edan_f0/docs/source/releases/v0.6.rst

=======================
Oscar 0.6 release notes
=======================

Welcome to Oscar 0.6!

These release notes cover the `new features`_ as well as `backwards incompatible changes`_ 
that you'll want to be aware of when upgrading from Oscar 0.5 or
earlier.  This release contains some major changes to core APIs which means
many old APIs are to be dropped - see the `deprecation plan`_ to avoid any
nasty surprises.

To upgrade your Oscar site, make sure you study both the `backwards incompatible changes`_ 
and the `deprecated features`_.  If you have any undocumented issues, please
let us know on the mailing list.

.. _`new features`: `What's new in Oscar 0.6?`_
.. _`upgrading advice`: `Upgrading notes`_
.. _`deprecation plan`: `Features deprecated in 0.6`_
.. _`deprecated features`: `Features deprecated in 0.6`_
.. _`backwards incompatible changes`: `Backwards incompatible changes in 0.6`_

Overview
========

The biggest change in Oscar 0.6 is the reworking of `pricing and availability`_, which 
builds on top of the change to allow `multiple stockrecords per product`_.  The
change is largely backwards compatible with the old system of "partner
wrappers" but it is recommended to upgrade to the new system.  Support for
partner wrappers will be removed for Oscar 0.7.

Oscar 0.6 also introduces better support for marketplace-like functionality
with the so-called permission-based dashboard. It is now possible to give
non-staff users access to a subset of the dashboard's views (products and
orders) by setting the new ``dashboard_access`` permission.

`Oscar now supports Django 1.5`_ and its custom user model.  This has been only
tested in the context of starting a new Oscar project with a custom model.
Switching from a separate "profile" model to the new system is not recommended
at this point.

Other notable new features include:

* A feature-rich `demo site`_ that illustrates how Oscar can be customised.  It
  uses several of Oscar's many extensions, such as django-oscar-paypal_,
  django-oscar-datacash_ and django-oscar-stores_.  It is intended as a
  reference site for Oscar.

* `Partners can now have addresses`_.

* `Customer wishlists`_

* `New helper methods`_ in the ``EventHandler`` class for order processing.

* `Reworked search app`_ with support for easy faceting.

Also, to help justify Tangent's sponsorship of Oscar, 
a simple `tracking mechanism`_ has been introduced.

.. _`Oscar now supports Django 1.5`: `django_support`_
.. _`Partners can now have addresses`: `Partner addresses`_
.. _`Customer wishlists`: `Wishlists`_
.. _`New helper methods`: `Order processing changes`_
.. _`tracking mechanism`: `Tracking Oscar sites`_

What's new in Oscar 0.6?
========================

Multiple stockrecords per product
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Products can now have multiple stockrecords rather than just one.  This allows a
product to be fulfilled by one of several partners.  This is a key requirement
for large-scale e-commerce sites selling millions of products, that use many
different fulfillment partners.  It also allows products to be sold in 
different currencies.

This changes means several APIs are `deprecated`_ as they assume there is only
one stockrecord per product.

.. _`deprecated`: `Features deprecated in 0.6`_

Pricing and availability
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When products can have many stockrecords, a process needs to be in place to
choose which one is selected for a given customer and product.  To handle this,
a new "strategy" class has been introduced which selects the appropriate
stockrecord for a given customer and product.

This change also paved the way for reworking how prices, taxes and availability
are handled.  Instead of using `"partner wrappers"`_, the strategy class is
responsible for returning availability details and prices for a particular
product.  New classes known as pricing and availabiliy policies are used to
encapsulate this information.

These changes allows Oscar to dynamically choose which stockrecord to use for a
given customer and product.  This enables several advanced features such as:

* Fulfilling a product from the partner that offers the best margin.
* Fulfilling a product from the partner geographically closest to the customer.
* Supporting transactions in multiple currencies on the same site.
* Supporting different tax treatments on the same site (eg UK VAT and US sales
  tax)
* Having different pricing policies for different customers. 

It also provides a customisation layer for custom price and availability logic.  
There's a great deal of flexibility.  See the guide to 
:doc:`prices and availability </topics/prices_and_availability>`
for more information.

Note that the :func:`oscar.templatetags.currency_filters.currency` now
accepts an optional currency parameter.

Permission-based dashboard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three changes were necessary to better support marketplace scenarios within
Oscar:

* Oscar's core :class:`oscar.core.application.Application` class now supports
  specifying permissions on a per-view basis. This is done via a new default
  decorator. Legacy behaviour is unchanged.

