:orphan:

.. _glossary:

========
Glossary
========

.. glossary::
    :sorted:

    1.x style
    2.0 style
    1.x-style
    2.0-style
        These terms are new in SQLAlchemy 1.4 and refer to the SQLAlchemy 1.4->
        2.0 transition plan, described at :ref:`migration_20_toplevel`.  The
        term "1.x style" refers to an API used in the way it's been documented
        throughout the 1.x series of SQLAlchemy and earlier (e.g. 1.3, 1.2, etc)
        and the term "2.0 style" refers to the way an API will look in version
        2.0.   Version 1.4 implements nearly all of 2.0's API in so-called
        "transition mode", while version 2.0 still maintains the legacy
        :class:`_orm.Query` object to allow legacy code to remain largely
        2.0 compatible.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`migration_20_toplevel`

    sentinel
    insert sentinel
        This is a SQLAlchemy-specific term that refers to a
        :class:`_schema.Column` which can be used for a bulk
        :term:`insertmanyvalues` operation to track INSERTed data records
        against rows passed back using RETURNING or similar.   Such a
        column configuration is necessary for those cases when the
        :term:`insertmanyvalues` feature does an optimized INSERT..RETURNING
        statement for many rows at once while still being able to guarantee the
        order of returned rows matches the input data.

        For typical use cases, the SQLAlchemy SQL compiler can automatically
        make use of surrogate integer primary key columns as "insert
        sentinels", and no user-configuration is required.  For less common
        cases with other varieties of server-generated primary key values,
        explicit "insert sentinel" columns may be optionally configured within
        :term:`table metadata` in order to optimize INSERT statements that
        are inserting many rows at once.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`engine_insertmanyvalues_returning_order` - in the section
            :ref:`engine_insertmanyvalues`

    insertmanyvalues
        This refers to a SQLAlchemy-specific feature which allows INSERT
        statements to emit thousands of new rows within a single statement
        while at the same time allowing server generated values to be returned
        inline from the statement using RETURNING or similar, for performance
        optimization purposes. The feature is intended to be transparently
        available for selected backends, but does offer some configurational
        options. See the section :ref:`engine_insertmanyvalues` for a full
        description of this feature.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`engine_insertmanyvalues`

    mixin class
    mixin classes

      A common object-oriented pattern where a class that contains methods or
      attributes for use by other classes without having to be the parent class
      of those other classes.

      .. seealso::

          `Mixin (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixin>`_


    reflection
    reflected
        In SQLAlchemy, this term refers to the feature of querying a database's
        schema catalogs in order to load information about existing tables,
        columns, constraints, and other constructs.   SQLAlchemy includes
        features that can both provide raw data for this information, as well
        as that it can construct Core/ORM usable :class:`.Table` objects
        from database schema catalogs automatically.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`metadata_reflection_toplevel` - complete background on
            database reflection.

            :ref:`orm_declarative_reflected` - background on integrating
            ORM mappings with reflected tables.


    imperative
    declarative

        In the SQLAlchemy ORM, these terms refer to two different styles of
        mapping Python classes to database tables.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`orm_declarative_mapping`

            :ref:`orm_imperative_mapping`

    facade

        An object that serves as a front-facing interface masking more complex
        underlying or structural code.

        .. seealso::

            `Facade pattern (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facade_pattern>`_

    relational
    relational algebra

        An algebraic system developed by Edgar F. Codd that is used for
        modelling and querying the data stored in relational databases.

        .. seealso::

            `Relational Algebra (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_algebra>`_

    cartesian product

        Given two sets A and B, the cartesian product is the set of all ordered pairs (a, b)
        where a is in A and b is in B.

        In terms of SQL databases, a cartesian product occurs when we select from two
        or more tables (or other subqueries) without establishing any kind of criteria
        between the rows of one table to another (directly or indirectly).  If we
        SELECT from table A and table B at the same time, we get every row of A matched
        to the first row of B, then every row of A matched to the second row of B, and
        so on until every row from A has been paired with every row of B.

        Cartesian products cause enormous result sets to be generated and can easily
        crash a client application if not prevented.

        .. seealso::

            `Cartesian Product (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartesian_product>`_

    cyclomatic complexity
        A measure of code complexity based on the number of possible paths
        through a program's source code.

        .. seealso::

            `Cyclomatic Complexity <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclomatic_complexity>`_

    bound parameter
    bound parameters
    bind parameter
    bind parameters

        Bound parameters are the primary means in which data is passed to the
        :term:`DBAPI` database driver.    While the operation to be invoked is
        based on the SQL statement string, the data values themselves are
        passed separately, where the driver contains logic that will safely
        process these strings and pass them to the backend database server,
        which may either involve formatting the parameters into the SQL string
        itself, or passing them to the database using separate protocols.

        The specific system by which the database driver does this should not
        matter to the caller; the point is that on the outside, data should
        **always** be passed separately and not as part of the SQL string
        itself.  This is integral both to having adequate security against
        SQL injections as well as allowing the driver to have the best
        performance.

        .. seealso::

            `Prepared Statement <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepared_statement>`_ - at Wikipedia

            `bind parameters <https://use-the-index-luke.com/sql/where-clause/bind-parameters>`_ - at Use The Index, Luke!

            :ref:`tutorial_sending_parameters` - in the :ref:`unified_tutorial`

    selectable
        A term used in SQLAlchemy to describe a SQL construct that represents
        a collection of rows.   It's largely similar to the concept of a
        "relation" in :term:`relational algebra`.  In SQLAlchemy, objects
        that subclass the :class:`_expression.Selectable` class are considered to be
        usable as "selectables" when using SQLAlchemy Core.  The two most
        common constructs are that of the :class:`_schema.Table` and that of the
        :class:`_expression.Select` statement.

    ORM-annotated
    annotations

        The phrase "ORM-annotated" refers to an internal aspect of SQLAlchemy,
        where a Core object such as a :class:`_schema.Column` object can carry along
        additional runtime information that marks it as belonging to a particular
        ORM mapping.   The term should not be confused with the common phrase
        "type annotation", which refers to Python source code "type hints" used
        for static typing as introduced at :pep:`484`.

        Most of SQLAlchemy's documented code examples are formatted with a
        small note regarding "Annotated Example" or "Non-annotated Example".
        This refers to whether or not the example is :pep:`484` annotated,
        and is not related to the SQLAlchemy concept of "ORM-annotated".

