This application is meant to be used behind the scenes, to provide data models that other apps reference via FK relationships.

This module is available from PyPi; pip install dj-bioinformatics-protein.

Then add it to your project as you would with any other app in your INSTALLED_APPS setting.

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'dj_bioinformatics_protein'
]

Then, migrate your database to create requisite tables.

All you need to do to use a format is reference it by PK!

class AJob(models.Model):
    
    fasta_in = models.ForeignKey('dj_bioinformatics_protein.FASTA')
    
    ...the rest of your model's code

In order to make the app convenient for you to use, a serializer and deserializer method to and from a string is provided for each model. This allows you to provide a single field on your serializer that represents a fully assembled file that is stored as efficiently and with as little redundancy as possible in your database.

To use a format in your Serializer class this way, override the FK field on your model with a plain serializers.CharField. It's maximum length should be set by formats.models.formats.MAX_<type>_FILE_LENGTH (eg; formats.models.formats.MAX_FASTA_FILE_LENGTH) variable, which may be overridden in settings as desired.

class AJobSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):

    """ Override fasta_in on FK with a charfield. During deserialization, we
    use this value to build a FASTA object and persist it to the DB, then pass 
    that persisted object to the 'AJob' we are creating. During serialization, 
    the serializer automatically pulls from __str__ on the related object, 
    which should be configured to return the formatted file. """
    fasta_in = serializers.CharField(max_length=MAX_FASTA_FILE_LENGTH,
                                     style={'base_template': 'textarea.html'})

    ...the rest of your serializer code

Then, override your create, update, etc. Methods to parse the FASTA string from the client.

    ...
    def create(self, validated_data):
        """ During creation, you'll want to create your FASTA object in the DB and 
        update the model to point at it's PK
        """
        fasta = FASTA.from_fasta(validated_data.pop('fasta_in'))
        logger.debug("sequence is %s" % fasta.sequence)
        # Get or create fasta object
        try:
            fasta = FASTA.objects.get(sha256=fasta.hash)
        except FASTA.DoesNotExist:
            fasta.save()
        ...

As mentioned in the comments on the serializer field, serialization is handled automatically since the __str__ method of the model returns a properly formatted FASTA file.