* The dashboard's menu's are now built dynamically. If the current user does
  not have access to some views in :ref:`OSCAR_DASHBOARD_NAVIGATION`, they will
  be omitted in the menu returned by
  :meth:`oscar.apps.dashboard.nav.create_menu`.

* The index, catalogue and order dashboard views have been modified to allow
  access to non-staff users. See :doc:`/ref/apps/dashboard` for details.

* :attr:`oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractPartner.users` was not
  used by core Oscar prior 0.6. It is now used to model access for the
  permission-based dashboard.

Payment models have abstract versions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The :doc:`payment models </ref/apps/payment>` have been split into abstract and
concrete versions.  This brings them inline with other Oscar apps and allows
them to be customised.

Wishlists
~~~~~~~~~

Wishlist functionality has finally landed.  Signed in customers are now able to
create multiple named wishlists and add products to them.  There is a new
section in the customer's account where wishlists can be managed.

Partner addresses
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Partners can now have addresses.  These are useful for US sales tax where tax
calculations need to know the origin of a product being shipped.  The dashboard
has been extended to allow partner addresses to be edited.

Checkout
~~~~~~~~

The :class:`~oscar.apps.checkout.views.PaymentDetailsView` checkout view has
been restructured slightly to be more flexible.  There is a new
``build_submission`` method which is responsible for building a dict of all data
for passing to the ``submit`` method.  This includes the shipping address and
shipping method which were previously loaded indirectly within the ``submit``
method.  The ``submit`` method has also been extended to take additional parameters.

Demo site
~~~~~~~~~

Oscar now ships with a demo site along side the sandbox site.  While the sandbox
is a minimal Django project that uses Oscar with all its defaults, the demo site
is a more realistic example of an Oscar project.  It has a custom skin and makes
many alterations to the default Oscar behaviour.  

It's features include:

* A range of different product types: books, downloads, clothing
* PayPal Express integration using django-oscar-paypal_
* Datacash integration using django-oscar-datacash_

.. _django-oscar-paypal: https://github.com/tangentlabs/django-oscar-paypal
.. _django-oscar-datacash: https://github.com/tangentlabs/django-oscar-datacash
.. _django-oscar-stores: https://github.com/tangentlabs/django-oscar-stores

Further reading:

* :doc:`The demo site </internals/sandbox>`.

.. _django_support:

Django 1.5, 1.6 and custom user model support
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oscar now supports Django 1.5 and 1.6.

Specifically, Oscar supports `custom user models`_, the headline new feature in Django
1.5.  These can be used standalone or with a one-to-one profile model: Oscar's
account forms inspect the model fields to dynamically pick up the fields for
editing and display.

There are some restrictions on what fields a custom user model must have.  For
instance, Oscar's default auth backend requires the user model to have an email
and password field.  New Oscar projects are encouraged to use the provided
abstract user model as the base for their users.

Further reading:

* :doc:`How to use a custom user model </howto/use_a_custom_user_model>`.

.. _`custom user models`: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/auth/customizing/#specifying-a-custom-user-model
.. _`documentation on user models`: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/auth/customizing/#specifying-a-custom-user-model

Accounts 
~~~~~~~~

The views and templates of the accounts section have been reworked to be clearer
and easier to extend.

Bootstrap-WYSIHTML5 replaced by TinyMCE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TinyMCE 4.0 is now used in the dashboard for all textareas with class
``wysiwyg``.  This has better browser support and is easier to customise than
bootstrap-wysihtml5.

It is easy to configure or replace with the HTML editor of your choice.

Better bankcard handling
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bankcard model in the payment app has been greatly improved.

Customer-facing range pages
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranges can now be flagged as public which means they can be browsed by
customers. They can be used to created curated collections of products.
Products can be manually reordered to display products in the specific
order to customers.

The core :class:`~oscar.apps.offer.models.Range` model has been extended with a
HTML description field also.

Reworked search app
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oscar's search app has been reviewed and simplified.  The main view class has
been reworked to provide better support for faceting, which can be easily
specified using the ``OSCAR_SEARCH_FACETS`` setting.

The ``SuggestionsView`` has been removed as it wasn't being used.  A later
version of Oscar will include a replacement.

