# SQLAlchemy 0.4 Documentation

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Version: 0.4.6 Last Updated: 05/14/08 14:36:43

### module sqlalchemy.schema

The schema module provides the building blocks for database metadata.

Each element within this module describes a database entity which can be created and dropped, or is otherwise part of such an entity. Examples include tables, columns, sequences, and indexes.

All entities are subclasses of SchemaItem, and as defined in this module they are intended to be agnostic of any vendor-specific constructs.

A collection of entities are grouped into a unit called MetaData. MetaData serves as a logical grouping of schema elements, and can also be associated with an actual database connection such that operations involving the contained elements can contact the database as needed.

Two of the elements here also build upon their "syntactic" counterparts, which are defined in module sqlalchemy.sql.expression, specifically Table and Column. Since these objects are part of the SQL expression language, they are usable as components in SQL expressions.

### class CheckConstraint(Constraint)

A table- or column-level CHECK constraint.

Can be included in the definition of a Table or Column.

def __init__(self, sqltext, name=None, deferrable=None, initially=None)

Construct a CHECK constraint.

sqltext
  A string containing the constraint definition. Will be used verbatim.
name
  Optional, the in-database name of the constraint.
deferrable
  Optional bool. If set, emit DEFERRABLE or NOT DEFERRABLE when issuing DDL for this constraint.
initially
  Optional string. If set, emit INITIALLY <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint.

def copy(self)
__visit_name__ = property()
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### class Column(SchemaItem,_ColumnClause)

Represent a column in a database table.

This is a subclass of `expression.ColumnClause` and represents an actual existing table in the database, in a similar fashion as `TableClause`/`Table`.

def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs)

Construct a new `Column` object.

Arguments are:

name
  The name of this column. This should be the identical name as it appears, or will appear, in the database. Name may be omitted at construction time but must be assigned before adding a Column instance to a Table.
type_
  The `TypeEngine` for this column. This can be any subclass of `types.AbstractType`, including the database-agnostic types defined in the types module, database-specific types defined within specific database modules, or user-defined types. If the column contains a ForeignKey, the type can also be None, in which case the type assigned will be that of the referenced column.
*args
  Constraint, ForeignKey, ColumnDefault and Sequence objects should be added as list values.
**kwargs

  Keyword arguments include:

  key

    Defaults to the column name: a Python-only alias name for this column.

    The column will then be identified everywhere in an application, including the column list on its Table, by this key, and not the given name. Generated SQL, however, will still reference the column by its actual name.

  primary_key
    Defaults to False: True if this column is a primary key column. Multiple columns can have this flag set to specify composite primary keys. As an alternative, the primary key of a Table can be specified via an explicit `PrimaryKeyConstraint` instance appended to the Table's list of objects.
  nullable
    Defaults to True : True if this column should allow nulls. True is the default unless this column is a primary key column.
  default
    Defaults to None: a scalar, Python callable, or `ClauseElement` representing the default value for this column, which will be invoked upon insert if this column is not present in the insert list or is given a value of None. The default expression will be converted into a `ColumnDefault` object upon initialization.
  _is_oid
    Defaults to False: used internally to indicate that this column is used as the quasi-hidden "oid" column
  index
    Defaults to False: indicates that this column is indexed. The name of the index is autogenerated. to specify indexes with explicit names or indexes that contain multiple columns, use the `Index` construct instead.
  info
    Defaults to {}: A space to store application specific data; this must be a dictionary.
  unique
    Defaults to False: indicates that this column contains a unique constraint, or if index is True as well, indicates that the Index should be created with the unique flag. To specify multiple columns in the constraint/index or to specify an explicit name, use the `UniqueConstraint` or `Index` constructs instead.
  autoincrement
    Defaults to True: indicates that integer-based primary key columns should have autoincrementing behavior, if supported by the underlying database. This will affect `CREATE TABLE` statements such that they will use the databases auto-incrementing keyword (such as `SERIAL` for Postgres, `AUTO_INCREMENT` for Mysql) and will also affect the behavior of some dialects during `INSERT` statement execution such that they will assume primary key values are created in this manner. If a `Column` has an explicit `ColumnDefault` object (such as via the default keyword, or a `Sequence` or `PassiveDefault`), then the value of autoincrement is ignored and is assumed to be False. autoincrement value is only significant for a column with a type or subtype of Integer.
  quote
    When True, indicates that the Column identifier must be quoted. This flag does not disable quoting; for case-insensitive names, use an all lower case identifier.

def append_foreign_key(self, fk)
bind = property()
def copy(self)

Create a copy of this `Column`, unitialized.

