Related Field got invalid lookup: icontains

I am trying to include a search field inside my home page. It works for some of the module field. My problem is when I use a ForeignKey field (correct me please if I am wrong).

models.py

class Location(models.Model): user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE) my_location = models.CharField(max_length=120, choices=LOCATION_CHOICES) update_date = models.DateField(auto_now=True, null=True) def __str__(self): return self.my_location
class UserProfile(models.Model): user = models.ForeignKey(User) # The additional attributes we wish to include. user_base = models.CharField(max_length=120, choices=LOCATION_CHOICES) user_position = models.CharField(max_length=120) user_phone = models.PositiveIntegerField() def __unicode__(self): return self.user.username

views.py

def search_by_location(request): if 'q' in request.GET and request.GET['q']: q = request.GET['q'] locations = Location.objects.filter(my_location__icontains=q).order_by('-update_date') else: locations = Location.objects.order_by('-update_date')
context = {'locations': locations}
return render(request, 'index.html', context)

My problem is if I use user inside the filter query instead of my_location I receive the error:

Related Field got invalid lookup: icontains

Please any advice on how to troubleshoot or any documentation I can read.

2 Answers

You can use icontains lookup on text fields. user is related (integer) field. Instead of user use user__username.

locations = Location.objects.filter(user__username__icontains=q)

class SearchView(ListView):
model = Profile
template_name = 'blog/search_results.html'
context_object_name = 'all_search_results'
def get_context_data(self, **kwargs): context = super().get_context_data(**kwargs) user_name = self.request.GET.get('search', '') context['all_search_results'] = Profile.objects.filter(user__username__icontains=user_name ) return context 

here is another example on how to filter objects. if searching for a user, remember to user user_username__icontains=user_name

also remember that if you use Profile your'll get a different id than if you use User