Order processing changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are changes to order processing methods

Tracking Oscar sites
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oscar's dashboard now serves a single pixel image from one of Tangent's
servers.  This is included to gather information on which sites use Oscar,
which is an important metric for Tangent, who sponsor Oscar's development.

It can easily be disabled by setting ``OSCAR_TRACKING=False``.  If you do opt
out, please email the mailing list with any production Oscar sites you are
running.  This will help to ensure investment in Oscar's future.

Minor changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* detox_ is a new dependency, which allows running `tox` tests in parallel.

.. _detox: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/detox

* ``OSCAR_ALLOW_ANON_REVIEWS`` has been a documented setting since Oscar 0.4.
  But there's never been any code to support this, so the setting has been
  dropped.

Backwards incompatible changes in 0.6
=====================================

Checkout
~~~~~~~~

Several changes have been made to the checkout classes.  

* The ``submit`` method in
  :class:`~oscar.apps.checkout.views.PaymentDetailsView` now accepts several
  new parameters.  

* The ``handle_payment`` method in
  :class:`~oscar.apps.checkout.views.PaymentDetailsView` now accepts a
  :class:`~oscar.core.prices.Price` instance instead of a Decimal.

Signature changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several classes and functions have had signature changes:

* The ``basket_form`` templatetag has been altered to take the ``request`` as the
  first argument, not ``request.basket``.

* The :class:`oscar.apps.customer.forms.EmailAuthenticationForm` form needs to
  be instantated with a host name so prevent redirects to external sites.

* The two product review forms, ``SignedInUserProductReviewForm`` and
  ``AnonymousUserProductReviewForm``, have been replaced by a new
  :class:`oscar.apps.catalogue.reviews.forms.ProductReviewForm`.

* 3 properties have been removed from
  :class:`oscar.apps.catalogue.abstract_models.AbstractProductImage` as they
  were unused: ``resized_image_url``, ``fullsize_url`` and ``thumbnail_url``.
  Thumbnailing is instead achieved in templates with Sorl.

Loading shipping methods
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The default implementation of the shipping method repository has been adjusted
to avoid thread-safety issues.  If you define your own shipping ``Repository``
class, ensure that your shipping methods are instantiated per-request and not
at compile time.

For example, avoid this:

.. code-block:: python

   from oscar.apps.shipping import repository

   class Repository(repository.Repository)
       methods = [SomeMethod(), AnotherMethod()]

Instead, instantiate the methods within ``get_shipping_methods``:

.. code-block:: python

   from oscar.apps.shipping import repository

   class Repository(repository.Repository)
       # Note, methods are not instantiated
       methods = [SomeMethod, AnotherMethod]

Beware of shipping methods that are configured via constructor arguments, like 
:class:`~oscar.apps.shipping.methods.FixedPrice`.  Shipping methods will be
reworked for Oscar 0.7.

Basket model changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several properties of the basket ``Line`` model have been renamed:

* ``Line.line_price_excl_tax_and_discounts`` has been renamed to 
  ``Line.line_price_excl_tax_incl_discounts``.

* ``Line.line_price_incl_tax_and_discounts`` has been renamed to 
  ``Line.line_price_incl_tax_incl_discounts``.

Address model changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The ``UserAddress.salutation`` and ``UserAddress.name`` methods are now
  properties.

* The ``Country`` model's `is_highlighted` column is now an integer field to allow
  fine-grained country selection. 

Search app changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some of the names have been simplified.

* The ``MultiFacetedSearchView`` and ``SuggestionsView`` view classes have been
  removed.  The ``MultiFacetedSeachView`` class is replaced by ``FacetedSearchView``.

* The ``MultiFacetedSearchForm`` has been removed in favour of
  ``SearchForm``.

Range model changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ManyToManyField ``included_product`` of ``Range`` model was changed to use
``through`` relationship:

* Use ``Range.add_product(product)`` instead of
  ``Range.included_product.add(product)``. 
* Use ``Range.remove_product(product)`` instead of
  ``Range.included_product.remove(product)``.

When adding a product into a range, position in the range can be specified
with ``display_order`` argument:
``Range.add_product(product, display_order=3)``

Renamed templates
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some templates have been renamed for greater consistency.  If you are overriding
these templates, ensure you rename your corresponding project templates.

Many of the profile templates have been reorganised:

* ``customer/address_list.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/address/address_list.html``

* ``customer/address_form.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/address/address_form.html``

* ``customer/address_delete.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/address/address_delete.html``

* ``customer/email.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/email/email_detail.html``

* ``customer/email_list.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/email/email_list.html``

* ``customer/order.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/order/order_detail.html``

* ``customer/order_list.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/order/order_list.html``

* ``customer/profile.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/profile/profile.html``

* ``customer/profile_form.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/profile/profile_form.html``

* ``customer/change_password_form.html`` is renamed to
  ``customer/profile/change_password_form.html``

* ``partials/nav_profile.html`` has been removed.

Template block changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The template ``dashboard/orders/order_detail.html`` has been reorganised.  The
  ``tab_transactions`` block has been renamed to ``payment_transactions``.

* In ``checkout/checkout.html``, the ``checkout-nav`` block has been renamed
  ``checkout_nav``.

Account templates
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The templates for the customer account section have been reworked so that the
profile page is much simpler.  Content is no longer loaded into tabs on a single
page; instead, separate pages are used to each section.

Additional apps
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To enable dynamic loading of dashboard `Application` classes, two new apps are required
in your ``INSTALLED_APPS``:

.. code-block:: python

    INSTALLED_APPS = (
        ...
        'oscar.apps.dashboard.pages',
        'oscar.apps.dashboard.reviews',
        ...
    )

If you are using the ``get_core_apps`` helper function, then these new apps
will be added automatically. Neither of these apps contains models so no
database schema changes are required.

Changes to Partner permissions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following permissions on the
:class:`~oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractPartner` model were not
used in Oscar and have been removed to avoid confusion with the newly
introduced permission-based dashboard:

* ``can_edit_stock_records``
* ``can_view_stock_records``
* ``can_edit_product_range``
* ``can_view_product_range``
* ``can_edit_order_lines``
* ``can_view_order_lines``

The permission-based dashboard introduced a new permission:

* ``dashboard_access``

Upgrading notes
===============

* Alternative product class templates now use ``slug`` field instead of
  ``name.lower()`` to determine their filename.  If you have templates for
  specific product classes, please update your filenames accordingly

Checkout app:

* Checkout has a new option "Register and continue". Option value `new` in
  `GatewayForm` has changed to `guest` as `new` option is used for this feature.

* Payment details - create_billing_address accepts kwargs so data can be passed
  to it from the final page of checkout.

* The session methods for loading shipping addresses and methods have been made
  explicit.  The relevant basket *has* to be passed in now.

Payment app:

* The `balance` method on the source object is now a property not a method.

URLs
~~~~

