Fixed a too-inclusive .hgignore file as well as some other fixes.

.hgignore

@@ -5,5 +5,18 @@ syntax: glob
 
 *.pyc
 *.swp
+*.old
+*.prof
+*.orig
+*.key
 *~
-*#
+\#*\#
+game/logs/*
+game/*.restart
+game/*.pid
+game/*.db3
+docs/sphinx/build/*
+docs/sphinx/wiki2rest/wiki2html/*
+docs/sphinx/wiki2rest/rest/*
+docs/sphinx/wiki2rest/html/*
+docs/sphinx/wiki2html/*

docs/conf.py

@@ -0,0 +1,288 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# evennia documentation build configuration file, created by
+# sphinx-quickstart on Fri Mar 30 00:25:21 2012.
+#
+# This file is execfile()d with the current directory set to its containing dir.
+#
+# Note that not all possible configuration values are present in this
+# autogenerated file.
+#
+# All configuration values have a default; values that are commented out
+# serve to show the default.
+
+import sys, os
+
+# If extensions (or modules to document with autodoc) are in another directory,
+# add these directories to sys.path here. If the directory is relative to the
+# documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute, like shown here.
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath('.'))))
+from django.core.management import setup_environ
+from game import settings
+setup_environ(settings)
+
+# -- General configuration -----------------------------------------------------
+
+# If your documentation needs a minimal Sphinx version, state it here.
+#needs_sphinx = '1.0'
+
+# Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings. They can be extensions
+# coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom ones.
+extensions = ['sphinx.ext.autodoc', 'sphinx.ext.viewcode']
+
+# Add any paths that contain templates here, relative to this directory.
+templates_path = ['_templates']
+
+# The suffix of source filenames.
+source_suffix = '.rst'
+
+# The encoding of source files.
+#source_encoding = 'utf-8-sig'
+
+# The master toctree document.
+master_doc = 'index'
+
+# General information about the project.
+project = u'evennia'
+copyright = u'2012, Author'
+
+# The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
+# |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
+# built documents.
+#
+# The short X.Y version.
+version = ''
+# The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
+release = ''
+
+# The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
+# for a list of supported languages.
+#language = None
+
+# There are two options for replacing |today|: either, you set today to some
+# non-false value, then it is used:
+#today = ''
+# Else, today_fmt is used as the format for a strftime call.
+#today_fmt = '%B %d, %Y'
+
+# List of patterns, relative to source directory, that match files and
+# directories to ignore when looking for source files.
+exclude_patterns = ['_build']
+
+# The reST default role (used for this markup: `text`) to use for all documents.
+#default_role = None
+
+# If true, '()' will be appended to :func: etc. cross-reference text.
+#add_function_parentheses = True
+
+# If true, the current module name will be prepended to all description
+# unit titles (such as .. function::).
+#add_module_names = True
+
+# If true, sectionauthor and moduleauthor directives will be shown in the
+# output. They are ignored by default.
+#show_authors = False
+
+# The name of the Pygments (syntax highlighting) style to use.
+pygments_style = 'sphinx'
+
+# A list of ignored prefixes for module index sorting.
+#modindex_common_prefix = []
+
+
+# -- Options for HTML output ---------------------------------------------------
+
+# The theme to use for HTML and HTML Help pages.  See the documentation for
+# a list of builtin themes.
+html_theme = 'default'
+
+# Theme options are theme-specific and customize the look and feel of a theme
+# further.  For a list of options available for each theme, see the
+# documentation.
+#html_theme_options = {}
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom themes here, relative to this directory.
+#html_theme_path = []
+
+# The name for this set of Sphinx documents.  If None, it defaults to
+# "<project> v<release> documentation".
+#html_title = None
+
+# A shorter title for the navigation bar.  Default is the same as html_title.
+#html_short_title = None
+
+# The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top
+# of the sidebar.
+#html_logo = None
+
+# The name of an image file (within the static path) to use as favicon of the
+# docs.  This file should be a Windows icon file (.ico) being 16x16 or 32x32
+# pixels large.
+#html_favicon = None
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
+# relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
+# so a file named "default.css" will overwrite the builtin "default.css".
+html_static_path = ['_static']
+
+# If not '', a 'Last updated on:' timestamp is inserted at every page bottom,
+# using the given strftime format.
+#html_last_updated_fmt = '%b %d, %Y'
+
+# If true, SmartyPants will be used to convert quotes and dashes to
+# typographically correct entities.
+#html_use_smartypants = True
+
+# Custom sidebar templates, maps document names to template names.
+#html_sidebars = {}
+
+# Additional templates that should be rendered to pages, maps page names to
+# template names.
+#html_additional_pages = {}
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+#html_domain_indices = True
+
+# If false, no index is generated.
+#html_use_index = True
+
+# If true, the index is split into individual pages for each letter.
