Database API

The classes involved in a Dallinger experiment are: Network, Node, Vector, Info, Transmission, Transformation, Participant, and Question. The code for all these classes can be seen in models.py. Each class has a corresponding table in the database, with each instance stored as a row in the table. Accordingly, each class is defined, in part, by the columns that constitute the table it is stored in. In addition, the classes have relationships to other objects and a number of functions.

The classes have relationships to each other as shown in the diagram below. Be careful to note which way the arrows point. A Node is a point in a Network that might be associated with a Participant. A Vector is a directional connection between a Node and another Node. An Info is information created by a Node. A Transmission is an instance of an Info being sent along a Vector. A Transformation is a relationship between an Info and another Info. A Question is a survey response created by a Participant.

SharedMixin

All Dallinger classes inherit from a SharedMixin which provides multiple columns that are common across tables:

SharedMixin.id

a unique number for every entry. 1, 2, 3 and so on...

SharedMixin.creation_time

the time at which the Network was created.

SharedMixin.property1

a generic column that can be used to store experiment-specific details in String form.

SharedMixin.property2

a generic column that can be used to store experiment-specific details in String form.

SharedMixin.property3

a generic column that can be used to store experiment-specific details in String form.

SharedMixin.property4

a generic column that can be used to store experiment-specific details in String form.

SharedMixin.property5

a generic column that can be used to store experiment-specific details in String form.

SharedMixin.failed

boolean indicating whether the Network has failed which prompts Dallinger to ignore it unless specified otherwise. Objects are usually failed to indicate something has gone wrong.

SharedMixin.time_of_death

the time at which failing occurred

Network

The Network object can be imagined as a set of other objects with some functions that perform operations over those objects. The objects that Network‘s have direct access to are all the Node‘s in the network, the Vector‘s between those Nodes, Infos created by those Nodes, Transmissions sent along the Vectors by those Nodes and Transformations of those Infos. Participants and Questions do not exist within Networks. An experiment may involve multiple Networks, Transmissions can only occur within networks, not between them.

class dallinger.models.Network(**kwargs)[source]

Contains and manages a set of Nodes and Vectors etc.

Columns

Network.type

A String giving the name of the class. Defaults to “network”. This allows subclassing.

Network.max_size

How big the network can get, this number is used by the full() method to decide whether the network is full

Network.full

Whether the network is currently full

Network.role

The role of the network. By default dallinger initializes all networks as either “practice” or “experiment”

Relationships

dallinger.models.Network.all_nodes

All the Nodes in the network.

dallinger.models.Network.all_vectors

All the vectors in the network.

dallinger.models.Network.all_infos

All the infos in the network.

dallinger.models.Network.networks_transmissions

All the transmissions int he network.

dallinger.models.Network.networks_transformations

All the transformations in the network.

Methods

Network.__repr__()[source]

The string representation of a network.

Network.__json__()[source]

Return json description of a participant.

Network.calculate_full()[source]

Set whether the network is full.

Network.fail()[source]

Fail an entire network.

Network.infos(type=None, failed=False)[source]

Get infos in the network.

type specifies the type of info (defaults to Info). failed { False, True, “all” } specifies the failed state of the infos. To get infos from a specific node, see the infos() method in class Node.

Network.latest_transmission_recipient()[source]

Get the node that most recently received a transmission.

Network.nodes(type=None, failed=False, participant_id=None)[source]

Get nodes in the network.

type specifies the type of Node. Failed can be “all”, False (default) or True. If a participant_id is passed only nodes with that participant_id will be returned.

Network.print_verbose()[source]

Print a verbose representation of a network.

Network.size(type=None, failed=False)[source]

How many nodes in a network.

type specifies the class of node, failed can be True/False/all.

Network.transformations(type=None, failed=False)[source]

Get transformations in the network.

type specifies the type of transformation (default = Transformation). failed = { False, True, “all” }

To get transformations from a specific node, see Node.transformations().

Network.transmissions(status='all', failed=False)[source]

Get transmissions in the network.

status { “all”, “received”, “pending” } failed { False, True, “all” } To get transmissions from a specific vector, see the transmissions() method in class Vector.

Network.vectors(failed=False)[source]

Get vectors in the network.

failed = { False, True, “all” } To get the vectors to/from to a specific node, see Node.vectors().