Migrations
~~~~~~~~~~

There are new migrations in the following apps to be aware of.

* Catalogue:

    - ``0011``: Higher ``max_length`` on FileFields and ImageFields

* Promotions:

    - ``0003``: Higher ``max_length`` on FileFields and ImageFields

* Address:

    - ``0003``: ``Country``'s ``is_highlighted`` is now an integer to allow
      finer control.

* ShippingAddress:

    - ``0018``: ``ShippingAddress``'s ``phone_number`` is now a PhoneNumberField
      to allow fine validation.

* Order app:

    - The `date` field of the ``order.AbstractCommunicationEvent``, ``order.AbstractPaymentEvent`` and
      ``order.AbstractShippingEvent`` models have been renamed to ``date_created`` for
      consistency with the rest of Oscar.

Order app:

* ``0015``: Unused ``sequence_number`` and ``is_required`` deleted from
  ``ShippingEventType``. Unused ``sequence_number`` deleted from
  ``PaymentEventType``.

Offer app:

* ``0021``: Add a ``slug`` field to the :class:`~oscar.apps.offer.models.Range` model.
* ``0022``: A data migration to populate the new range slug field. 
* ``0023``: Add a ``is_public`` field to the :class:`~oscar.apps.offer.models.Range` model.
* ``0024``: Add a ``description`` field to the :class:`~oscar.apps.offer.models.Range` model.

Features deprecated in 0.6
==========================

Accessing a product's stockrecords
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several properties and methods of the core
:class:`~oscar.apps.catalogue.abstract_models.AbstractProduct`  class have been
deprecated following the change to allow multiple stockrecords per product. 

* :attr:`~oscar.apps.catalogue.abstract_models.AbstractProduct.has_stockrecord`
  no longer makes sense when there can be more than one stockrecord.  It is
  replaced by
  :attr:`~oscar.apps.catalogue.abstract_models.AbstractProduct.has_stockrecords`

* :attr:`~oscar.apps.catalogue.abstract_models.AbstractProduct.stockrecord` is
  deprecated since it presumes there is only one stockrecord per product.
  Choosing the appropriate stockrecord is now the responsiblity of the 
  :ref:`strategy class <strategy_class>`.  A backward compatible version has
  been kept in place that selects the first stockrecord for a product.  This
  will continue to work for sites that only have one stockrecord per product.

All availability logic has been moved to :ref:`availability policies<availability_policies>` 
which are determined by the :ref:`strategy class <strategy_class>`.

* :attr:`~oscar.apps.catalogue.abstract_models.AbstractProduct.is_available_to_buy` 
  is deprecated.  The functionality is now part of availability policies.

* :meth:`~oscar.apps.catalogue.abstract_models.AbstractProduct.is_purchase_permitted` 
  is deprecated.  The functionality is now part of availability policies.


Checkout session manager
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ``shipping_method`` method of the
:class:`~oscar.apps.checkout.utils.CheckoutSessionData` is now deprecated in
favour of using ``shipping_method_code``.  It is being removed as the
``CheckoutSessionData`` class should only be responsible for retriving data
from the session, not loading shipping method instances.

"Partner wrappers"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before Oscar 0.6, availability and pricing logic was encapsulated in "partner
wrappers".  A partner wrapper was a class that provided availability and price
information for a particular partner, as specified by the
``OSCAR_PARTNER_WRAPPERS`` setting.  The stockrecord model had several
properties and methods
which delegated to the appropriate wrapper for the record's partner.

This functionailty is now deprecated in favour of using :ref:`strategy classes <strategy_class>`.  
How prices and taxes are determined is not generally a function of the partner,
and so this system was not a good model.  Strategy classes are much more
flexible and allow better modelling of taxes and availability.

The following attributes and methods from :class:`~oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.StockRecord` 
are deprecated and will be removed for Oscar 0.7.  

* :attr:`AbstractStockRecord.is_available_to_buy <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.is_available_to_buy>` 
* :meth:`AbstractStockRecord.is_purchase_permitted <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.is_purchase_permitted>` 
* :attr:`AbstractStockRecord.availability_code <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.availability_code>` 
* :attr:`AbstractStockRecord.availability <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.availability>` 
* :attr:`AbstractStockRecord.max_purchase_quantity <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.max_purchase_quantity>` 
* :attr:`AbstractStockRecord.dispatch_date <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.dispatch_date>` 
* :attr:`AbstractStockRecord.lead_time <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.lead_time>` 
* :attr:`AbstractStockRecord.price_incl_tax <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.price_incl_tax>` 
* :attr:`AbstractStockRecord.price_tax <oscar.apps.partner.abstract_models.AbstractStockRecord.price_tax>` 

All the above properties and methods have effectively been moved to the availability and pricing
policies that a strategy class is responsible for loading.  To upgrade your
codebase, replace your partner wrapper classes with equivalent 
:doc:`availability and pricing policies </topics/prices_and_availability>`.

Basket
~~~~~~~