+#html_split_index = False
+
+# If true, links to the reST sources are added to the pages.
+#html_show_sourcelink = True
+
+# If true, "Created using Sphinx" is shown in the HTML footer. Default is True.
+#html_show_sphinx = True
+
+# If true, "(C) Copyright ..." is shown in the HTML footer. Default is True.
+#html_show_copyright = True
+
+# If true, an OpenSearch description file will be output, and all pages will
+# contain a <link> tag referring to it.  The value of this option must be the
+# base URL from which the finished HTML is served.
+#html_use_opensearch = ''
+
+# This is the file name suffix for HTML files (e.g. ".xhtml").
+#html_file_suffix = None
+
+# Output file base name for HTML help builder.
+htmlhelp_basename = 'evenniadoc'
+
+
+# -- Options for LaTeX output --------------------------------------------------
+
+latex_elements = {
+# The paper size ('letterpaper' or 'a4paper').
+#'papersize': 'letterpaper',
+
+# The font size ('10pt', '11pt' or '12pt').
+#'pointsize': '10pt',
+
+# Additional stuff for the LaTeX preamble.
+#'preamble': '',
+}
+
+# Grouping the document tree into LaTeX files. List of tuples
+# (source start file, target name, title, author, documentclass [howto/manual]).
+latex_documents = [
+  ('index', 'evennia.tex', u'evennia Documentation',
+   u'Author', 'manual'),
+]
+
+# The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top of
+# the title page.
+#latex_logo = None
+
+# For "manual" documents, if this is true, then toplevel headings are parts,
+# not chapters.
+#latex_use_parts = False
+
+# If true, show page references after internal links.
+#latex_show_pagerefs = False
+
+# If true, show URL addresses after external links.
+#latex_show_urls = False
+
+# Documents to append as an appendix to all manuals.
+#latex_appendices = []
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+#latex_domain_indices = True
+
+
+# -- Options for manual page output --------------------------------------------
+
+# One entry per manual page. List of tuples
+# (source start file, name, description, authors, manual section).
+man_pages = [
+    ('index', 'evennia', u'evennia Documentation',
+     [u'Author'], 1)
+]
+
+# If true, show URL addresses after external links.
+#man_show_urls = False
+
+
+# -- Options for Texinfo output ------------------------------------------------
+
+# Grouping the document tree into Texinfo files. List of tuples
+# (source start file, target name, title, author,
+#  dir menu entry, description, category)
+texinfo_documents = [
+  ('index', 'evennia', u'evennia Documentation',
+   u'Author', 'evennia', 'One line description of project.',
+   'Miscellaneous'),
+]
+
+# Documents to append as an appendix to all manuals.
+#texinfo_appendices = []
+
+# If false, no module index is generated.
+#texinfo_domain_indices = True
+
+# How to display URL addresses: 'footnote', 'no', or 'inline'.
+#texinfo_show_urls = 'footnote'
+
+
+# -- Options for Epub output ---------------------------------------------------
+
+# Bibliographic Dublin Core info.
+epub_title = u'evennia'
+epub_author = u'Author'
+epub_publisher = u'Author'
+epub_copyright = u'2012, Author'
+
+# The language of the text. It defaults to the language option
+# or en if the language is not set.
+#epub_language = ''
+
+# The scheme of the identifier. Typical schemes are ISBN or URL.
+#epub_scheme = ''
+
+# The unique identifier of the text. This can be a ISBN number
+# or the project homepage.
+#epub_identifier = ''
+
+# A unique identification for the text.
+#epub_uid = ''
+
+# A tuple containing the cover image and cover page html template filenames.
+#epub_cover = ()
+
+# HTML files that should be inserted before the pages created by sphinx.
+# The format is a list of tuples containing the path and title.
+#epub_pre_files = []
+
+# HTML files shat should be inserted after the pages created by sphinx.
+# The format is a list of tuples containing the path and title.
+#epub_post_files = []
+
+# A list of files that should not be packed into the epub file.
+#epub_exclude_files = []
+
+# The depth of the table of contents in toc.ncx.
+#epub_tocdepth = 3
+
+# Allow duplicate toc entries.
+#epub_tocdup = True

src/objects/migrations/0010_converting_attributes.py

@@ -0,0 +1,347 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+import datetime
+from south.db import db
+from south.v2 import DataMigration
+from django.db import models
+
+try:
+    import cPickle as pickle
+except ImportError:
+    import pickle
+from src.utils.utils import to_str, to_unicode
+from src.typeclasses.models import PackedDBobject
+
+from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType
+CTYPEGET = ContentType.objects.get
+GA = object.__getattribute__
+SA = object.__setattr__
+DA = object.__delattr__
+
+class PackedDict(dict):
+    """
+    Attribute helper class.
+    A variant of dict that stores itself to the database when 
+    updating one of its keys. This is called and handled by 
+    Attribute.validate_data(). 
