Tina4-Python ORM

🔥 Hot Tips

• You never need the ORM — raw Database is perfect for 90% of cases
• But when you want it… it feels like writing plain Python classes
• Zero boilerplate — no __init__, no save() method to write
• Works with SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL, Firebird — all the same

Quick Start – 8 lines

from tina4_python import orm, Database
from tina4_python.ORM import IntegerField, StringField, DateTimeField

class User(ORM):
    id         = IntegerField(primary_key=True, auto_increment=True)
    name       = StringField()
    email      = StringField(unique=True)
    created_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)

# Connect once (usually in your main.py)
orm(Database("sqlite3:test.db"))

# That's it — table is auto-created on first use
user = User(name="Alice", email="alice@example.com")
user.save()                    # → INSERT
print(user.id)                 # → 1

user.name = "Alice Wonder"
user.save()                    # → UPDATE

found = User().load("email = ?", ["alice@example.com"])
print(found.name)              # → Alice Wonder

Field Types

Field Type	Python type	SQL example	Notes
IntegerField()	int	INTEGER
StringField()	str	VARCHAR(255)	length=500 optional
TextField()	str	TEXT	unlimited
DateTimeField()	datetime	TIMESTAMP	auto now() on insert if wanted
BooleanField()	bool	BOOLEAN / TINYINT(1)
NumericField()	Decimal	NUMERIC(10,2)
JSONBField()	dict/list	JSON / JSONB	auto serialize/deserialize
ForeignKeyField(...)	int	INTEGER REFERENCES table(id)	see below

Field Options

name = StringField(
    default="Anonymous",
    null=False,
    length=100
)
created_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)
is_active = BooleanField(default=True)

Foreign Keys – Beautiful & Simple

class Post(ORM):
    id        = IntegerField(primary_key=True, auto_increment=True)
    title     = StringField()
    author_id = ForeignKeyField(references=User)   # ← magic!
    author    = User()  # ← optional: auto-load relation

Usage:

post = Post(title="Hello World")
post.author_id = 1
post.save()

# Or even better:
post.author = User().load("id = 1")
post.save()

# Load with relation
post = Post().load("id = ?", [1])
print(post.author.name)   # → Alice (auto-loaded!)

Core Methods (all chainable)

Method	Example	What it does
.save()	user.save()	INSERT or UPDATE
.load(where, params)	user.load("id = ?", [1])	Load single record based on filter
.fetch()	User().fetch()	Returns first 10 records
.fetch_one()	User().fetch_one()	Fetches one record
.delete()	user.delete()	Delete record
.create_table()	User().create_table()	Auto-create table (migrations too)

Migrations – One command

from tina4_python.Migration import migrate

migrate(Database("sqlite3:test.db"))  # creates/updates all ORM tables

Full Example – Real Project Ready

from tina4_python import orm, Database
from tina4_python.ORM import *

orm(Database("sqlite3:app.db"))  # ← one line to rule them all

class Category(ORM):
    id   = IntegerField(primary_key=True, auto_increment=True)
    name = StringField(unique=True)

class Article(ORM):
    id         = IntegerField(primary_key=True, auto_increment=True)
    title      = StringField()
    content    = TextField()
    category   = ForeignKeyField(references=Category)
    author     = ForeignKeyField(references="User")
    created_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)

# Auto-create tables
Category().create_table()
Article().create_table()

# Use it
cat = Category({"name": "Tech"})
cat.save()

article = Article({"title":"Tina4 is awesome", "content":..., "category":"cat", "author_id": 1})
article.save()

# Query
for a in Article().select(filter="category_name = ?", "Tech").records:
    print(a.title, "by", a.author.name) # still working on this

Summary – The Tina4 ORM Philosophy

• No __init__ needed
• No save() method to write
• No migration files
• No sessions
• No query builder hell

Just:

user = User({"name":"Bob"})
user.save()

@post("/api/users")
async def post_api_users(request, response):
    
    user = User(request.body)
    user.save()
    
    return response(user.to_dict())