This is used in `Table.tometadata`.

def get_children(self, schema_visitor=False, **kwargs)
def references(self, column)

Return True if this references the given column via a foreign key.

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### class ColumnDefault(DefaultGenerator)

A plain default value on a column.

This could correspond to a constant, a callable function, or a SQL clause.

def __init__(self, arg, **kwargs)

Construct a new `ColumnDefault`.

__visit_name__ = property()
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### class Constraint(SchemaItem)

A table-level SQL constraint, such as a KEY.

Implements a hybrid of dict/setlike behavior with regards to the list of underying columns.

def __init__(self, name=None, deferrable=None, initially=None)

Create a SQL constraint.

name
  Optional, the in-database name of this `Constraint`.
deferrable
  Optional bool. If set, emit DEFERRABLE or NOT DEFERRABLE when issuing DDL for this constraint.
initially
  Optional string. If set, emit INITIALLY <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint.

def copy(self)
def keys(self)
def __add__(self, other)
def __contains__(self, x)
def __iter__(self)
def __len__(self)
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### class DDL(object)

A literal DDL statement.

Specifies literal SQL DDL to be executed by the database. DDL objects can be attached to `Tables` or `MetaData` instances, conditionally executing SQL as part of the DDL lifecycle of those schema items. Basic templating support allows a single DDL instance to handle repetitive tasks for multiple tables.

Examples:

    tbl = Table('users', metadata, Column('uid', Integer)) # ...
    DDL('DROP TRIGGER users_trigger').execute_at('before-create', tbl)

    spow = DDL('ALTER TABLE %(table)s SET secretpowers TRUE', on='somedb')
    spow.execute_at('after-create', tbl)

    drop_spow = DDL('ALTER TABLE users SET secretpowers FALSE')
    connection.execute(drop_spow)

def __init__(self, statement, on=None, context=None, bind=None)

Create a DDL statement.

statement

  A string or unicode string to be executed. Statements will be processed with Python's string formatting operator. See the `context` argument and the `execute_at` method.

  A literal '%' in a statement must be escaped as '%%'.

  SQL bind parameters are not available in DDL statements.

on

  Optional filtering criteria. May be a string or a callable predicate. If a string, it will be compared to the name of the executing database dialect:

      DDL('something', on='postgres')

  If a callable, it will be invoked with three positional arguments:

  > event
  >   The name of the event that has triggered this DDL, such as 'after-create' Will be None if the DDL is executed explicitly.
  > schema_item
  >   A SchemaItem instance, such as `Table` or `MetaData`. May be None if the DDL is executed explicitly.
  > connection
  >   The `Connection` being used for DDL execution

  If the callable returns a true value, the DDL statement will be executed.

context
  Optional dictionary, defaults to None. These values will be available for use in string substitutions on the DDL statement.
bind
  Optional. A `Connectable`, used by default when `execute()` is invoked without a bind argument.

bind = property()

An Engine or Connection to which this DDL is bound.

This property may be assigned an `Engine` or `Connection`, or assigned a string or URL to automatically create a basic `Engine` for this bind with `create_engine()`.

def execute(self, bind=None, schema_item=None)

Execute this DDL immediately.

Executes the DDL statement in isolation using the supplied `Connectable` or `Connectable` assigned to the `.bind` property, if not supplied. If the DDL has a conditional `on` criteria, it will be invoked with None as the event.

bind
  Optional, an `Engine` or `Connection`. If not supplied, a valid `Connectable` must be present in the `.bind` property.
schema_item
  Optional, defaults to None. Will be passed to the `on` callable criteria, if any, and may provide string expansion data for the statement. See `execute_at` for more information.

def execute_at(self, event, schema_item)

Link execution of this DDL to the DDL lifecycle of a SchemaItem.