+    """
+    def __init__(self, db_obj, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Sets up the packing dict. The db_store variable
+        is set by Attribute.validate_data() when returned in
+        order to allow custom updates to the dict. 
+
+         db_obj - the Attribute object storing this dict.
+         
+        """
+        self.db_obj = db_obj
+        super(PackedDict, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "{%s}" % ", ".join("%s:%s" % (key, str(val)) for key, val in self.items())
+    def __setitem__(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "assign item to this dict"
+        super(PackedDict, self).__setitem__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def clear(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom clear"
+        super(PackedDict, self).clear(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def pop(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom pop"
+        super(PackedDict, self).pop(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def popitem(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom popitem"
+        super(PackedDict, self).popitem(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def update(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom update"
+        super(PackedDict, self).update(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+                
+class PackedList(list):
+    """
+    Attribute helper class.
+    A variant of list that stores itself to the database when 
+    updating one of its keys. This is called and handled by 
+    Attribute.validate_data(). 
+    """
+    def __init__(self, db_obj, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Sets up the packing list. 
+         db_obj - the Attribute object storing this dict.
+        """
+        self.db_obj = db_obj
+        super(PackedList, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "[%s]" % ", ".join(str(val) for val in self)
+    def __setitem__(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom setitem that stores changed list to database."
+        super(PackedList, self).__setitem__(*args, **kwargs)        
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def append(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom append"
+        super(PackedList, self).append(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def extend(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom extend"
+        super(PackedList, self).extend(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def insert(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom insert"
+        super(PackedList, self).insert(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def remove(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom remove"
+        super(PackedList, self).remove(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def pop(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom pop"
+        super(PackedList, self).pop(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def reverse(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom reverse"
+        super(PackedList, self).reverse(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def sort(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom sort"
+        super(PackedList, self).sort(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+
+
+def to_attr(data):
+    """
+    Convert data to proper attr data format before saving
+
+    We have to make sure to not store database objects raw, since
+    this will crash the system. Instead we must store their IDs
+    and make sure to convert back when the attribute is read back
+    later.
+
+    Due to this it's criticial that we check all iterables
+    recursively, converting all found database objects to a form
+    the database can handle. We handle lists, tuples and dicts
+    (and any nested combination of them) this way, all other
+    iterables are stored and returned as lists.
+
+    data storage format: 
+       (simple|dbobj|iter, <data>)
+    where 
+       simple - a single non-db object, like a string or number
+       dbobj - a single dbobj
+       iter - any iterable object - will be looped over recursively
+              to convert dbobj->id. 
+
+    """
+
+    def iter_db2id(item):
+        """
+        recursively looping through stored iterables, replacing objects with ids.
+        (Python only builds nested functions once, so there is no overhead for nesting)
+        """
+        dtype = type(item)
+        if dtype in (basestring, int, float): # check the most common types first, for speed
+            return item 
+        elif hasattr(item, "id") and hasattr(item, "db_model_name") and hasattr(item, "db_key"):
+            db_model_name = item.db_model_name
+            if db_model_name == "typeclass":
+                db_model_name = GA(item.dbobj, "db_model_name")
+            return PackedDBobject(item.id, db_model_name, item.db_key)
+        elif dtype == tuple:
+            return tuple(iter_db2id(val) for val in item)
+        elif dtype in (dict, PackedDict):
+            return dict((key, iter_db2id(val)) for key, val in item.items())
+        elif hasattr(item, '__iter__'):
+            return list(iter_db2id(val) for val in item)
+        else:
+            return item
+
+    dtype = type(data)
+
+    if dtype in (basestring, int, float):
+        return ("simple",data)
+    elif hasattr(data, "id") and hasattr(data, "db_model_name") and hasattr(data, 'db_key'):
+        # all django models (objectdb,scriptdb,playerdb,channel,msg,typeclass)
+        # have the protected property db_model_name hardcoded on themselves for speed.
+        db_model_name = data.db_model_name
+        if db_model_name == "typeclass":
+            # typeclass cannot help us, we want the actual child object model name
+            db_model_name = GA(data.dbobj, "db_model_name")
+        return ("dbobj", PackedDBobject(data.id, db_model_name, data.db_key))        
+    elif hasattr(data, "__iter__"): 
+        return ("iter", iter_db2id(data))
+    else:
+        return ("simple", data)
+
+def from_attr(attr, datatuple):
+    """
+    Retrieve data from a previously stored attribute. This
+    is always a dict with keys type and data.                 
+
+    datatuple comes from the database storage and has 
+    the following format: 
+       (simple|dbobj|iter, <data>)
+    where
+        simple - a single non-db object, like a string. is returned as-is.
+        dbobj - a single dbobj-id. This id is retrieved back from the database. 
