Implement the ability to diff HistoricalRecords

AUTHORS.rst

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ Authors
 - Kris Neuharth
 - Maciej "RooTer" Urbański
 - Mark Davidoff
+- Leticia Portella
 - Martin Bachwerk
 - Marty Alchin
 - Mauricio de Abreu Antunes

CHANGES.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 Changes
 =======
 
+Unreleased
+-----------------
+- Add ability to diff HistoricalRecords (gh-244)
+
 2.2.0 (2018-07-02)
 ------------------
 - Add ability to specify alternative user_model for tracking (gh-371)

docs/advanced.rst

@@ -406,3 +406,26 @@ If you want to save a model without a historical record, you can use the followi
 
     poll = Poll(question='something')
     poll.save_without_historical_record()
+
+History Diffing
+-------------------
+
+When you have two instances of the same ``HistoricalRecord`` (such as the ``HistoricalPoll`` example above),
+you can perform diffs to see what changed. This will result in a ``ModelDelta`` containing the following properties:
+
+1. A list with each field changed between the two historical records
+2. A list with the names of all fields that incurred changes from one record to the other
+3. the old and new records.
+
+This may be useful when you want to construct timelines and need to get only the model modifications.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    p = Poll.objects.create(question="what's up?")
+    p.question = "what's up, man?"
+    p.save()
+
+    new_record, old_record = p.history.all()
+    delta = new_record.diff_against(old_record)
+    for change in delta.changes:
+        print("{} changed from {} to {}".format(change.field, change.old, change.new))

simple_history/models.py

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def __init__(self, verbose_name=None, bases=(models.Model,),
         try:
             if isinstance(bases, six.string_types):
                 raise TypeError
-            self.bases = tuple(bases)
+            self.bases = (HistoricalChanges,) + tuple(bases)
         except TypeError:
             raise TypeError("The `bases` option must be a list or a tuple.")
 
@@ -412,3 +412,44 @@ def __get__(self, instance, owner):
         values = (getattr(instance, f.attname)
                   for f in self.fields_included)
         return self.model(*values)
+
+
+class HistoricalChanges(object):
+    def diff_against(self, old_history):
+        if not isinstance(old_history, type(self)):
+            raise TypeError(("unsupported type(s) for diffing: "
+                             "'{}' and '{}'").format(
+                            type(self),
+                            type(old_history)))
+
+        changes = []
+        changed_fields = []
+        for field in self._meta.fields:
+            if hasattr(self.instance, field.name) and \
+               hasattr(old_history.instance, field.name):
+                old_value = getattr(old_history, field.name, '')
+                new_value = getattr(self, field.name)
+                if old_value != new_value:
+                    change = ModelChange(field.name, old_value, new_value)
+                    changes.append(change)
+                    changed_fields.append(field.name)
+
+        return ModelDelta(changes,
+                          changed_fields,
+                          old_history,
+                          self)
+
+
+class ModelChange(object):
+    def __init__(self, field_name, old_value, new_value):
+        self.field = field_name
+        self.old = old_value
+        self.new = new_value
+
+
+class ModelDelta(object):
+    def __init__(self, changes, changed_fields, old_record, new_record):
+        self.changes = changes
+        self.changed_fields = changed_fields
+        self.old_record = old_record
+        self.new_record = new_record

simple_history/tests/tests/test_models.py

@@ -12,7 +12,11 @@
 from django.db.models.fields.proxy import OrderWrt
 from django.test import TestCase
 
-from simple_history.models import HistoricalRecords, convert_auto_field
+from simple_history.models import (
+    HistoricalRecords,
+    convert_auto_field,
+    ModelChange
+)
 from simple_history.utils import update_change_reason
 from ..external.models import ExternalModel2, ExternalModel4
 from ..models import (
@@ -549,6 +553,36 @@ def test_get_next_record_none_if_most_recent(self):
         recent_record = poll.history.filter(question="ask questions?").get()
         self.assertIsNone(recent_record.next_record)
 
+    def test_history_diff_includes_changed_fields(self):
+        p = Poll.objects.create(question="what's up?", pub_date=today)
+        p.question = "what's up, man?"
+        p.save()
+        new_record, old_record = p.history.all()
+        delta = new_record.diff_against(old_record)
+        expected_change = ModelChange("question",
+                                      "what's up?",
+                                      "what's up, man")
+        self.assertEqual(delta.changed_fields, ['question'])
+        self.assertEqual(delta.old_record, old_record)
+        self.assertEqual(delta.new_record, new_record)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_change.field, delta.changes[0].field)
+
+    def test_history_diff_does_not_include_unchanged_fields(self):
+        p = Poll.objects.create(question="what's up?", pub_date=today)
+        p.question = "what's up, man?"
+        p.save()
+        new_record, old_record = p.history.all()
+        delta = new_record.diff_against(old_record)
+        self.assertNotIn('pub_date', delta.changed_fields)
+
+    def test_history_diff_with_incorrect_type(self):
+        p = Poll.objects.create(question="what's up?", pub_date=today)
+        p.question = "what's up, man?"
+        p.save()
+        new_record, old_record = p.history.all()
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            new_record.diff_against('something')
+
 
 class CreateHistoryModelTests(unittest.TestCase):