Links this `DDL` to a `Table` or `MetaData` instance, executing it when that schema item is created or dropped. The DDL statement will be executed using the same Connection and transactional context as the Table create/drop itself. The `.bind` property of this statement is ignored.

event
  One of the events defined in the schema item's `.ddl_events`; e.g. 'before-create', 'after-create', 'before-drop' or 'after-drop'
schema_item
  A Table or MetaData instance

When operating on Table events, the following additional `statement` string substitions are available:

    %(table)s  - the Table name, with any required quoting applied
    %(schema)s - the schema name, with any required quoting applied
    %(fullname)s - the Table name including schema, quoted if needed

The DDL's `context`, if any, will be combined with the standard substutions noted above. Keys present in the context will override the standard substitutions.

A DDL instance can be linked to any number of schema items. The statement subsitution support allows for DDL instances to be used in a template fashion.

`execute_at` builds on the `append_ddl_listener` interface of MetaDta and Table objects.

Caveat: Creating or dropping a Table in isolation will also trigger any DDL set to `execute_at` that Table's MetaData. This may change in a future release.

def __call__(self, event, schema_item, bind)

Execute the DDL as a ddl_listener.

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### class DefaultGenerator(SchemaItem)

Base class for column default values.

def __init__(self, for_update=False, metadata=None)

Construct a new `DefaultGenerator`.

def execute(self, bind=None, **kwargs)
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### class ForeignKey(SchemaItem)

Defines a column-level FOREIGN KEY constraint between two columns.

`ForeignKey` is specified as an argument to a `Column` object.

For a composite (multiple column) FOREIGN KEY, use a ForeignKeyConstraint within the Table definition.

def __init__(self, column, constraint=None, use_alter=False, name=None, onupdate=None, ondelete=None, deferrable=None, initially=None)

Construct a column-level FOREIGN KEY.

column
  A single target column for the key relationship. A `Column` object or a column name as a string: `tablename.columnname` or `schema.tablename.columnname`.
constraint
  Optional. A parent `ForeignKeyConstraint` object. If not supplied, a `ForeignKeyConstraint` will be automatically created and added to the parent table.
name
  Optional string. An in-database name for the key if constraint is not provided.
onupdate
  Optional string. If set, emit ON UPDATE <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint. Typical values include CASCADE, DELETE and RESTRICT.
ondelete
  Optional string. If set, emit ON DELETE <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint. Typical values include CASCADE, DELETE and RESTRICT.
deferrable
  Optional bool. If set, emit DEFERRABLE or NOT DEFERRABLE when issuing DDL for this constraint.
initially
  Optional string. If set, emit INITIALLY <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint.
use_alter
  If True, do not emit this key as part of the CREATE TABLE definition. Instead, use ALTER TABLE after table creation to add the key. Useful for circular dependencies.

column = property()
def copy(self)

Produce a copy of this ForeignKey object.

def get_referent(self, table)

Return the column in the given table referenced by this ForeignKey.

Returns None if this `ForeignKey` does not reference the given table.

def references(self, table)

Return True if the given table is referenced by this ForeignKey.

target_fullname = property()
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### class ForeignKeyConstraint(Constraint)

A table-level FOREIGN KEY constraint.

Defines a single column or composite FOREIGN KEY ... REFERENCES constraint. For a no-frills, single column foreign key, adding a `ForeignKey` to the definition of a `Column` is a shorthand equivalent for an unnamed, single column `ForeignKeyConstraint`.

def __init__(self, columns, refcolumns, name=None, onupdate=None, ondelete=None, use_alter=False, deferrable=None, initially=None)

Construct a composite-capable FOREIGN KEY.

columns
  A sequence of local column names. The named columns must be defined and present in the parent Table.
refcolumns
  A sequence of foreign column names or Column objects. The columns must all be located within the same Table.
name
  Optional, the in-database name of the key.
onupdate
  Optional string. If set, emit ON UPDATE <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint. Typical values include CASCADE, DELETE and RESTRICT.
ondelete
  Optional string. If set, emit ON DELETE <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint. Typical values include CASCADE, DELETE and RESTRICT.
deferrable
  Optional bool. If set, emit DEFERRABLE or NOT DEFERRABLE when issuing DDL for this constraint.
initially
  Optional string. If set, emit INITIALLY <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint.
use_alter
  If True, do not emit this key as part of the CREATE TABLE definition. Instead, use ALTER TABLE after table creation to add the key. Useful for circular dependencies.

def append_element(self, col, refcol)
def copy(self)
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### class Index(SchemaItem)

A table-level INDEX.