+        iter - an iterable. This is traversed iteratively, converting all found
+               dbobj-ids back to objects. Also, all lists and dictionaries are 
+               returned as their PackedList/PackedDict counterparts in order to 
+               allow in-place assignment such as obj.db.mylist[3] = val. Mylist
+               is then a PackedList that saves the data on the fly. 
+    """
+    # nested functions 
+    def id2db(data):
+        """
+        Convert db-stored dbref back to object
+        """
+        mclass = CTYPEGET(model=data.db_model).model_class()
+        try:
+            return mclass.objects.dbref_search(data.id)
+
+        except AttributeError:
+            try:
+                return mclass.objects.get(id=data.id)
+            except mclass.DoesNotExist: # could happen if object was deleted in the interim.
+                return None                
+
+    def iter_id2db(item):
+        """
+        Recursively looping through stored iterables, replacing ids with actual objects.
+        We return PackedDict and PackedLists instead of normal lists; this is needed in order for
+        the user to do dynamic saving of nested in-place, such as obj.db.attrlist[2]=3. What is
+        stored in the database are however always normal python primitives. 
+        """
+        dtype = type(item)
+        if dtype in (basestring, int, float): # check the most common types first, for speed
+            return item 
+        elif dtype == PackedDBobject:
+            return id2db(item)
+        elif dtype == tuple:                        
+            return tuple([iter_id2db(val) for val in item])
+        elif dtype in (dict, PackedDict):
+            return dict(zip([key for key in item.keys()],
+                            [iter_id2db(val) for val in item.values()]))
+        elif hasattr(item, '__iter__'):
+            return list(iter_id2db(val) for val in item)
+        else: 
+            return item 
+
+    typ, data = datatuple
+
+    if typ == 'simple': 
+        # single non-db objects
+        return data
+    elif typ == 'dbobj': 
+        # a single stored dbobj        
+        return id2db(data)
+    elif typ == 'iter': 
+        # all types of iterables
+        return iter_id2db(data)
+
+class Migration(DataMigration):
+
+    def forwards(self, orm):
+        "Write your forwards methods here."
+
+        for attr in orm.ObjAttribute.objects.all():
+            # repack attr into new format, and reimport
+            try:
+                val = pickle.loads(to_str(attr.db_value))
+                attr.db_value = to_unicode(pickle.dumps(to_str(to_attr(from_attr(attr, val)))))
+                attr.save()
+            except TypeError, RuntimeError: 
+                pass 
+                                      
+    def backwards(self, orm):
+        "Write your backwards methods here."
+        raise RuntimeError
+
+    models = {
+        'auth.group': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'Group'},
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '80'}),
+            'permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'})
+        },
+        'auth.permission': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('content_type__app_label', 'content_type__model', 'codename')", 'unique_together': "(('content_type', 'codename'),)", 'object_name': 'Permission'},
+            'codename': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'content_type': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['contenttypes.ContentType']"}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '50'})
+        },
+        'auth.user': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'User'},
+            'date_joined': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
+            'email': ('django.db.models.fields.EmailField', [], {'max_length': '75', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'first_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'groups': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Group']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'is_active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'True'}),
+            'is_staff': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'is_superuser': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'last_login': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
+            'last_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'password': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '128'}),
+            'user_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'username': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '30'})
+        },
+        'contenttypes.contenttype': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('name',)", 'unique_together': "(('app_label', 'model'),)", 'object_name': 'ContentType', 'db_table': "'django_content_type'"},
+            'app_label': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'model': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'})
+        },
+        'objects.alias': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'Alias'},
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        },
+        'objects.objattribute': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'ObjAttribute'},
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_value': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        },
+        'objects.objectdb': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'ObjectDB'},
+            'db_cmdset_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_destination': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'destinations_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_home': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'homes_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_location': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'locations_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_player': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['players.PlayerDB']", 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_typeclass_path': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        },
+        'objects.objectnick': {
+            'Meta': {'unique_together': "(('db_nick', 'db_type', 'db_obj'),)", 'object_name': 'ObjectNick'},
+            'db_nick': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_real': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {}),
+            'db_type': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'default': "'inputline'", 'max_length': '16', 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        },
+        'players.playerdb': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'PlayerDB'},
+            'db_cmdset_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']", 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_typeclass_path': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['auth.User']", 'unique': 'True'})
+        }
+    }
+
+    complete_apps = ['objects']

src/players/migrations/0009_converting_attributes.py

@@ -0,0 +1,343 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+import datetime
+from south.db import db
+from south.v2 import DataMigration
+from django.db import models
+
+try:
+    import cPickle as pickle
+except ImportError:
+    import pickle
+from src.utils.utils import to_str, to_unicode
+from src.typeclasses.models import PackedDBobject
+from src.players.models import PlayerAttribute
+
+from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType
+CTYPEGET = ContentType.objects.get
+GA = object.__getattribute__
+SA = object.__setattr__
+DA = object.__delattr__
+
+class PackedDict(dict):
+    """
+    Attribute helper class.