        When the phrase "ORM-annotated" appears in documentation, it is
        referring to Core SQL expression objects such as :class:`.Table`,
        :class:`.Column`, and :class:`.Select` objects, which originate from,
        or refer to sub-elements that originate from, one or more ORM mappings,
        and therefore will have ORM-specific interpretations and/or behaviors
        when passed to ORM methods such as :meth:`_orm.Session.execute`.
        For example, when we construct a :class:`.Select` object from an ORM
        mapping, such as the ``User`` class illustrated in the
        :ref:`ORM Tutorial <tutorial_declaring_mapped_classes>`::

            >>> stmt = select(User)

        The internal state of the above :class:`.Select` refers to the
        :class:`.Table` to which ``User`` is mapped.   The ``User`` class
        itself is not immediately referenced.  This is how the :class:`.Select`
        construct remains compatible with Core-level processes (note that
        the ``._raw_columns`` member of :class:`.Select` is private and
        should not be accessed by end-user code)::

            >>> stmt._raw_columns
            [Table('user_account', MetaData(), Column('id', Integer(), ...)]

        However, when our :class:`.Select` is passed along to an ORM
        :class:`.Session`, the ORM entities that are indirectly associated
        with the object are used to interpret this :class:`.Select` in an
        ORM context.  The actual "ORM annotations" can be seen in another
        private variable ``._annotations``::

          >>> stmt._raw_columns[0]._annotations
          immutabledict({
            'entity_namespace': <Mapper at 0x7f4dd8098c10; User>,
            'parententity': <Mapper at 0x7f4dd8098c10; User>,
            'parentmapper': <Mapper at 0x7f4dd8098c10; User>
          })

        Therefore we refer to ``stmt`` as an **ORM-annotated select()** object.
        It's a :class:`.Select` statement that contains additional information
        that will cause it to be interpreted in an ORM-specific way when passed
        to methods like :meth:`_orm.Session.execute`.


    plugin
    plugin-enabled
    plugin-specific
        "plugin-enabled" or "plugin-specific" generally indicates a function or method in
        SQLAlchemy Core which will behave differently when used in an ORM
        context.

        SQLAlchemy allows Core constructs such as :class:`_sql.Select` objects
        to participate in a "plugin" system, which can inject additional
        behaviors and features into the object that are not present by default.

        Specifically, the primary "plugin" is the "orm" plugin, which is
        at the base of the system that the SQLAlchemy ORM makes use of
        Core constructs in order to compose and execute SQL queries that
        return ORM results.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`migration_20_unify_select`

    crud
    CRUD
        An acronym meaning "Create, Update, Delete".  The term in SQL refers to the
        set of operations that create, modify and delete data from the database,
        also known as :term:`DML`, and typically refers to the ``INSERT``,
        ``UPDATE``, and ``DELETE`` statements.

    executemany
        This term refers to a part of the :pep:`249` DBAPI specification
        indicating a single SQL statement that may be invoked against a
        database connection with multiple parameter sets.   The specific
        method is known as
        `cursor.executemany() <https://peps.python.org/pep-0249/#executemany>`_,
        and it has many behavioral differences in comparison to the
        `cursor.execute() <https://peps.python.org/pep-0249/#execute>`_
        method which is used for single-statement invocation.   The "executemany"
        method executes the given SQL statement multiple times, once for
        each set of parameters passed.  The general rationale for using
        executemany is that of improved performance, wherein the DBAPI may
        use techniques such as preparing the statement just once beforehand,
        or otherwise optimizing for invoking the same statement many times.

        SQLAlchemy typically makes use of the ``cursor.executemany()`` method
        automatically when the :meth:`_engine.Connection.execute` method is
        used where a list of parameter dictionaries were passed; this indicates
        to SQLAlchemy Core that the SQL statement and processed parameter sets
        should be passed to ``cursor.executemany()``, where the statement will
        be invoked by the driver for each parameter dictionary individually.

        A key limitation of the ``cursor.executemany()`` method as used with
        all known DBAPIs is that the ``cursor`` is not configured to return
        rows when this method is used.  For **most** backends (a notable
        exception being the cx_Oracle, / OracleDB DBAPIs), this means that
        statements like ``INSERT..RETURNING`` typically cannot be used with
        ``cursor.executemany()`` directly, since DBAPIs typically do not
        aggregate the single row from each INSERT execution together.

        To overcome this limitation, SQLAlchemy as of the 2.0 series implements
        an alternative form of "executemany" which is known as
        :ref:`engine_insertmanyvalues`. This feature makes use of
        ``cursor.execute()`` to invoke an INSERT statement that will proceed
        with multiple parameter sets in one round trip, thus producing the same
        effect as using ``cursor.executemany()`` while still supporting
        RETURNING.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`tutorial_multiple_parameters` - tutorial introduction to
            "executemany"

            :ref:`engine_insertmanyvalues` - SQLAlchemy feature which allows
            RETURNING to be used with "executemany"

    marshalling
    data marshalling
         The process of transforming the memory representation of an object to
         a data format suitable for storage or transmission to another part of
         a system, when data must be moved between different parts of a
         computer program or from one program to another.   In terms of
         SQLAlchemy, we often need to "marshal" data into a format appropriate
         for passing into the relational database.

         .. seealso::

            `Marshalling (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshalling_(computer_science)>`_

            :ref:`types_typedecorator` - SQLAlchemy's :class:`.TypeDecorator`
            is commonly used for data marshalling as data is sent into the
            database for INSERT and UPDATE statements, and "unmarshalling"
            data as it is retrieved using SELECT statements.

    descriptor
    descriptors

        In Python, a descriptor is an object attribute with “binding behavior”,
        one whose attribute access has been overridden by methods in the
        `descriptor protocol <https://docs.python.org/howto/descriptor.html>`_.
        Those methods are ``__get__()``, ``__set__()``, and ``__delete__()``.
        If any of those methods are defined for an object, it is said to be a
        descriptor.