Defines a composite (one or more column) INDEX. For a no-frills, single column index, adding `index=True` to the `Column` definition is a shorthand equivalent for an unnamed, single column Index.

def __init__(self, name, *columns, **kwargs)

Construct an index object.

Arguments are:

name
  The name of the index
*columns
  Columns to include in the index. All columns must belong to the same table, and no column may appear more than once.
**kwargs

  Keyword arguments include:

  unique
    Defaults to False: create a unique index.
  postgres_where
    Defaults to None: create a partial index when using PostgreSQL

def append_column(self, column)
def create(self, bind=None)
def drop(self, bind=None)
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### class MetaData(SchemaItem)

A collection of Tables and their associated schema constructs.

Holds a collection of Tables and an optional binding to an `Engine` or `Connection`. If bound, the Table objects in the collection and their columns may participate in implicit SQL execution.

The `bind` property may be assigned to dynamically. A common pattern is to start unbound and then bind later when an engine is available:

    metadata = MetaData()
    # define tables
    Table('mytable', metadata, ...)
    # connect to an engine later, perhaps after loading a URL from a
    # configuration file
    metadata.bind = an_engine

MetaData is a thread-safe object after tables have been explicitly defined or loaded via reflection.

def __init__(self, bind=None, reflect=False)

Create a new MetaData object.

bind
  An Engine or Connection to bind to. May also be a string or URL instance, these are passed to create_engine() and this MetaData will be bound to the resulting engine.
reflect
  Optional, automatically load all tables from the bound database. Defaults to False. `bind` is required when this option is set. For finer control over loaded tables, use the `reflect` method of `MetaData`.

def append_ddl_listener(self, event, listener)

Append a DDL event listener to this `MetaData`.

The `listener` callable will be triggered when this `MetaData` is involved in DDL creates or drops, and will be invoked either before all Table-related actions or after.

Arguments are:

event
  One of `MetaData.ddl_events`; 'before-create', 'after-create', 'before-drop' or 'after-drop'.
listener

  A callable, invoked with three positional arguments:

  event
    The event currently being handled
  schema_item
    The `MetaData` object being operated upon
  bind
    The `Connection` bueing used for DDL execution.

Listeners are added to the MetaData's `ddl_listeners` attribute.

Note: MetaData listeners are invoked even when `Tables` are created in isolation. This may change in a future release. I.e.:

    # triggers all MetaData and Table listeners:
    metadata.create_all()

    # triggers MetaData listeners too:
    some.table.create()

bind = property()

An Engine or Connection to which this MetaData is bound.

This property may be assigned an `Engine` or `Connection`, or assigned a string or URL to automatically create a basic `Engine` for this bind with `create_engine()`.

def clear(self)
def connect(*args, **kwargs)

Deprecated. Bind this MetaData to an Engine.

> Use `metadata.bind = <engine>` or `metadata.bind = <url>`.

> bind
>   A string, `URL`, `Engine` or `Connection` instance. If a string or `URL`, will be passed to `create_engine()` along with `\**kwargs` to produce the engine which to connect to. Otherwise connects directly to the given `Engine`.

def create_all(self, bind=None, tables=None, checkfirst=True)

Create all tables stored in this metadata.

Conditional by default, will not attempt to recreate tables already present in the target database.

bind
  A `Connectable` used to access the database; if None, uses the existing bind on this `MetaData`, if any.
tables
  Optional list of `Table` objects, which is a subset of the total tables in the `MetaData` (others are ignored).
checkfirst
  Defaults to True, don't issue CREATEs for tables already present in the target database.

def drop_all(self, bind=None, tables=None, checkfirst=True)

Drop all tables stored in this metadata.