+    A variant of dict that stores itself to the database when 
+    updating one of its keys. This is called and handled by 
+    Attribute.validate_data(). 
+    """
+    def __init__(self, db_obj, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Sets up the packing dict. The db_store variable
+        is set by Attribute.validate_data() when returned in
+        order to allow custom updates to the dict. 
+
+         db_obj - the Attribute object storing this dict.
+         
+        """
+        self.db_obj = db_obj
+        super(PackedDict, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "{%s}" % ", ".join("%s:%s" % (key, str(val)) for key, val in self.items())
+    def __setitem__(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "assign item to this dict"
+        super(PackedDict, self).__setitem__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def clear(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom clear"
+        super(PackedDict, self).clear(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def pop(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom pop"
+        super(PackedDict, self).pop(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def popitem(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom popitem"
+        super(PackedDict, self).popitem(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def update(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom update"
+        super(PackedDict, self).update(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+                
+class PackedList(list):
+    """
+    Attribute helper class.
+    A variant of list that stores itself to the database when 
+    updating one of its keys. This is called and handled by 
+    Attribute.validate_data(). 
+    """
+    def __init__(self, db_obj, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Sets up the packing list. 
+         db_obj - the Attribute object storing this dict.
+        """
+        self.db_obj = db_obj
+        super(PackedList, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "[%s]" % ", ".join(str(val) for val in self)
+    def __setitem__(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom setitem that stores changed list to database."
+        super(PackedList, self).__setitem__(*args, **kwargs)        
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def append(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom append"
+        super(PackedList, self).append(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def extend(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom extend"
+        super(PackedList, self).extend(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def insert(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom insert"
+        super(PackedList, self).insert(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def remove(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom remove"
+        super(PackedList, self).remove(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def pop(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom pop"
+        super(PackedList, self).pop(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def reverse(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom reverse"
+        super(PackedList, self).reverse(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def sort(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom sort"
+        super(PackedList, self).sort(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+
+
+def to_attr(data):
+    """
+    Convert data to proper attr data format before saving
+
+    We have to make sure to not store database objects raw, since
+    this will crash the system. Instead we must store their IDs
+    and make sure to convert back when the attribute is read back
+    later.
+
+    Due to this it's criticial that we check all iterables
+    recursively, converting all found database objects to a form
+    the database can handle. We handle lists, tuples and dicts
+    (and any nested combination of them) this way, all other
+    iterables are stored and returned as lists.
+
+    data storage format: 
+       (simple|dbobj|iter, <data>)
+    where 
+       simple - a single non-db object, like a string or number
+       dbobj - a single dbobj
+       iter - any iterable object - will be looped over recursively
+              to convert dbobj->id. 
+
+    """
+
+    def iter_db2id(item):
+        """
+        recursively looping through stored iterables, replacing objects with ids.
+        (Python only builds nested functions once, so there is no overhead for nesting)
+        """
+        dtype = type(item)
+        if dtype in (basestring, int, float): # check the most common types first, for speed
+            return item 
+        elif hasattr(item, "id") and hasattr(item, "db_model_name") and hasattr(item, "db_key"):
+            db_model_name = item.db_model_name
+            if db_model_name == "typeclass":
+                db_model_name = GA(item.dbobj, "db_model_name")
+            return PackedDBobject(item.id, db_model_name, item.db_key)
+        elif dtype == tuple:
+            return tuple(iter_db2id(val) for val in item)
+        elif dtype in (dict, PackedDict):
+            return dict((key, iter_db2id(val)) for key, val in item.items())
+        elif hasattr(item, '__iter__'):
+            return list(iter_db2id(val) for val in item)
+        else:
+            return item
+
+    dtype = type(data)
+
+    if dtype in (basestring, int, float):
+        return ("simple",data)
+    elif hasattr(data, "id") and hasattr(data, "db_model_name") and hasattr(data, 'db_key'):
+        # all django models (objectdb,scriptdb,playerdb,channel,msg,typeclass)
+        # have the protected property db_model_name hardcoded on themselves for speed.
+        db_model_name = data.db_model_name
+        if db_model_name == "typeclass":
+            # typeclass cannot help us, we want the actual child object model name
+            db_model_name = GA(data.dbobj, "db_model_name")
+        return ("dbobj", PackedDBobject(data.id, db_model_name, data.db_key))        
+    elif hasattr(data, "__iter__"): 
+        return ("iter", iter_db2id(data))
+    else:
+        return ("simple", data)
+
+def from_attr(attr, datatuple):
+    """
+    Retrieve data from a previously stored attribute. This
+    is always a dict with keys type and data.                 
+
+    datatuple comes from the database storage and has 
+    the following format: 
+       (simple|dbobj|iter, <data>)
+    where
+        simple - a single non-db object, like a string. is returned as-is.
+        dbobj - a single dbobj-id. This id is retrieved back from the database. 