        In SQLAlchemy, descriptors are used heavily in order to provide attribute behavior
        on mapped classes.   When a class is mapped as such::

            class MyClass(Base):
                __tablename__ = "foo"

                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                data = Column(String)

        The ``MyClass`` class will be :term:`mapped` when its definition
        is complete, at which point the ``id`` and ``data`` attributes,
        starting out as :class:`_schema.Column` objects, will be replaced
        by the :term:`instrumentation` system with instances
        of :class:`.InstrumentedAttribute`, which are descriptors that
        provide the above mentioned ``__get__()``, ``__set__()`` and
        ``__delete__()`` methods.   The :class:`.InstrumentedAttribute`
        will generate a SQL expression when used at the class level:

        .. sourcecode:: pycon+sql

            >>> print(MyClass.data == 5)
            {printsql}data = :data_1

        and at the instance level, keeps track of changes to values,
        and also :term:`lazy loads` unloaded attributes
        from the database::

            >>> m1 = MyClass()
            >>> m1.id = 5
            >>> m1.data = "some data"

            >>> from sqlalchemy import inspect
            >>> inspect(m1).attrs.data.history.added
            "some data"

    DDL
        An acronym for **Data Definition Language**.  DDL is the subset
        of SQL that relational databases use to configure tables, constraints,
        and other permanent objects within a database schema.  SQLAlchemy
        provides a rich API for constructing and emitting DDL expressions.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`metadata_toplevel`

            `DDL (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_definition_language>`_

            :term:`DML`

            :term:`DQL`

    DML
       An acronym for **Data Manipulation Language**.  DML is the subset of
       SQL that relational databases use to *modify* the data in tables. DML
       typically refers to the three widely familiar statements of INSERT,
       UPDATE and  DELETE, otherwise known as :term:`CRUD` (acronym for "Create,
       Read, Update, Delete").

        .. seealso::

            `DML (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_manipulation_language>`_

            :term:`DDL`

            :term:`DQL`

    DQL
        An acronym for **Data Query Language**.  DQL is the subset of
        SQL that relational databases use to *read* the data in tables.
        DQL almost exclusively refers to the SQL SELECT construct as the
        top level SQL statement in use.

        .. seealso::

            `DQL (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_query_language>`_

            :term:`DML`

            :term:`DDL`

    metadata
    database metadata
    table metadata
        The term "metadata" generally refers to "data that describes data";
        data that itself represents the format and/or structure of some other
        kind of data.  In SQLAlchemy, the term "metadata" typically refers  to
        the :class:`_schema.MetaData` construct, which is a collection of information
        about the tables, columns, constraints, and other :term:`DDL` objects
        that may exist in a particular database.

        .. seealso::

            `Metadata Mapping (via Martin Fowler) <https://www.martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/metadataMapping.html>`_

            :ref:`tutorial_working_with_metadata`  - in the :ref:`unified_tutorial`

    version id column
        In SQLAlchemy, this refers to the use of a particular table column that
        tracks the "version" of a particular row, as the row changes values.   While
        there are different kinds of relational patterns that make use of a
        "version id column" in different ways, SQLAlchemy's ORM includes a particular
        feature that allows for such a column to be configured as a means of
        testing for stale data when a row is being UPDATEd with new information.
        If the last known "version" of this column does not match that of the
        row when we try to put new data into the row, we know that we are
        acting on stale information.

        There are also other ways of storing "versioned" rows in a database,
        often referred to as "temporal" data.  In addition to SQLAlchemy's
        versioning feature, a few more examples are also present in the
        documentation, see the links below.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`mapper_version_counter` - SQLAlchemy's built-in version id feature.

            :ref:`examples_versioning` - other examples of mappings that version rows
            temporally.

    registry
        An object, typically globally accessible, that contains long-lived
        information about some program state that is generally useful to many
        parts of a program.

        .. seealso::

            `Registry (via Martin Fowler) <https://martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/registry.html>`_

    cascade
        A term used in SQLAlchemy to describe how an ORM persistence action that
        takes place on a particular object would extend into other objects
        which are directly associated with that object.  In SQLAlchemy, these
        object associations are configured using the :func:`_orm.relationship`
        construct.   :func:`_orm.relationship` contains a parameter called
        :paramref:`_orm.relationship.cascade` which provides options on how certain
        persistence operations may cascade.

        The term "cascades" as well as the general architecture of this system
        in SQLAlchemy was borrowed, for better or worse, from the Hibernate
        ORM.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`unitofwork_cascades`

    dialect
        In SQLAlchemy, the "dialect" is a Python object that represents information
        and methods that allow database operations to proceed on a particular
        kind of database backend and a particular kind of Python driver (or
        :term:`DBAPI`) for that database.   SQLAlchemy dialects are subclasses
        of the :class:`.Dialect` class.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`engines_toplevel`

    discriminator
        A result-set column which is used during :term:`polymorphic` loading
        to determine what kind of mapped class should be applied to a particular
        incoming result row.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`inheritance_toplevel`

    instrumentation
    instrumented
    instrumenting
        Instrumentation refers to the process of augmenting the functionality
        and attribute set of a particular class.   Ideally, the
        behavior of the class should remain close to a regular
        class, except that additional behaviors and features are
        made available.  The SQLAlchemy :term:`mapping` process,
        among other things, adds database-enabled :term:`descriptors`
        to a mapped
        class each of which represents a particular database column
        or relationship to a related class.

    identity key
        A key associated with ORM-mapped objects that identifies their
        primary key identity within the database, as well as their unique
        identity within a :class:`_orm.Session` :term:`identity map`.

        In SQLAlchemy, you can view the identity key for an ORM object
        using the :func:`_sa.inspect` API to return the :class:`_orm.InstanceState`
        tracking object, then looking at the :attr:`_orm.InstanceState.key`
        attribute::

            >>> from sqlalchemy import inspect
            >>> inspect(some_object).key
            (<class '__main__.MyTable'>, (1,), None)

        .. seealso::

           :term:`identity map`

    identity map
        A mapping between Python objects and their database identities.
        The identity map is a collection that's associated with an
        ORM :term:`Session` object, and maintains a single instance
        of every database object keyed to its identity.   The advantage
        to this pattern is that all operations which occur for a particular
        database identity are transparently coordinated onto a single
        object instance.  When using an identity map in conjunction with
        an :term:`isolated` transaction, having a reference
        to an object that's known to have a particular primary key can
        be considered from a practical standpoint to be a
        proxy to the actual database row.

        .. seealso::

            `Identity Map (via Martin Fowler) <https://martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/identityMap.html>`_

            :ref:`session_get` - how to look up an object in the identity map
            by primary key

    lazy initialization
        A tactic of delaying some initialization action, such as creating objects,
        populating data, or establishing connectivity to other services, until
        those resources are required.

