How To Retrieve Current Logged In User For Dynamic File Name Use In Model

I'm trying to set the current 'upload_to=' directory equal to the current logged-in user's username so that each file uploaded is saved into the user's own directory. I have tried

Solution 1:

Answer : The Django documentation does not specify a user needing to be added to the model - though it does expect one.

When it was done the model looked like this:

def user_directory_path(instance, filename):
    # file will be uploaded to MEDIA_ROOT/user_<id>/<filename>
    return 'uploads/{0}/{1}'.format(instance.user.username, filename)


class UploadReports(models.Model):
    user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE, null=True)
    xls = models.FileField(upload_to=user_directory_path)

If you add the user here then DO NOT FORGET to add the user to the field of the form as such:

class DocumentForm(forms.ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = UploadReports
        fields = ('xls', 'user')

Once you add the field to the form there becomes a new field in the template form with the list of possible users. As most people probably don't, I didn't want the form to include the user. Therefore, as ilja stated, you must exclude the form as such:

class DocumentForm(forms.ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = UploadReports
        fields = ('xls', 'user')
        exclude = ('user', ) # make sure this is a tuple

Once the form is excluded it will go back to throwing the error that the user does not exist. So you need to add the user in the post method of theviews.py as such:

class FileUploadView(View):
    form_class = DocumentForm
    success_url = reverse_lazy('home')
    template_name = 'file_upload.html'

    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        upload_form = self.form_class()
        return render(request, self.template_name, {'upload_form': upload_form})

    def post(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        upload_form = self.form_class(request.POST, request.FILES)
        if upload_form.is_valid():
            form_done = upload_form.save(commit=False) # save the form but don't commit
            form_done.user = self.request.user # request the user
            form_done.save() # finish saving the form
            return redirect(self.success_url)
        else:
            return render(request, self.template_name, {'upload_form': upload_form})

It is not an easy task but it is rewarding when it is done!