Python 2.7 or above, though we **highly recommend**
the latest minor release. Support for Python 2.6 has been dropped.

This change should affect only a small number of Django users, as most
operating-system vendors today are shipping Python 2.7 or newer as their default
version. If you're still using Python 2.6, however, you'll need to stick to
Django 1.6 until you can upgrade your Python version. Per :doc:`our support
policy </internals/release-process>`, Django 1.6 will continue to receive
security support until the release of Django 1.8.

What's new in Django 1.7
========================

Schema migrations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Django now has built-in support for schema migrations, which allows models
to be updated, changed and deleted and the changes stored into migration files
and then run on any deployed database.

Migrations are covered in :doc:`their own documentation</topics/migrations>`,
but a few of the key features are:

* ``syncdb`` has been deprecated and replaced by ``migrate``. Don't worry - 
   calls to ``syncdb`` will still work as before.

* A new ``makemigrations`` command provides an easy way to autodetect changes
  to your models and make migrations for them.

* :data:`~django.db.models.signals.post_syncdb` and
  :data:`~django.db.models.signals.post_syncdb` have been renamed to
  :data:`~django.db.models.signals.pre_migrate` and
  :data:`~django.db.models.signals.post_migrate` respectively. The
  ``create_models``/``created_models`` argument has also been deprecated.

* The ``allow_syncdb`` method on database routers is now called ``allow_migrate``,
  but still performs the same function. Routers with ``allow_syncdb`` methods
  will still work, but that method name is deprecated and you should change
  it as soon as possible (nothing more than renaming is required).

Admin shortcuts support time zones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The "today" and "now" shortcuts next to date and time input widgets in the
admin are now operating in the :ref:`current time zone
<default-current-time-zone>`. Previously, they used the browser time zone,
which could result in saving the wrong value when it didn't match the current
time zone on the server.

In addition, the widgets now display a help message when the browser and
server time zone are different, to clarify how the value inserted in the field
will be interpreted.

Minor features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The new :attr:`UploadedFile.content_type_extra
  <django.core.files.uploadedfile.UploadedFile.content_type_extra>` attribute
  contains extra parameters passed to the ``content-type`` header on a file
  upload.

* The ``enter`` argument was added to the
  :data:`~django.test.signals.setting_changed` signal.

* The :meth:`QuerySet.update_or_create()
  <django.db.models.query.QuerySet.update_or_create>` method was added.

* :attr:`~django.db.models.Options.app_label` is no longer required for models
  that are defined in a ``models`` package within an app.

* The :meth:`Context.push() <django.template.Context.push>` method now returns
  a context manager which automatically calls :meth:`pop()
  <django.template.Context.pop>` upon exiting the ``with`` statement.
  Additionally, :meth:`push() <django.template.Context.push>` now accepts
  parameters that are passed to the ``dict`` constructor used to build the new
  context level.

* The :class:`~django.utils.feedgenerator.Atom1Feed` syndication feed's
  ``updated`` element now utilizes `updateddate` instead of ``pubdate``,
  allowing the ``published`` element to be included in the feed (which
  relies on ``pubdate``).

Backwards incompatible changes in 1.7
=====================================

.. warning::

    In addition to the changes outlined in this section, be sure to review the
    :doc:`deprecation plan </internals/deprecation>` for any features that
    have been removed. If you haven't updated your code within the
    deprecation timeline for a given feature, its removal may appear as a
    backwards incompatible change.

allow_syncdb/allow_migrate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Django will still look at ``allow_syncdb`` methods even though they
should be renamed to ``allow_migrate``, there is a subtle difference in which
models get passed to these methods.

For apps with migrations, ``allow_migrate`` will now get passed
:ref:`historical models <historical-models>`, which are special versioned models
without custom attributes, methods or managers. Make sure your ``allow_migrate``
methods are only referring to fields or other items in ``model._meta``.

Miscellaneous
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The :meth:`django.core.files.uploadhandler.FileUploadHandler.new_file()`
  method is now passed an additional ``content_type_extra`` parameter. If you
  have a custom :class:`~django.core.files.uploadhandler.FileUploadHandler`
  that implements ``new_file()``, be sure it accepts this new parameter.

Features deprecated in 1.7
==========================

``django.utils.dictconfig``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

``django.utils.dictconfig`` was a copy of :mod:`logging.config` provided for
Python versions prior to 2.7. It has been deprecated.

``django.utils.unittest``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

``django.utils.unittest`` provided uniform access to the ``unittest2`` library
on all Python versions. Since ``unittest2`` became the standard library's
:mod:`unittest` module in Python 2.7, and Django 1.7 drops support for older
Python versions, this module isn't useful anymore. It has been deprecated. Use
:mod:`unittest` instead.