        .. seealso::

            `Lazy initialization (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazy_initialization>`_

    lazy load
    lazy loads
    lazy loaded
    lazy loading
        In object relational mapping, a "lazy load" refers to an
        attribute that does not contain its database-side value
        for some period of time, typically when the object is
        first loaded.  Instead, the attribute receives a
        *memoization* that causes it to go out to the database
        and load its data when it's first used.   Using this pattern,
        the complexity and time spent within object fetches can
        sometimes be reduced, in that
        attributes for related tables don't need to be addressed
        immediately.

        Lazy loading is the opposite of :term:`eager loading`.

        Within SQLAlchemy, lazy loading is a key feature of the ORM, and
        applies to attributes which are :term:`mapped` on a user-defined class.
        When attributes that refer to database columns or related objects
        are accessed, for which no loaded value is present, the ORM makes
        use of the :class:`_orm.Session` for which the current object is
        associated with in the :term:`persistent` state, and emits a SELECT
        statement on the current transaction, starting a new transaction if
        one was not in progress.   If the object is in the :term:`detached`
        state and not associated with any :class:`_orm.Session`, this is
        considered to be an error state and an
        :ref:`informative exception <error_bhk3>` is raised.

        .. seealso::

            `Lazy Load (via Martin Fowler) <https://martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/lazyLoad.html>`_

            :term:`N plus one problem`

            :ref:`loading_columns` - includes information on lazy loading of
            ORM mapped columns

            :doc:`orm/queryguide/relationships` - includes information on lazy
            loading of ORM related objects

            :ref:`asyncio_orm_avoid_lazyloads` - tips on avoiding lazy loading
            when using the :ref:`asyncio_toplevel` extension

    eager load
    eager loads
    eager loaded
    eager loading
    eagerly load

        In object relational mapping, an "eager load" refers to an attribute
        that is populated with its database-side value at the same time as when
        the object itself is loaded from the database. In SQLAlchemy, the term
        "eager loading" usually refers to related collections and instances of
        objects that are linked between mappings using the
        :func:`_orm.relationship` construct, but can also refer to additional
        column attributes being loaded, often from other tables related to a
        particular table being queried, such as when using
        :ref:`inheritance <inheritance_toplevel>` mappings.

        Eager loading is the opposite of :term:`lazy loading`.

        .. seealso::

            :doc:`orm/queryguide/relationships`


    mapping
    mapped
    mapped class
    ORM mapped class
        We say a class is "mapped" when it has been associated with an
        instance of the :class:`_orm.Mapper` class. This process associates
        the class with a database table or other :term:`selectable` construct,
        so that instances of it can be persisted and loaded using a
        :class:`.Session`.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`orm_mapping_classes_toplevel`

    N plus one problem
    N plus one
        The N plus one problem is a common side effect of the
        :term:`lazy load` pattern, whereby an application wishes
        to iterate through a related attribute or collection on
        each member of a result set of objects, where that
        attribute or collection is set to be loaded via the lazy
        load pattern.   The net result is that a SELECT statement
        is emitted to load the initial result set of parent objects;
        then, as the application iterates through each member,
        an additional SELECT statement is emitted for each member
        in order to load the related attribute or collection for
        that member.  The end result is that for a result set of
        N parent objects, there will be N + 1 SELECT statements emitted.

        The N plus one problem is alleviated using :term:`eager loading`.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`tutorial_orm_loader_strategies`

            :doc:`orm/queryguide/relationships`

    polymorphic
    polymorphically
        Refers to a function that handles several types at once.  In SQLAlchemy,
        the term is usually applied to the concept of an ORM mapped class
        whereby a query operation will return different subclasses
        based on information in the result set, typically by checking the
        value of a particular column in the result known as the :term:`discriminator`.

        Polymorphic loading in SQLAlchemy implies that a one or a
        combination of three different schemes are used to map a hierarchy
        of classes; "joined", "single", and "concrete".   The section
        :ref:`inheritance_toplevel` describes inheritance mapping fully.

    method chaining
    generative
        "Method chaining", referred to within SQLAlchemy documentation as
        "generative", is an object-oriented technique whereby the state of an
        object is constructed by calling methods on the object. The object
        features any number of methods, each of which return a new object (or
        in some cases the same object) with additional state added to the
        object.

        The two SQLAlchemy objects that make the most use of
        method chaining are the :class:`_expression.Select`
        object and the :class:`.orm.query.Query` object.
        For example, a :class:`_expression.Select` object can
        be assigned two expressions to its WHERE clause as well
        as an ORDER BY clause by calling upon the :meth:`_expression.Select.where`
        and :meth:`_expression.Select.order_by` methods::

            stmt = (
                select(user.c.name)
                .where(user.c.id > 5)
                .where(user.c.name.like("e%"))
                .order_by(user.c.name)
            )

        Each method call above returns a copy of the original
        :class:`_expression.Select` object with additional qualifiers
        added.

    release
    releases
    released
        In the context of SQLAlchemy, the term "released"
        refers to the process of ending the usage of a particular
        database connection.    SQLAlchemy features the usage
        of connection pools, which allows configurability as to
        the lifespan of database connections.   When using a pooled
        connection, the process of "closing" it, i.e. invoking
        a statement like ``connection.close()``, may have the effect
        of the connection being returned to an existing pool,
        or it may have the effect of actually shutting down the
        underlying TCP/IP connection referred to by that connection -
        which one takes place depends on configuration as well
        as the current state of the pool.  So we used the term
        *released* instead, to mean "do whatever it is you do
        with connections when we're done using them".

        The term will sometimes be used in the phrase, "release
        transactional resources", to indicate more explicitly that
        what we are actually "releasing" is any transactional
        state which as accumulated upon the connection.  In most
        situations, the process of selecting from tables, emitting
        updates, etc. acquires :term:`isolated` state upon
        that connection as well as potential row or table locks.
        This state is all local to a particular transaction
        on the connection, and is released when we emit a rollback.
        An important feature of the connection pool is that when
        we return a connection to the pool, the ``connection.rollback()``
        method of the DBAPI is called as well, so that as the
        connection is set up to be used again, it's in a "clean"
        state with no references held to the previous series
        of operations.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`pooling_toplevel`

    DBAPI
    pep-249
        DBAPI is shorthand for the phrase "Python Database API
        Specification".  This is a widely used specification
        within Python to define common usage patterns for all
        database connection packages.   The DBAPI is a "low level"
        API which is typically the lowest level system used
        in a Python application to talk to a database.  SQLAlchemy's
        :term:`dialect` system is constructed around the
        operation of the DBAPI, providing individual dialect
        classes which service a specific DBAPI on top of a
        specific database engine; for example, the :func:`_sa.create_engine`
        URL ``postgresql+psycopg2://@localhost/test``
        refers to the :mod:`psycopg2 <.postgresql.psycopg2>`
        DBAPI/dialect combination, whereas the URL ``mysql+mysqldb://@localhost/test``
        refers to the :mod:`MySQL for Python <.mysql.mysqldb>`
        DBAPI/dialect combination.