+        iter - an iterable. This is traversed iteratively, converting all found
+               dbobj-ids back to objects. Also, all lists and dictionaries are 
+               returned as their PackedList/PackedDict counterparts in order to 
+               allow in-place assignment such as obj.db.mylist[3] = val. Mylist
+               is then a PackedList that saves the data on the fly. 
+    """
+    # nested functions 
+    def id2db(data):
+        """
+        Convert db-stored dbref back to object
+        """
+        mclass = CTYPEGET(model=data.db_model).model_class()
+        try:
+            return mclass.objects.dbref_search(data.id)
+
+        except AttributeError:
+            try:
+                return mclass.objects.get(id=data.id)
+            except mclass.DoesNotExist: # could happen if object was deleted in the interim.
+                return None                
+
+    def iter_id2db(item):
+        """
+        Recursively looping through stored iterables, replacing ids with actual objects.
+        We return PackedDict and PackedLists instead of normal lists; this is needed in order for
+        the user to do dynamic saving of nested in-place, such as obj.db.attrlist[2]=3. What is
+        stored in the database are however always normal python primitives. 
+        """
+        dtype = type(item)
+        if dtype in (basestring, int, float): # check the most common types first, for speed
+            return item 
+        elif dtype == PackedDBobject:
+            return id2db(item)
+        elif dtype == tuple:                        
+            return tuple([iter_id2db(val) for val in item])
+        elif dtype in (dict, PackedDict):
+            return dict(zip([key for key in item.keys()],
+                                             [iter_id2db(val) for val in item.values()]))
+        elif hasattr(item, '__iter__'):
+            return list(iter_id2db(val) for val in item)
+        else: 
+            return item 
+
+    typ, data = datatuple
+
+    if typ == 'simple': 
+        # single non-db objects
+        return data
+    elif typ == 'dbobj': 
+        # a single stored dbobj        
+        return id2db(data)
+    elif typ == 'iter': 
+        # all types of iterables
+        return iter_id2db(data)
+
+
+class Migration(DataMigration):
+
+    def forwards(self, orm):
+        "Write your forwards methods here."
+        for attr in orm.PlayerAttribute.objects.all():
+            try:
+                # repack attr into new format, and reimport
+                val = pickle.loads(to_str(attr.db_value))
+                attr.db_value = to_unicode(pickle.dumps(to_str(to_attr(from_attr(attr, val)))))
+                attr.save()
+            except TypeError, RuntimeError: 
+                pass 
+
+
+    def backwards(self, orm):
+        "Write your backwards methods here."
+        raise RuntimeError
+
+    models = {
+        'auth.group': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'Group'},
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '80'}),
+            'permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'})
+        },
+        'auth.permission': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('content_type__app_label', 'content_type__model', 'codename')", 'unique_together': "(('content_type', 'codename'),)", 'object_name': 'Permission'},
+            'codename': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'content_type': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['contenttypes.ContentType']"}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '50'})
+        },
+        'auth.user': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'User'},
+            'date_joined': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
+            'email': ('django.db.models.fields.EmailField', [], {'max_length': '75', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'first_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'groups': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Group']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'is_active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'True'}),
+            'is_staff': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'is_superuser': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'last_login': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
+            'last_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'password': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '128'}),
+            'user_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'username': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '30'})
+        },
+        'contenttypes.contenttype': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('name',)", 'unique_together': "(('app_label', 'model'),)", 'object_name': 'ContentType', 'db_table': "'django_content_type'"},
+            'app_label': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'model': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'})
+        },
+        'objects.objectdb': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'ObjectDB'},
+            'db_cmdset_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_destination': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'destinations_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_home': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'homes_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_location': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'locations_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_player': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['players.PlayerDB']", 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_typeclass_path': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        },
+        'players.playerattribute': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'PlayerAttribute'},
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['players.PlayerDB']"}),
+            'db_value': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        },
+        'players.playerdb': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'PlayerDB'},
+            'db_cmdset_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']", 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_typeclass_path': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['auth.User']", 'unique': 'True'})
+        },
+        'players.playernick': {
+            'Meta': {'unique_together': "(('db_nick', 'db_type', 'db_obj'),)", 'object_name': 'PlayerNick'},
+            'db_nick': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['players.PlayerDB']"}),
+            'db_real': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {}),
+            'db_type': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'default': "'inputline'", 'max_length': '16', 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        }
+    }
+
+    complete_apps = ['players']

src/scripts/migrations/0006_converting_attributes.py

@@ -0,0 +1,348 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+import datetime
+from south.db import db
+from south.v2 import DataMigration
+from django.db import models
+
+try:
+    import cPickle as pickle
+except ImportError:
+    import pickle
+from src.utils.utils import to_str, to_unicode
+from src.typeclasses.models import PackedDBobject
+
+from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType
+CTYPEGET = ContentType.objects.get
+GA = object.__getattribute__
+SA = object.__setattr__
+DA = object.__delattr__
+
+class PackedDict(dict):
+    """
+    Attribute helper class.
