Django Gotchas

Database init options

Most example you'll see look like this:-

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
        'NAME': 'mydatabase',
        'OPTIONS': {
            'sql_mode': 'TRADITIONAL',
            'charset': 'utf8',
            'init_command': 'SET '
                'storage_engine=INNODB,'
                'character_set_connection=utf8,'
                'collation_connection=utf8_bin,'
                'SESSION TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED',
        }  # Now we have a mild degree of confidence :-)
    }
}

But this will give you errors like:-

django.db.utils.OperationalError: (1193, "Unknown system variable 'TRANSACTION'")

You should use multiple SET command for the TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL and other options:-

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
        'NAME': 'mydatabase',
        'OPTIONS': {
            'sql_mode': 'TRADITIONAL',
            'charset': 'utf8',
            'init_command': 'SET '
                'storage_engine=INNODB,'
                'character_set_connection=utf8,'
                'collation_connection=utf8_bin;'
                'SET SESSION TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED',
        }  # Now we have a mild degree of confidence :-)
    }
}