        .. seealso::

            `PEP 249 - Python Database API Specification v2.0 <https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0249/>`_

    domain model

        A domain model in problem solving and software engineering is a conceptual model of all the topics related to a specific problem. It describes the various entities, their attributes, roles, and relationships, plus the constraints that govern the problem domain.

        (via Wikipedia)

        .. seealso::

            `Domain Model (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_model>`_

    unit of work
        A software architecture where a persistence system such as an object
        relational mapper maintains a list of changes made to a series of
        objects, and periodically flushes all those pending changes out to the
        database.

        SQLAlchemy's :class:`_orm.Session` implements the unit of work pattern,
        where objects that are added to the :class:`_orm.Session` using methods
        like :meth:`_orm.Session.add` will then participate in unit-of-work
        style persistence.

        For a walk-through of what unit of work persistence looks like in
        SQLAlchemy, start with the section :ref:`tutorial_orm_data_manipulation`
        in the :ref:`unified_tutorial`.    Then for more detail, see
        :ref:`session_basics` in the general reference documentation.

        .. seealso::

            `Unit of Work (via Martin Fowler) <https://martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/unitOfWork.html>`_

            :ref:`tutorial_orm_data_manipulation`

            :ref:`session_basics`

    flush
    flushing
    flushed

        This refers to the actual process used by the :term:`unit of work`
        to emit changes to a database.  In SQLAlchemy this process occurs
        via the :class:`_orm.Session` object and is usually automatic, but
        can also be controlled manually.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`session_flushing`

    expire
    expired
    expires
    expiring
    Expiring
        In the SQLAlchemy ORM, refers to when the data in a :term:`persistent`
        or sometimes :term:`detached` object is erased, such that when
        the object's attributes are next accessed, a :term:`lazy load` SQL
        query will be emitted in order to refresh the data for this object
        as stored in the current ongoing transaction.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`session_expire`

    Session
        The container or scope for ORM database operations. Sessions
        load instances from the database, track changes to mapped
        instances and persist changes in a single unit of work when
        flushed.

        .. seealso::

            :doc:`orm/session`

    columns clause
        The portion of the ``SELECT`` statement which enumerates the
        SQL expressions to be returned in the result set.  The expressions
        follow the ``SELECT`` keyword directly and are a comma-separated
        list of individual expressions.

        E.g.:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT user_account.name, user_account.email
            FROM user_account WHERE user_account.name = 'fred'

        Above, the list of columns ``user_acount.name``,
        ``user_account.email`` is the columns clause of the ``SELECT``.

    WHERE clause
        The portion of the ``SELECT`` statement which indicates criteria
        by which rows should be filtered.   It is a single SQL expression
        which follows the keyword ``WHERE``.

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT user_account.name, user_account.email
            FROM user_account
            WHERE user_account.name = 'fred' AND user_account.status = 'E'

        Above, the phrase ``WHERE user_account.name = 'fred' AND user_account.status = 'E'``
        comprises the WHERE clause of the ``SELECT``.

    FROM clause
        The portion of the ``SELECT`` statement which indicates the initial
        source of rows.

        A simple ``SELECT`` will feature one or more table names in its
        FROM clause.  Multiple sources are separated by a comma:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT user.name, address.email_address
            FROM user, address
            WHERE user.id=address.user_id

        The FROM clause is also where explicit joins are specified.  We can
        rewrite the above ``SELECT`` using a single ``FROM`` element which consists
        of a ``JOIN`` of the two tables:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT user.name, address.email_address
            FROM user JOIN address ON user.id=address.user_id


    subquery
    scalar subquery
        Refers to a ``SELECT`` statement that is embedded within an enclosing
        ``SELECT``.

        A subquery comes in two general flavors, one known as a "scalar select"
        which specifically must return exactly one row and one column, and the
        other form which acts as a "derived table" and serves as a source of
        rows for the FROM clause of another select.  A scalar select is eligible
        to be placed in the :term:`WHERE clause`, :term:`columns clause`,
        ORDER BY clause or HAVING clause of the enclosing select, whereas the
        derived table form is eligible to be placed in the FROM clause of the
        enclosing ``SELECT``.

        Examples:

        1. a scalar subquery placed in the :term:`columns clause` of an enclosing
           ``SELECT``.  The subquery in this example is a :term:`correlated subquery` because part
           of the rows which it selects from are given via the enclosing statement.

           .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT id, (SELECT name FROM address WHERE address.user_id=user.id)
            FROM user

        2. a scalar subquery placed in the :term:`WHERE clause` of an enclosing
           ``SELECT``.  This subquery in this example is not correlated as it selects a fixed result.

           .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT id, name FROM user
            WHERE status=(SELECT status_id FROM status_code WHERE code='C')

        3. a derived table subquery placed in the :term:`FROM clause` of an enclosing
           ``SELECT``.   Such a subquery is almost always given an alias name.

           .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT user.id, user.name, ad_subq.email_address
            FROM
                user JOIN
                (select user_id, email_address FROM address WHERE address_type='Q') AS ad_subq
                ON user.id = ad_subq.user_id

    correlates
    correlated subquery
    correlated subqueries
        A :term:`subquery` is correlated if it depends on data in the
        enclosing ``SELECT``.

        Below, a subquery selects the aggregate value ``MIN(a.id)``
        from the ``email_address`` table, such that
        it will be invoked for each value of ``user_account.id``, correlating
        the value of this column against the ``email_address.user_account_id``
        column:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT user_account.name, email_address.email
             FROM user_account
             JOIN email_address ON user_account.id=email_address.user_account_id
             WHERE email_address.id = (
                SELECT MIN(a.id) FROM email_address AS a
                WHERE a.user_account_id=user_account.id
             )

        The above subquery refers to the ``user_account`` table, which is not itself
        in the ``FROM`` clause of this nested query.   Instead, the ``user_account``
        table is received from the enclosing query, where each row selected from
        ``user_account`` results in a distinct execution of the subquery.

