If blank=True, it's impossible to save an empty phone number

[ludovic-gasc]

If you define a field like this in your models.py:

    faxnumber = PhoneNumberField(u'Fax',max_length=40,blank=True)

You'll have this backtrace:

Environment:


Request Method: POST
Request URL: http://morphee.hq.eyepea.be:8001/admin/xivo_web/entity/3/

Django Version: 1.3.1
Python Version: 2.5.2
Installed Applications:
['django.contrib.auth',
 'django.contrib.contenttypes',
 'django.contrib.sessions',
 'django.contrib.sites',
 'django.contrib.messages',
 'django.contrib.staticfiles',
 'django.contrib.admin',
 'xivo_web']
Installed Middleware:
('django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
 'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
 'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
 'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
 'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware')


Traceback:
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py" in get_response
  111.                         response = callback(request, *callback_args, **callback_kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/options.py" in wrapper
  307.                 return self.admin_site.admin_view(view)(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/utils/decorators.py" in _wrapped_view
  93.                     response = view_func(request, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/views/decorators/cache.py" in _wrapped_view_func
  79.         response = view_func(request, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/sites.py" in inner
  197.             return view(request, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/utils/decorators.py" in _wrapper
  28.             return bound_func(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/utils/decorators.py" in _wrapped_view
  93.                     response = view_func(request, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/utils/decorators.py" in bound_func
  24.                 return func(self, *args2, **kwargs2)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/db/transaction.py" in inner
  217.                 res = func(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/options.py" in change_view
  982.                 self.save_model(request, new_object, form, change=True)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/options.py" in save_model
  665.         obj.save()
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/db/models/base.py" in save
  460.         self.save_base(using=using, force_insert=force_insert, force_update=force_update)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/db/models/base.py" in save_base
  526.                         rows = manager.using(using).filter(pk=pk_val)._update(values)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/db/models/query.py" in _update
  491.         return query.get_compiler(self.db).execute_sql(None)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/db/models/sql/compiler.py" in execute_sql
  869.         cursor = super(SQLUpdateCompiler, self).execute_sql(result_type)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/db/models/sql/compiler.py" in execute_sql
  735.         cursor.execute(sql, params)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/db/backends/util.py" in execute
  34.             return self.cursor.execute(sql, params)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py" in execute
  86.             return self.cursor.execute(query, args)
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/MySQLdb/cursors.py" in execute
  168.         if not self._defer_warnings: self._warning_check()
File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/MySQLdb/cursors.py" in _warning_check
  82.                     warn(w[-1], self.Warning, 3)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/warnings.py" in warn
  62.                   globals)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/warnings.py" in warn_explicit
  102.         raise message

Exception Type: Warning at /admin/xivo_web/entity/3/
Exception Value: Column 'faxnumber' cannot be null

[stefanfoulis]

empy values are saved as NULL, so you'll need to define the field like this:

faxnumber = PhoneNumberField(u'Fax', null=True, blank=True)

I added an example of an optional field in the README.

[ludovic-gasc]

Ok, thanks for your comment, but, in the Django documentation, you can find a specific comment about null usage: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/models/fields/#null
"In most cases, it’s redundant to have two possible values for “no data;” Django convention is to use the empty string, not NULL."
PhoneNumberField is varchar column in the database, this advice should concern PhoneNumberField, isn't it ?
Feel free to reopen or not this issue, it's your project.

Moreover, in your example, you should add this line at the beginning:

   from phonenumber_field.modelfields import PhoneNumberField

[stefanfoulis]

thanks for the pointer. I added it to the README.

I agree, there is actually no reason anymore to distinguish between None and "".
Originally (I think) I used the two to distinguish between "not set" and "validation failed". But the way the field is structured now, that is no longer needed.

I'll re-open the ticket.

Thanks for reporting :-)

[sethlivingston]

This confused me, too. Specifying blank=True by itself should make the field optional.

Thank you for developing this field!

[aalexgabi]

Same problem here. I agree with @sethlivingston.

[elmit]

I have another problem with that bug.
I add field to model:

phone = PhoneNumberField(blank=True, unique=True, null=True)

It's generate migration sql (Django 1.7):

ALTER TABLE "account_userprofile" ADD COLUMN "phone" varchar(128) DEFAULT '' NULL UNIQUE;

It's incorrect SQL because when i save new model instance i get an exception (with unique constrain). Correct migration must be:

ALTER TABLE "account_userprofile" ADD COLUMN "phone" varchar(128) NULL UNIQUE;

[jambonrose]

@elmit I believe this is actually a separate bug, having to do with null rather than blank. I've opened issue #102 on the topic.

[amateja]

It is fixed and tested.

[edevil]

So I'm using version 2.0.0 of this module and seem to be having the same problem of this issue.

I have a model field defined like:

phone = PhoneNumberField(_('Phone'), blank=True)

However, when I submit a ModelForm without sending a value for "phone", the form is valid but when I try to save the model I get:

django.db.utils.IntegrityError: null value in column "phone" violates not-null constraint

Is this a different problem?