Support Django's save method update_fields kwarg (#336)

auditlog/diff.py

@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def get_field_value(obj, field):
     return value
 
 
-def model_instance_diff(old, new):
+def model_instance_diff(old, new, fields_to_check=None):
     """
     Calculates the differences between two model instances. One of the instances may be ``None`` (i.e., a newly
     created model or deleted model). This will cause all fields with a value to have changed (from ``None``).
@@ -85,6 +85,9 @@ def model_instance_diff(old, new):
     :type old: Model
     :param new: The new state of the model instance.
     :type new: Model
+    :param fields_to_check: An iterable of the field names to restrict the diff to, while ignoring the rest of
+        the model's fields. This is used to pass the `update_fields` kwarg from the model's `save` method.
+    :type fields_to_check: Iterable
     :return: A dictionary with the names of the changed fields as keys and a two tuple of the old and new field values
              as value.
     :rtype: dict
@@ -111,6 +114,9 @@ def model_instance_diff(old, new):
         fields = set()
         model_fields = None
 
+    if fields_to_check:
+        fields = set([field for field in fields if field.name in fields_to_check])
+
     # Check if fields must be filtered
     if (
         model_fields

auditlog/receivers.py

@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ def log_update(sender, instance, **kwargs):
             pass
         else:
             new = instance
-
-            changes = model_instance_diff(old, new)
+            update_fields = kwargs.get("update_fields", None)
+            changes = model_instance_diff(old, new, fields_to_check=update_fields)
 
             # Log an entry only if there are changes
             if changes:

auditlog_tests/tests.py

@@ -81,6 +81,49 @@ class SimpleModelTest(TestCase):
             msg="The change is correctly logged",
         )
 
+    def test_update_specific_field_supplied_via_save_method(self):
+        obj = self.obj
+
+        # Change 2 fields, but save one only.
+        obj.boolean = True
+        obj.text = "Short text"
+        obj.save(update_fields=["boolean"])
+
+        # This implicitly asserts there is only one UPDATE change since the `.get` would fail otherwise.
+        self.assertJSONEqual(
+            obj.history.get(action=LogEntry.Action.UPDATE).changes,
+            '{"boolean": ["False", "True"]}',
+            msg="Object modifications that are not saved to DB are not logged when using the `update_fields`.",
+        )
+
+    def test_django_update_fields_edge_cases(self):
+        """
+        The test ensures that if Django's `update_fields` behavior ever changes for special values `(None, [])`, the
+        package should too. https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.2/ref/models/instances/#specifying-which-fields-to-save
+        """
+        obj = self.obj
+
+        # Change boolean, but save no changes by passing an empty list.
+        obj.boolean = True
+        obj.save(update_fields=[])
+
+        self.assertTrue(
+            obj.history.filter(action=LogEntry.Action.UPDATE).count() == 0,
+            msg="There is no log entries created",
+        )
+        obj.refresh_from_db()
+        self.assertFalse(obj.boolean)  # Change didn't persist in DB as expected.
+
+        # Passing `None` should save both fields according to Django.
+        obj.integer = 1
+        obj.boolean = True
+        obj.save(update_fields=None)
+        self.assertJSONEqual(
+            obj.history.get(action=LogEntry.Action.UPDATE).changes,
+            '{"boolean": ["False", "True"], "integer": ["None", "1"]}',
+            msg="The 2 fields changed are correctly logged",
+        )
+
     def test_delete(self):
         """Deletion is logged correctly."""
         # Get the object to work with
@@ -235,9 +278,29 @@ class MiddlewareTest(TestCase):
         self.assertFalse(pre_save.has_listeners(LogEntry))
 
 
-class SimpeIncludeModelTest(TestCase):
+class SimpleIncludeModelTest(TestCase):
     """Log only changes in include_fields"""
 
+    def test_specified_save_fields_are_ignored_if_not_included(self):
+        obj = SimpleIncludeModel.objects.create(label="Initial label", text="Text")
+        obj.text = "New text"
+        obj.save(update_fields=["text"])
+
+        self.assertTrue(
+            obj.history.filter(action=LogEntry.Action.UPDATE).count() == 0,
+            msg="Text change was not logged, even when passed explicitly",
+        )
+
+        obj.label = "New label"
+        obj.text = "Newer text"
+        obj.save(update_fields=["text", "label"])
+
+        self.assertJSONEqual(
+            obj.history.get(action=LogEntry.Action.UPDATE).changes,
+            '{"label": ["Initial label", "New label"]}',
+            msg="Only the label was logged, regardless of multiple entries in `update_fields`",
+        )
+
     def test_register_include_fields(self):
         sim = SimpleIncludeModel(label="Include model", text="Looong text")
         sim.save()
@@ -254,20 +317,30 @@ class SimpeIncludeModelTest(TestCase):
         self.assertTrue(sim.history.count() == 2, msg="There are two log entries")
 
 
-class SimpeExcludeModelTest(TestCase):
+class SimpleExcludeModelTest(TestCase):
     """Log only changes that are not in exclude_fields"""
 
+    def test_specified_save_fields_are_excluded_normally(self):
+        obj = SimpleExcludeModel.objects.create(label="Exclude model", text="Text")
+        obj.text = "New text"
+        obj.save(update_fields=["text"])
+
+        self.assertTrue(
+            obj.history.filter(action=LogEntry.Action.UPDATE).count() == 0,
+            msg="Text change was not logged, even when passed explicitly",
+        )
+
     def test_register_exclude_fields(self):
         sem = SimpleExcludeModel(label="Exclude model", text="Looong text")
         sem.save()
         self.assertTrue(sem.history.count() == 1, msg="There is one log entry")
 
-        # Change label, ignore
+        # Change label, record it.
         sem.label = "Changed label"
         sem.save()
         self.assertTrue(sem.history.count() == 2, msg="There are two log entries")
 
-        # Change text, record
+        # Change text, ignore it.
         sem.text = "Short text"
         sem.save()
         self.assertTrue(sem.history.count() == 2, msg="There are two log entries")