        A correlated subquery is in most cases present in the :term:`WHERE clause`
        or :term:`columns clause` of the immediately enclosing ``SELECT``
        statement, as well as in the ORDER BY or HAVING clause.

        In less common cases, a correlated subquery may be present in the
        :term:`FROM clause` of an enclosing ``SELECT``; in these cases the
        correlation is typically due to the enclosing ``SELECT`` itself being
        enclosed in the WHERE,
        ORDER BY, columns or HAVING clause of another ``SELECT``, such as:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            SELECT parent.id FROM parent
            WHERE EXISTS (
                SELECT * FROM (
                    SELECT child.id AS id, child.parent_id AS parent_id, child.pos AS pos
                    FROM child
                    WHERE child.parent_id = parent.id ORDER BY child.pos
                LIMIT 3)
            WHERE id = 7)

        Correlation from one ``SELECT`` directly to one which encloses the correlated
        query via its ``FROM``
        clause is not possible, because the correlation can only proceed once the
        original source rows from the enclosing statement's FROM clause are available.


    ACID
    ACID model
        An acronym for "Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation,
        Durability"; a set of properties that guarantee that
        database transactions are processed reliably.
        (via Wikipedia)

        .. seealso::

            :term:`atomicity`

            :term:`consistency`

            :term:`isolation`

            :term:`durability`

            `ACID Model (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACID_Model>`_

    atomicity
        Atomicity is one of the components of the :term:`ACID` model,
        and requires that each transaction is "all or nothing":
        if one part of the transaction fails, the entire transaction
        fails, and the database state is left unchanged. An atomic
        system must guarantee atomicity in each and every situation,
        including power failures, errors, and crashes.
        (via Wikipedia)

        .. seealso::

            :term:`ACID`

            `Atomicity (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomicity_(database_systems)>`_

    consistency
        Consistency is one of the components of the :term:`ACID` model,
        and ensures that any transaction will
        bring the database from one valid state to another. Any data
        written to the database must be valid according to all defined
        rules, including but not limited to :term:`constraints`, cascades,
        triggers, and any combination thereof.
        (via Wikipedia)

        .. seealso::

            :term:`ACID`

            `Consistency (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consistency_(database_systems)>`_

    isolation
    isolated
    isolation level
        The isolation property of the :term:`ACID` model
        ensures that the concurrent execution
        of transactions results in a system state that would be
        obtained if transactions were executed serially, i.e. one
        after the other. Each transaction must execute in total
        isolation i.e. if T1 and T2 execute concurrently then each
        should remain independent of the other.
        (via Wikipedia)

        .. seealso::

            :term:`ACID`

            `Isolation (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolation_(database_systems)>`_

            :term:`read uncommitted`

            :term:`read committed`

            :term:`repeatable read`

            :term:`serializable`

    repeatable read
        One of the four database :term:`isolation` levels, repeatable read
        features all of the isolation of :term:`read committed`, and
        additionally features that any particular row that is read within a
        transaction is guaranteed from that point to not have any subsequent
        external changes in value (i.e. from other concurrent UPDATE
        statements) for the duration of that transaction.

    read committed
        One of the four database :term:`isolation` levels, read committed
        features that the transaction will not be exposed to any data from
        other concurrent transactions that has not been committed yet,
        preventing so-called "dirty reads".  However, under read committed
        there can be non-repeatable reads, meaning data in a row may change
        when read a second time if another transaction has committed changes.

    read uncommitted
        One of the four database :term:`isolation` levels, read uncommitted
        features that changes made to database data within a transaction will
        not become permanent until the transaction is committed.   However,
        within read uncommitted, it may be possible for data that is not
        committed in other transactions to be viewable within the scope of
        another transaction; these are known as "dirty reads".

    serializable
        One of the four database :term:`isolation` levels, serializable
        features all of the isolation of :term:`repeatable read`, and
        additionally within a lock-based approach guarantees that so-called
        "phantom reads" cannot occur; this means that rows which are INSERTed
        or DELETEd within the scope of other transactions will not be
        detectable within this transaction.   A row that is read within this
        transaction is guaranteed to continue existing, and a row that does not
        exist is guaranteed that it cannot appear of inserted from another
        transaction.

        Serializable isolation typically relies upon locking of rows or ranges
        of rows in order to achieve this effect and can increase the chance of
        deadlocks and degrade performance.   There are also non-lock based
        schemes however these necessarily rely upon rejecting transactions if
        write collisions are detected.


    durability
        Durability is a property of the :term:`ACID` model
        which means that once a transaction has been committed,
        it will remain so, even in the event of power loss, crashes,
        or errors. In a relational database, for instance, once a
        group of SQL statements execute, the results need to be stored
        permanently (even if the database crashes immediately
        thereafter).
        (via Wikipedia)

        .. seealso::

            :term:`ACID`

            `Durability (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durability_(database_systems)>`_

    RETURNING
        This is a non-SQL standard clause provided in various forms by
        certain backends, which provides the service of returning a result
        set upon execution of an INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE statement.  Any set
        of columns from the matched rows can be returned, as though they were
        produced from a SELECT statement.

        The RETURNING clause provides both a dramatic performance boost to
        common update/select scenarios, including retrieval of inline- or
        default- generated primary key values and defaults at the moment they
        were created, as well as a way to get at server-generated
        default values in an atomic way.

        An example of RETURNING, idiomatic to PostgreSQL, looks like:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            INSERT INTO user_account (name) VALUES ('new name') RETURNING id, timestamp

        Above, the INSERT statement will provide upon execution a result set
        which includes the values of the columns ``user_account.id`` and
        ``user_account.timestamp``, which above should have been generated as default
        values as they are not included otherwise (but note any series of columns
        or SQL expressions can be placed into RETURNING, not just default-value columns).

        The backends that currently support
        RETURNING or a similar construct are PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle,
        and Firebird.    The PostgreSQL and Firebird implementations are generally
        full featured, whereas the implementations of SQL Server and Oracle
        have caveats. On SQL Server, the clause is known as "OUTPUT INSERTED"
        for INSERT and UPDATE statements and "OUTPUT DELETED" for DELETE statements;
        the key caveat is that triggers are not supported in conjunction with this
        keyword.  On Oracle, it is known as "RETURNING...INTO", and requires that the
        value be placed into an OUT parameter, meaning not only is the syntax awkward,
        but it can also only be used for one row at a time.

