.. _ref-signals:

=========================
Built-in signal reference
=========================

A list of all the signals that Django sends.

.. seealso::

    The :ref:`comment framework <ref-contrib-comments-index>` sends a :ref:`set
    of comment-related signals <ref-contrib-comments-signals>`.

Model signals
=============

.. module:: django.db.models.signals
   :synopsis: Signals sent by the model system.

The :mod:`django.db.models.signals` module defines a set of signals sent by the
module system.

.. warning::

    Many of these signals are sent by various model methods like
    :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.__init__` or
    :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.save` that you can overwrite in your own
    code.

    If you override these methods on your model, you must call the parent class'
    methods for this signals to be sent.

	Note also that Django stores signal handlers as weak references by default,
	so if your handler is a local function, it may be garbage collected.  To
	prevent this, pass ``weak=False`` when you call the signal's :meth:`~django.dispatch.Signal.connect`.

pre_init
--------

.. attribute:: django.db.models.signals.pre_init
   :module:

.. ^^^^^^^ this :module: hack keeps Sphinx from prepending the module.

Whenever you instantiate a Django model,, this signal is sent at the beginning
of the model's :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.__init__` method.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The model class that just had an instance created.

    ``args``
        A list of positional arguments passed to
        :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.__init__`:

    ``kwargs``
        A dictionary of keyword arguments passed to
        :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.__init__`:.

For example, the :ref:`tutorial <intro-tutorial01>` has this line:

.. code-block:: python

    p = Poll(question="What's up?", pub_date=datetime.now())

The arguments sent to a :data:`pre_init` handler would be:

    ==========  ===============================================================
    Argument    Value
    ==========  ===============================================================
    ``sender``  ``Poll`` (the class itself)

    ``args``    ``[]`` (an empty list because there were no positional
                arguments passed to ``__init__``.)

    ``kwargs``  ``{'question': "What's up?", 'pub_date': datetime.now()}``
    ==========  ===============================================================

post_init
---------

.. data:: django.db.models.signals.post_init
   :module:

Like pre_init, but this one is sent when the :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.__init__`: method finishes.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        As above: the model class that just had an instance created.

    ``instance``
        The actual instance of the model that's just been created.

pre_save
--------

.. data:: django.db.models.signals.pre_save
   :module:
   
This is sent at the beginning of a model's :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.save`
method.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The model class.

    ``instance``
        The actual instance being saved.

post_save
---------

.. data:: django.db.models.signals.post_save
   :module: 
   
Like :data:`pre_save`, but sent at the end of the
:meth:`~django.db.models.Model.save` method.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The model class.

    ``instance``
        The actual instance being saved.

    ``created``
        A boolean; ``True`` if a new record was create.

pre_delete
----------

.. data:: django.db.models.signals.pre_delete
   :module:
   
Sent at the beginning of a model's :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.delete`
method.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The model class.

    ``instance``
        The actual instance being deleted.

post_delete
-----------

.. data:: django.db.models.signals.post_delete
   :module: 
   
Like :data:`pre_delete`, but sent at the end of the
:meth:`~django.db.models.Model.delete` method.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The model class.

    ``instance``
        The actual instance being deleted.

        Note that the object will no longer be in the database, so be very
        careful what you do with this instance.

class_prepared
--------------

.. data:: django.db.models.signals.class_prepared
   :module:
   
Sent whenever a model class has been "prepared" -- that is, once model has
been defined and registered with Django's model system. Django uses this
signal internally; it's not generally used in third-party applications.

Arguments that are sent with this signal:

``sender``
    The model class which was just prepared.

Management signals
==================

Signals sent by :ref:`django-admin <ref-django-admin>`.

post_syncdb
-----------

.. data:: django.db.models.signals.post_syncdb
   :module:

Sent by :djadmin:`syncdb` after it installs an application.

Any handlers that listen to this signal need to be written in a particular
place: a ``management`` module in one of your :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`. If
handlers are registered anywhere else they may not be loaded by
:djadmin:`syncdb`.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The ``models`` module that was just installed. That is, if
        :djadmin:`syncdb` just installed an app called ``"foo.bar.myapp"``,
        ``sender`` will be the ``foo.bar.myapp.models`` module.

    ``app``
        Same as ``sender``.

    ``created_models``
        A list of the model classes from any app which :djadmin:`syncdb` has
        created so far.

    ``verbosity``
        Indicates how much information manage.py is printing on screen. See
        the :djadminopt:`--verbosity`` flag for details.

        Functions which listen for :data:`post_syncdb` should adjust what they
        output to the screen based on the value of this argument.

    ``interactive``
        If ``interactive`` is ``True``, it's safe to prompt the user to input
        things on the command line. If ``interactive`` is ``False``, functions
        which listen for this signal should not try to prompt for anything.

        For example, the :mod:`django.contrib.auth` app only prompts to create a
        superuser when ``interactive`` is ``True``.

Request/response signals
========================

.. module:: django.core.signals
   :synopsis: Core signals sent by the request/response system.

Signals sent by the core framework when processing a request.

request_started
---------------

.. data:: django.core.signals.request_started
   :module: 
   
Sent when Django begins processing an HTTP request.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The handler class -- i.e.
        :class:`django.core.handlers.modpython.ModPythonHandler` or
        :class:`django.core.handlers.wsgi.WsgiHandler` -- that handled
        the request.

request_finished
----------------

.. data:: django.core.signals.request_finished
   :module:
   
Sent when Django finishes processing an HTTP request.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The handler class, as above.

got_request_exception
---------------------

.. data:: django.core.signals.got_request_exception
   :module:
   
This signal is sent whenever Django encounters an exception while processing an incoming HTTP request.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    ``sender``
        The handler class, as above.

    ``request``
        The :class:`~django.http.HttpRequest` object.

Test signals
============

.. module:: django.test.signals
   :synopsis: Signals sent during testing.

Signals only sent when :ref:`running tests <topics-testing>`.

template_rendered
-----------------

.. data:: django.test.signals.template_rendered
   :module:
   
Sent when the test system renders a template. This signal is not emitted during
normal operation of a Django server -- it is only available during testing.

Arguments sent with this signal:

    sender
        The :class:`~django.template.Template` object which was rendered.

    template
        Same as sender

    context
        The :class:`~django.template.Context` with which the template was
        rendered.
