DatasetM2MField

[thclark]

Feature request

Use Case

Using the AbstractSynchronisedDatastore, it's possible to create datasets simply by querying models that inherit from that.

But what about when we want to create a dataset by virtue of relating to one of those stores?

We'd need to store an M2M relation (which *Datastore objects are in the dataset) AND some JSON data (what tags etc are on the dataset, what's the dataset called, etc).

Current state

Currently, we're manually using an M2M relation then botching the dataset metadata together.

Proposed solution 1

To store both an m2m and a json dataset requires two tightly-coupled fields on the model.

It would be good to do that in one field to make the declaration of such a relation elegant in django; we can do so by dynamically adding a field within a field definition, like shown here:

https://blog.elsdoerfer.name/2008/01/08/fuzzydates-or-one-django-model-field-multiple-database-columns/

Proposed solution 2

Create an AbstractDatasetRelation model that serves as a through-model for the M2M relation but has a manager attached that allows mangement of dataset metadata. Not quite sure if this'll work but might be interesting.