        SQLAlchemy's :meth:`.UpdateBase.returning` system provides a layer of abstraction
        on top of the RETURNING systems of these backends to provide a consistent
        interface for returning columns.  The ORM also includes many optimizations
        that make use of RETURNING when available.

    one to many
        A style of :func:`~sqlalchemy.orm.relationship` which links
        the primary key of the parent mapper's table to the foreign
        key of a related table.   Each unique parent object can
        then refer to zero or more unique related objects.

        The related objects in turn will have an implicit or
        explicit :term:`many to one` relationship to their parent
        object.

        An example one to many schema (which, note, is identical
        to the :term:`many to one` schema):

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            CREATE TABLE department (
                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                name VARCHAR(30)
            )

            CREATE TABLE employee (
                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                name VARCHAR(30),
                dep_id INTEGER REFERENCES department(id)
            )

        The relationship from ``department`` to ``employee`` is
        one to many, since many employee records can be associated with a
        single department.  A SQLAlchemy mapping might look like::

            class Department(Base):
                __tablename__ = "department"
                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))
                employees = relationship("Employee")


            class Employee(Base):
                __tablename__ = "employee"
                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))
                dep_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey("department.id"))

        .. seealso::

            :term:`relationship`

            :term:`many to one`

            :term:`backref`

    many to one
        A style of :func:`~sqlalchemy.orm.relationship` which links
        a foreign key in the parent mapper's table to the primary
        key of a related table.   Each parent object can
        then refer to exactly zero or one related object.

        The related objects in turn will have an implicit or
        explicit :term:`one to many` relationship to any number
        of parent objects that refer to them.

        An example many to one schema (which, note, is identical
        to the :term:`one to many` schema):

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            CREATE TABLE department (
                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                name VARCHAR(30)
            )

            CREATE TABLE employee (
                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                name VARCHAR(30),
                dep_id INTEGER REFERENCES department(id)
            )


        The relationship from ``employee`` to ``department`` is
        many to one, since many employee records can be associated with a
        single department.  A SQLAlchemy mapping might look like::

            class Department(Base):
                __tablename__ = "department"
                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))


            class Employee(Base):
                __tablename__ = "employee"
                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))
                dep_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey("department.id"))
                department = relationship("Department")

        .. seealso::

            :term:`relationship`

            :term:`one to many`

            :term:`backref`

    backref
    bidirectional relationship
        An extension to the :term:`relationship` system whereby two
        distinct :func:`~sqlalchemy.orm.relationship` objects can be
        mutually associated with each other, such that they coordinate
        in memory as changes occur to either side.   The most common
        way these two relationships are constructed is by using
        the :func:`~sqlalchemy.orm.relationship` function explicitly
        for one side and specifying the ``backref`` keyword to it so that
        the other :func:`~sqlalchemy.orm.relationship` is created
        automatically.  We can illustrate this against the example we've
        used in :term:`one to many` as follows::

            class Department(Base):
                __tablename__ = "department"
                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))
                employees = relationship("Employee", backref="department")


            class Employee(Base):
                __tablename__ = "employee"
                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))
                dep_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey("department.id"))

        A backref can be applied to any relationship, including one to many,
        many to one, and :term:`many to many`.

        .. seealso::

            :term:`relationship`

            :term:`one to many`

            :term:`many to one`

            :term:`many to many`

    many to many
        A style of :func:`sqlalchemy.orm.relationship` which links two tables together
        via an intermediary table in the middle.   Using this configuration,
        any number of rows on the left side may refer to any number of
        rows on the right, and vice versa.

        A schema where employees can be associated with projects:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            CREATE TABLE employee (
                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                name VARCHAR(30)
            )

            CREATE TABLE project (
                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                name VARCHAR(30)
            )

            CREATE TABLE employee_project (
                employee_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                project_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                FOREIGN KEY employee_id REFERENCES employee(id),
                FOREIGN KEY project_id REFERENCES project(id)
            )

        Above, the ``employee_project`` table is the many-to-many table,
        which naturally forms a composite primary key consisting
        of the primary key from each related table.

        In SQLAlchemy, the :func:`sqlalchemy.orm.relationship` function
        can represent this style of relationship in a mostly
        transparent fashion, where the many-to-many table is
        specified using plain table metadata::

            class Employee(Base):
                __tablename__ = "employee"

                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))

                projects = relationship(
                    "Project",
                    secondary=Table(
                        "employee_project",
                        Base.metadata,
                        Column("employee_id", Integer, ForeignKey("employee.id"), primary_key=True),
                        Column("project_id", Integer, ForeignKey("project.id"), primary_key=True),
                    ),
                    backref="employees",
                )


            class Project(Base):
                __tablename__ = "project"

                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))

        Above, the ``Employee.projects`` and back-referencing ``Project.employees``
        collections are defined::

            proj = Project(name="Client A")

            emp1 = Employee(name="emp1")
            emp2 = Employee(name="emp2")

            proj.employees.extend([emp1, emp2])

        .. seealso::

            :term:`association relationship`

            :term:`relationship`

            :term:`one to many`

            :term:`many to one`

    relationship
    relationships
        A connecting unit between two mapped classes, corresponding
        to some relationship between the two tables in the database.

        The relationship is defined using the SQLAlchemy function
        :func:`~sqlalchemy.orm.relationship`.   Once created, SQLAlchemy
        inspects the arguments and underlying mappings involved
        in order to classify the relationship as one of three types:
        :term:`one to many`, :term:`many to one`, or :term:`many to many`.
        With this classification, the relationship construct
        handles the task of persisting the appropriate linkages
        in the database in response to in-memory object associations,
        as well as the job of loading object references and collections
        into memory based on the current linkages in the
        database.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`relationship_config_toplevel`

    cursor
        A control structure that enables traversal over the records in a database.
        In the Python DBAPI, the cursor object is in fact the starting point
        for statement execution as well as the interface used for fetching
        results.

        .. seealso::

            `Cursor Objects (in pep-249) <https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0249/#cursor-objects>`_

            `Cursor (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursor_(databases)>`_


    association relationship
        A two-tiered :term:`relationship` which links two tables
        together using an association table in the middle.  The
        association relationship differs from a :term:`many to many`
        relationship in that the many-to-many table is mapped
        by a full class, rather than invisibly handled by the
        :func:`sqlalchemy.orm.relationship` construct as in the case
        with many-to-many, so that additional attributes are
        explicitly available.