+    A variant of dict that stores itself to the database when 
+    updating one of its keys. This is called and handled by 
+    Attribute.validate_data(). 
+    """
+    def __init__(self, db_obj, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Sets up the packing dict. The db_store variable
+        is set by Attribute.validate_data() when returned in
+        order to allow custom updates to the dict. 
+
+         db_obj - the Attribute object storing this dict.
+         
+        """
+        self.db_obj = db_obj
+        super(PackedDict, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "{%s}" % ", ".join("%s:%s" % (key, str(val)) for key, val in self.items())
+    def __setitem__(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "assign item to this dict"
+        super(PackedDict, self).__setitem__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def clear(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom clear"
+        super(PackedDict, self).clear(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def pop(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom pop"
+        super(PackedDict, self).pop(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def popitem(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom popitem"
+        super(PackedDict, self).popitem(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def update(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom update"
+        super(PackedDict, self).update(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+                
+class PackedList(list):
+    """
+    Attribute helper class.
+    A variant of list that stores itself to the database when 
+    updating one of its keys. This is called and handled by 
+    Attribute.validate_data(). 
+    """
+    def __init__(self, db_obj, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Sets up the packing list. 
+         db_obj - the Attribute object storing this dict.
+        """
+        self.db_obj = db_obj
+        super(PackedList, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+    def __str__(self):
+        return "[%s]" % ", ".join(str(val) for val in self)
+    def __setitem__(self, *args, **kwargs):                
+        "Custom setitem that stores changed list to database."
+        super(PackedList, self).__setitem__(*args, **kwargs)        
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def append(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom append"
+        super(PackedList, self).append(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def extend(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom extend"
+        super(PackedList, self).extend(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def insert(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom insert"
+        super(PackedList, self).insert(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def remove(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom remove"
+        super(PackedList, self).remove(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def pop(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom pop"
+        super(PackedList, self).pop(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def reverse(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom reverse"
+        super(PackedList, self).reverse(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+    def sort(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        "Custom sort"
+        super(PackedList, self).sort(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.db_obj.value = self
+
+
+def to_attr(data):
+    """
+    Convert data to proper attr data format before saving
+
+    We have to make sure to not store database objects raw, since
+    this will crash the system. Instead we must store their IDs
+    and make sure to convert back when the attribute is read back
+    later.
+
+    Due to this it's criticial that we check all iterables
+    recursively, converting all found database objects to a form
+    the database can handle. We handle lists, tuples and dicts
+    (and any nested combination of them) this way, all other
+    iterables are stored and returned as lists.
+
+    data storage format: 
+       (simple|dbobj|iter, <data>)
+    where 
+       simple - a single non-db object, like a string or number
+       dbobj - a single dbobj
+       iter - any iterable object - will be looped over recursively
+              to convert dbobj->id. 
+
+    """
+
+    def iter_db2id(item):
+        """
+        recursively looping through stored iterables, replacing objects with ids.
+        (Python only builds nested functions once, so there is no overhead for nesting)
+        """
+        dtype = type(item)
+        if dtype in (basestring, int, float): # check the most common types first, for speed
+            return item 
+        elif hasattr(item, "id") and hasattr(item, "db_model_name") and hasattr(item, "db_key"):
+            db_model_name = item.db_model_name
+            if db_model_name == "typeclass":
+                db_model_name = GA(item.dbobj, "db_model_name")
+            return PackedDBobject(item.id, db_model_name, item.db_key)
+        elif dtype == tuple:
+            return tuple(iter_db2id(val) for val in item)
+        elif dtype in (dict, PackedDict):
+            return dict((key, iter_db2id(val)) for key, val in item.items())
+        elif hasattr(item, '__iter__'):
+            return list(iter_db2id(val) for val in item)
+        else:
+            return item
+
+    dtype = type(data)
+
+    if dtype in (basestring, int, float):
+        return ("simple",data)
+    elif hasattr(data, "id") and hasattr(data, "db_model_name") and hasattr(data, 'db_key'):
+        # all django models (objectdb,scriptdb,playerdb,channel,msg,typeclass)
+        # have the protected property db_model_name hardcoded on themselves for speed.
+        db_model_name = data.db_model_name
+        if db_model_name == "typeclass":
+            # typeclass cannot help us, we want the actual child object model name
+            db_model_name = GA(data.dbobj, "db_model_name")
+        return ("dbobj", PackedDBobject(data.id, db_model_name, data.db_key))        
+    elif hasattr(data, "__iter__"): 
+        return ("iter", iter_db2id(data))
+    else:
+        return ("simple", data)
+
+def from_attr(attr, datatuple):
+    """
+    Retrieve data from a previously stored attribute. This
+    is always a dict with keys type and data.                 