Conditional by default, will not attempt to drop tables not present in the target database.

bind
  A `Connectable` used to access the database; if None, uses the existing bind on this `MetaData`, if any.
tables
  Optional list of `Table` objects, which is a subset of the total tables in the `MetaData` (others are ignored).
checkfirst
  Defaults to True, don't issue CREATEs for tables already present in the target database.

def is_bound(self)

True if this MetaData is bound to an Engine or Connection.

def reflect(self, bind=None, schema=None, only=None)

Load all available table definitions from the database.

Automatically creates `Table` entries in this `MetaData` for any table available in the database but not yet present in the `MetaData`. May be called multiple times to pick up tables recently added to the database, however no special action is taken if a table in this `MetaData` no longer exists in the database.

bind
  A `Connectable` used to access the database; if None, uses the existing bind on this `MetaData`, if any.
schema
  Optional, query and reflect tables from an alterate schema.
only

  Optional. Load only a sub-set of available named tables. May be specified as a sequence of names or a callable.

  If a sequence of names is provided, only those tables will be reflected. An error is raised if a table is requested but not available. Named tables already present in this `MetaData` are ignored.

  If a callable is provided, it will be used as a boolean predicate to filter the list of potential table names. The callable is called with a table name and this `MetaData` instance as positional arguments and should return a true value for any table to reflect.

def remove(self, table)
def table_iterator(self, reverse=True, tables=None)
def __contains__(self, key)
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### class PassiveDefault(DefaultGenerator)

A default that takes effect on the database side.

def __init__(self, arg, **kwargs)

Construct a new `PassiveDefault`.

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### class PrimaryKeyConstraint(Constraint)

A table-level PRIMARY KEY constraint.

Defines a single column or composite PRIMARY KEY constraint. For a no-frills primary key, adding `primary_key=True` to one or more `Column` definitions is a shorthand equivalent for an unnamed single- or multiple-column PrimaryKeyConstraint.

def __init__(self, *columns, **kwargs)

Construct a composite-capable PRIMARY KEY.

*columns
  A sequence of column names. All columns named must be defined and present within the parent Table.
name
  Optional, the in-database name of the key.
deferrable
  Optional bool. If set, emit DEFERRABLE or NOT DEFERRABLE when issuing DDL for this constraint.
initially
  Optional string. If set, emit INITIALLY <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint.

def add(self, col)
def add(self, col)
def copy(self)
def remove(self, col)
def replace(self, col)
def __eq__(self, other)
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### class SchemaItem(object)

Base class for items that define a database schema.

bind = property()

Return the connectable associated with this SchemaItem.

def get_children(self, **kwargs)

used to allow SchemaVisitor access

info = property()
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### class SchemaVisitor(ClauseVisitor)

Define the visiting for `SchemaItem` objects.

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### class Sequence(DefaultGenerator)

Represents a named database sequence.

def __init__(self, name, start=None, increment=None, schema=None, optional=False, quote=False, **kwargs)

Construct a new `Sequence`.

def create(self, bind=None, checkfirst=True)

Creates this sequence in the database.

def drop(self, bind=None, checkfirst=True)

Drops this sequence from the database.

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### class Table(SchemaItem,TableClause)

Represent a relational database table.

def __init__(self, name, metadata, *args, **kwargs)

Construct a Table.

Table objects can be constructed directly. Arguments are:

name

  The name of this table, exactly as it appears, or will appear, in the database.

  This property, along with the schema, indicates the singleton identity of this table.

  Further tables constructed with the same name/schema combination will return the same Table instance.

*args
  Should contain a listing of the Column objects for this table.
**kwargs

  kwargs include:

  schema
    The schema name for this table, which is required if the table resides in a schema other than the default selected schema for the engine's database connection. Defaults to `None`.
  autoload
    Defaults to False: the Columns for this table should be reflected from the database. Usually there will be no Column objects in the constructor if this property is set.
  autoload_with
    if autoload==True, this is an optional Engine or Connection instance to be used for the table reflection. If `None`, the underlying MetaData's bound connectable will be used.
  include_columns
    A list of strings indicating a subset of columns to be loaded via the `autoload` operation; table columns who aren't present in this list will not be represented on the resulting `Table` object. Defaults to `None` which indicates all columns should be reflected.
  info
    Defaults to {}: A space to store application specific data; this must be a dictionary.
  mustexist
    Defaults to False: indicates that this Table must already have been defined elsewhere in the application, else an exception is raised.
  useexisting
    Defaults to False: indicates that if this Table was already defined elsewhere in the application, disregard the rest of the constructor arguments.
  owner
    Deprecated; this is an oracle-only argument - "schema" should be used in its place.
  quote
    When True, indicates that the Table identifier must be quoted. This flag does not disable quoting; for case-insensitive names, use an all lower case identifier.
  quote_schema
    When True, indicates that the schema identifier must be quoted. This flag does not disable quoting; for case-insensitive names, use an all lower case identifier.

def append_column(self, column)

Append a `Column` to this `Table`.

def append_constraint(self, constraint)

Append a `Constraint` to this `Table`.

def append_ddl_listener(self, event, listener)

Append a DDL event listener to this `Table`.

The `listener` callable will be triggered when this `Table` is created or dropped, either directly before or after the DDL is issued to the database. The listener may modify the Table, but may not abort the event itself.

Arguments are:

event
  One of `Table.ddl_events`; e.g. 'before-create', 'after-create', 'before-drop' or 'after-drop'.
listener

  A callable, invoked with three positional arguments:

  event
    The event currently being handled
  schema_item
    The `Table` object being created or dropped
  bind
    The `Connection` bueing used for DDL execution.

Listeners are added to the Table's `ddl_listeners` attribute.

def create(self, bind=None, checkfirst=False)

Issue a `CREATE` statement for this table.

See also `metadata.create_all()`.

def drop(self, bind=None, checkfirst=False)

Issue a `DROP` statement for this table.

See also `metadata.drop_all()`.

def exists(self, bind=None)

Return True if this table exists.

def get_children(self, column_collections=True, schema_visitor=False, **kwargs)
key = property()
primary_key = property()
def tometadata(self, metadata, schema=None)

Return a copy of this `Table` associated with a different `MetaData`.

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### class ThreadLocalMetaData(MetaData)

A MetaData variant that presents a different `bind` in every thread.

Makes the `bind` property of the MetaData a thread-local value, allowing this collection of tables to be bound to different `Engine` implementations or connections in each thread.

The ThreadLocalMetaData starts off bound to None in each thread. Binds must be made explicitly by assigning to the `bind` property or using `connect()`. You can also re-bind dynamically multiple times per thread, just like a regular `MetaData`.

Use this type of MetaData when your tables are present in more than one database and you need to address them simultanesouly.

def __init__(self)

Construct a ThreadLocalMetaData.

bind = property()

The bound Engine or Connection for this thread.

This property may be assigned an Engine or Connection, or assigned a string or URL to automatically create a basic Engine for this bind with `create_engine()`.

def connect(*args, **kwargs)

Deprecated. Bind to an Engine in the caller's thread.

> Use `metadata.bind=<engine>` or `metadata.bind=<url>`.

> bind
>   A string, `URL`, `Engine` or `Connection` instance. If a string or `URL`, will be passed to `create_engine()` along with `\**kwargs` to produce the engine which to connect to. Otherwise connects directly to the given `Engine`.

def dispose(self)

Dispose all bound engines, in all thread contexts.

def is_bound(self)

True if there is a bind for this thread.

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### class UniqueConstraint(Constraint)

A table-level UNIQUE constraint.

Defines a single column or composite UNIQUE constraint. For a no-frills, single column constraint, adding `unique=True` to the `Column` definition is a shorthand equivalent for an unnamed, single column UniqueConstraint.

def __init__(self, *columns, **kwargs)

Construct a UNIQUE constraint.

*columns
  A sequence of column names. All columns named must be defined and present within the parent Table.
name
  Optional, the in-database name of the key.
deferrable
  Optional bool. If set, emit DEFERRABLE or NOT DEFERRABLE when issuing DDL for this constraint.
initially
  Optional string. If set, emit INITIALLY <value> when issuing DDL for this constraint.

def append_column(self, col)
def copy(self)
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