        For example, if we wanted to associate employees with
        projects, also storing the specific role for that employee
        with the project, the relational schema might look like:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            CREATE TABLE employee (
                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                name VARCHAR(30)
            )

            CREATE TABLE project (
                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                name VARCHAR(30)
            )

            CREATE TABLE employee_project (
                employee_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                project_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
                role_name VARCHAR(30),
                FOREIGN KEY employee_id REFERENCES employee(id),
                FOREIGN KEY project_id REFERENCES project(id)
            )

        A SQLAlchemy declarative mapping for the above might look like::

            class Employee(Base):
                __tablename__ = "employee"

                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))


            class Project(Base):
                __tablename__ = "project"

                id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
                name = Column(String(30))


            class EmployeeProject(Base):
                __tablename__ = "employee_project"

                employee_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey("employee.id"), primary_key=True)
                project_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey("project.id"), primary_key=True)
                role_name = Column(String(30))

                project = relationship("Project", backref="project_employees")
                employee = relationship("Employee", backref="employee_projects")

        Employees can be added to a project given a role name::

            proj = Project(name="Client A")

            emp1 = Employee(name="emp1")
            emp2 = Employee(name="emp2")

            proj.project_employees.extend(
                [
                    EmployeeProject(employee=emp1, role_name="tech lead"),
                    EmployeeProject(employee=emp2, role_name="account executive"),
                ]
            )

        .. seealso::

            :term:`many to many`

    constraint
    constraints
    constrained
        Rules established within a relational database that ensure
        the validity and consistency of data.   Common forms
        of constraint include :term:`primary key constraint`,
        :term:`foreign key constraint`, and :term:`check constraint`.

    candidate key

        A :term:`relational algebra` term referring to an attribute or set
        of attributes that form a uniquely identifying key for a
        row.  A row may have more than one candidate key, each of which
        is suitable for use as the primary key of that row.
        The primary key of a table is always a candidate key.

        .. seealso::

            :term:`primary key`

            `Candidate key (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidate_key>`_

            https://www.databasestar.com/database-keys/

    primary key
    primary key constraint

        A :term:`constraint` that uniquely defines the characteristics
        of each row in a table. The primary key has to consist of
        characteristics that cannot be duplicated by any other row.
        The primary key may consist of a single attribute or
        multiple attributes in combination.
        (via Wikipedia)

        The primary key of a table is typically, though not always,
        defined within the ``CREATE TABLE`` :term:`DDL`:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            CREATE TABLE employee (
                 emp_id INTEGER,
                 emp_name VARCHAR(30),
                 dep_id INTEGER,
                 PRIMARY KEY (emp_id)
            )

        .. seealso::

            :term:`composite primary key`

            `Primary key (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_Key>`_

    composite primary key

        A :term:`primary key` that has more than one column.   A particular
        database row is unique based on two or more columns rather than just
        a single value.

        .. seealso::

            :term:`primary key`

    foreign key constraint
        A referential constraint between two tables.  A foreign key is a field or set of fields in a
        relational table that matches a :term:`candidate key` of another table.
        The foreign key can be used to cross-reference tables.
        (via Wikipedia)

        A foreign key constraint can be added to a table in standard
        SQL using :term:`DDL` like the following:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            ALTER TABLE employee ADD CONSTRAINT dep_id_fk
            FOREIGN KEY (employee) REFERENCES department (dep_id)

        .. seealso::

            `Foreign Key Constraint (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_key_constraint>`_

    check constraint

        A check constraint is a
        condition that defines valid data when adding or updating an
        entry in a table of a relational database. A check constraint
        is applied to each row in the table.

        (via Wikipedia)

        A check constraint can be added to a table in standard
        SQL using :term:`DDL` like the following:

        .. sourcecode:: sql

            ALTER TABLE distributors ADD CONSTRAINT zipchk CHECK (char_length(zipcode) = 5);

        .. seealso::

            `CHECK constraint (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_constraint>`_

    unique constraint
    unique key index
        A unique key index can uniquely identify each row of data
        values in a database table. A unique key index comprises a
        single column or a set of columns in a single database table.
        No two distinct rows or data records in a database table can
        have the same data value (or combination of data values) in
        those unique key index columns if NULL values are not used.
        Depending on its design, a database table may have many unique
        key indexes but at most one primary key index.

        (via Wikipedia)

        .. seealso::

            `Unique key (via Wikipedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_key#Defining_unique_keys>`_

    transient
        This describes one of the major object states which
        an object can have within a :term:`Session`; a transient object
        is a new object that doesn't have any database identity
        and has not been associated with a session yet.  When the
        object is added to the session, it moves to the
        :term:`pending` state.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`session_object_states`

    pending
        This describes one of the major object states which
        an object can have within a :term:`Session`; a pending object
        is a new object that doesn't have any database identity,
        but has been recently associated with a session.   When
        the session emits a flush and the row is inserted, the
        object moves to the :term:`persistent` state.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`session_object_states`

    deleted
        This describes one of the major object states which
        an object can have within a :term:`Session`; a deleted object
        is an object that was formerly persistent and has had a
        DELETE statement emitted to the database within a flush
        to delete its row.  The object will move to the :term:`detached`
        state once the session's transaction is committed; alternatively,
        if the session's transaction is rolled back, the DELETE is
        reverted and the object moves back to the :term:`persistent`
        state.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`session_object_states`

    persistent
        This describes one of the major object states which
        an object can have within a :term:`Session`; a persistent object
        is an object that has a database identity (i.e. a primary key)
        and is currently associated with a session.   Any object
        that was previously :term:`pending` and has now been inserted
        is in the persistent state, as is any object that's
        been loaded by the session from the database.   When a
        persistent object is removed from a session, it is known
        as :term:`detached`.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`session_object_states`

    detached
        This describes one of the major object states which
        an object can have within a :term:`Session`; a detached object
        is an object that has a database identity (i.e. a primary key)
        but is not associated with any session.  An object that
        was previously :term:`persistent` and was removed from its
        session either because it was expunged, or the owning
        session was closed, moves into the detached state.
        The detached state is generally used when objects are being
        moved between sessions or when being moved to/from an external
        object cache.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`session_object_states`

    attached
        Indicates an ORM object that is presently associated with a specific
        :term:`Session`.

        .. seealso::

            :ref:`session_object_states`