+
+    datatuple comes from the database storage and has 
+    the following format: 
+       (simple|dbobj|iter, <data>)
+    where
+        simple - a single non-db object, like a string. is returned as-is.
+        dbobj - a single dbobj-id. This id is retrieved back from the database. 
+        iter - an iterable. This is traversed iteratively, converting all found
+               dbobj-ids back to objects. Also, all lists and dictionaries are 
+               returned as their PackedList/PackedDict counterparts in order to 
+               allow in-place assignment such as obj.db.mylist[3] = val. Mylist
+               is then a PackedList that saves the data on the fly. 
+    """
+    # nested functions 
+    def id2db(data):
+        """
+        Convert db-stored dbref back to object
+        """
+        mclass = CTYPEGET(model=data.db_model).model_class()
+        try:
+            return mclass.objects.dbref_search(data.id)
+
+        except AttributeError:
+            try:
+                return mclass.objects.get(id=data.id)
+            except mclass.DoesNotExist: # could happen if object was deleted in the interim.
+                return None                
+
+    def iter_id2db(item):
+        """
+        Recursively looping through stored iterables, replacing ids with actual objects.
+        We return PackedDict and PackedLists instead of normal lists; this is needed in order for
+        the user to do dynamic saving of nested in-place, such as obj.db.attrlist[2]=3. What is
+        stored in the database are however always normal python primitives. 
+        """
+        dtype = type(item)
+        if dtype in (basestring, int, float): # check the most common types first, for speed
+            return item 
+        elif dtype == PackedDBobject:
+            return id2db(item)
+        elif dtype == tuple:                        
+            return tuple([iter_id2db(val) for val in item])
+        elif dtype in (dict, PackedDict):
+            return attr, dict(zip([key for key in item.keys()],
+                                             [iter_id2db(val) for val in item.values()]))
+        elif hasattr(item, '__iter__'):
+            return list(iter_id2db(val) for val in item)
+        else: 
+            return item 
+
+    typ, data = datatuple
+
+    if typ == 'simple': 
+        # single non-db objects
+        return data
+    elif typ == 'dbobj': 
+        # a single stored dbobj        
+        return id2db(data)
+    elif typ == 'iter': 
+        # all types of iterables
+        return iter_id2db(data)
+
+class Migration(DataMigration):
+
+    def forwards(self, orm):
+        "Write your forwards methods here."
+        for attr in orm.ScriptAttribute.objects.all():
+            try:
+                # repack attr into new format, and reimport
+                val = pickle.loads(to_str(attr.db_value))
+                attr.db_value = to_unicode(pickle.dumps(to_str(to_attr(from_attr(attr, val)))))
+                attr.save()
+            except TypeError, RuntimeError:
+                pass
+
+    def backwards(self, orm):
+        "Write your backwards methods here."
+        raise RuntimeError
+
+    models = {
+        'auth.group': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'Group'},
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '80'}),
+            'permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'})
+        },
+        'auth.permission': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('content_type__app_label', 'content_type__model', 'codename')", 'unique_together': "(('content_type', 'codename'),)", 'object_name': 'Permission'},
+            'codename': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'content_type': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['contenttypes.ContentType']"}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '50'})
+        },
+        'auth.user': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'User'},
+            'date_joined': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
+            'email': ('django.db.models.fields.EmailField', [], {'max_length': '75', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'first_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'groups': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Group']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'is_active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'True'}),
+            'is_staff': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'is_superuser': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'last_login': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
+            'last_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'password': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '128'}),
+            'user_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'username': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '30'})
+        },
+        'contenttypes.contenttype': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('name',)", 'unique_together': "(('app_label', 'model'),)", 'object_name': 'ContentType', 'db_table': "'django_content_type'"},
+            'app_label': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'model': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'})
+        },
+        'objects.objectdb': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'ObjectDB'},
+            'db_cmdset_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_destination': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'destinations_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_home': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'homes_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_location': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'locations_set'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']"}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_player': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['players.PlayerDB']", 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_typeclass_path': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        },
+        'players.playerdb': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'PlayerDB'},
+            'db_cmdset_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']", 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_typeclass_path': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['auth.User']", 'unique': 'True'})
+        },
+        'scripts.scriptattribute': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'ScriptAttribute'},
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['scripts.ScriptDB']"}),
+            'db_value': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        },
+        'scripts.scriptdb': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'ScriptDB'},
+            'db_date_created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_desc': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_interval': ('django.db.models.fields.IntegerField', [], {'default': '-1'}),
+            'db_is_active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'db_key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'db_index': 'True'}),
+            'db_lock_storage': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '512', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_obj': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['objects.ObjectDB']", 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'db_persistent': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'db_repeats': ('django.db.models.fields.IntegerField', [], {'default': '0'}),
+            'db_start_delay': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'db_typeclass_path': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'})
+        }
+    }
+
+    complete_apps = ['scripts']