Now that products can have multiple stockrecords, several changes have been made
to baskets to allow the appropriate stockrecord to be tracked for each basket
line.  The basket line model has a new field that links to the selected
stockrecord and the basket itself requires an instance of the strategy class so
that prices can be calculated for each line.  Hence, if you are manipulating
baskets directly, you need to assign a strategy class in order for prices to
calculate correctly:

.. code-block:: python

    from oscar.apps.basket import models

    basket = models.Basket.objects.get(id=1)
    basket.strategy = request.strategy

Without an assigned strategy class, a basket will raise a ``RuntimeError`` when
attempting to calculate totals.

The way a product is added to a basket has also been changed as a ``StockInfo``
instance is also required.

.. code-block:: python

    from oscar.apps.basket import models
    from oscar.apps.catalogue import models as product_models

    basket = models.Basket.objects.get(id=1)
    basket.strategy = request.strategy
    product = product_models.Product.objects.get(id=1)
    stockinfo = request.strategy.fetch(product)
    
    basket.

Test support extension brought back into core
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The `Oscar test support library`_ has been ported back into Oscar core.  This
simplifies things and avoids circular dependency issues.  If your project is
using this extension, you should remove it as a dependency and use the
analogous functionality from ``oscar/test/``.

.. _`Oscar test support library`: https://github.com/tangentlabs/django-oscar-testsupport