Node

Each Node represents a single point in a single network. A Node must be within a Network and may also be associated with a Participant.

class dallinger.models.Node(network, participant=None)[source]

A point in a network.

Columns

Node.type

A String giving the name of the class. Defaults to node. This allows subclassing.

Node.network_id

the id of the network that this node is a part of

Node.participant_id

the id of the participant whose node this is

Relationships

Node.network

the network the node is in

Node.participant

the participant the node is associated with

dallinger.models.Node.all_outgoing_vectors

All the vectors going out from this Node.

dallinger.models.Node.all_incoming_vectors

All the vectors coming in to this Node.

dallinger.models.Node.all_infos

All Infos created by this Node.

dallinger.models.Node.all_outgoing_transmissions

All Transmissions sent from this Node.

dallinger.models.Node.all_incoming_transmissions

All Transmissions sent to this Node.

dallinger.models.Node.transformations_here

All transformations that took place at this Node.

Methods

Node.__repr__()[source]

The string representation of a node.

Node.__json__()[source]

The json of a node.

Node._to_whom()[source]

To whom to transmit if to_whom is not specified.

Return the default value of to_whom for transmit(). Should not return None or a list containing None.

Node._what()[source]

What to transmit if what is not specified.

Return the default value of what for transmit(). Should not return None or a list containing None.

Node.connect(whom, direction='to')[source]

Create a vector from self to/from whom.

Return a list of newly created vector between the node and whom. whom can be a specific node or a (nested) list of nodes. Nodes can only connect with nodes in the same network. In addition nodes cannot connect with themselves or with Sources. direction specifies the direction of the connection it can be “to” (node -> whom), “from” (whom -> node) or both (node <-> whom). The default is “to”.

Whom may be a (nested) list of nodes.

Will raise an error if:
  1. whom is not a node or list of nodes
  2. whom is/contains a source if direction is to or both
  3. whom is/contains self
  4. whom is/contains a node in a different network

If self is already connected to/from whom a Warning is raised and nothing happens.

This method returns a list of the vectors created (even if there is only one).

Node.fail()[source]

Fail a node, setting its status to “failed”.

Also fails all vectors that connect to or from the node. You cannot fail a node that has already failed, but you can fail a dead node.

Set node.failed to True and time_of_death to now. Instruct all not-failed vectors connected to this node, infos made by this node, transmissions to or from this node and transformations made by this node to fail.

Node.is_connected(whom, direction='to', failed=None)[source]

Check whether this node is connected [to/from] whom.

whom can be a list of nodes or a single node. direction can be “to” (default), “from”, “both” or “either”.

If whom is a single node this method returns a boolean, otherwise it returns a list of booleans

Node.infos(type=None, failed=False)[source]

Get infos that originate from this node.

Type must be a subclass of Info, the default is Info. Failed can be True, False or “all”.

Node.mutate(info_in)[source]

Replicate an info + mutation.

To mutate an info, that info must have a method called _mutated_contents.

Node.neighbors(type=None, direction='to', failed=None)[source]

Get a node’s neighbors - nodes that are directly connected to it.

Type specifies the class of neighbour and must be a subclass of Node (default is Node). Connection is the direction of the connections and can be “to” (default), “from”, “either”, or “both”.

Node.receive(what=None)[source]

Receive some transmissions.

Received transmissions are marked as received, then their infos are passed to update().

“what” can be:

  1. None (the default) in which case all pending transmissions are received.
  2. a specific transmission.

Will raise an error if the node is told to receive a transmission it has not been sent.

Node.received_infos(type=None, failed=None)[source]

Get infos that have been sent to this node.

Type must be a subclass of info, the default is Info.

Node.replicate(info_in)[source]

Replicate an info.

Node.transformations(type=None, failed=False)[source]

Get Transformations done by this Node.

type must be a type of Transformation (defaults to Transformation) Failed can be True, False or “all”

Node.transmissions(direction='outgoing', status='all', failed=False)[source]

Get transmissions sent to or from this node.

Direction can be “all”, “incoming” or “outgoing” (default). Status can be “all” (default), “pending”, or “received”. failed can be True, False or “all”

Node.transmit(what=None, to_whom=None)[source]

Transmit one or more infos from one node to another.

“what” dictates which infos are sent, it can be:
  1. None (in which case the node’s _what method is called).
  2. an Info (in which case the node transmits the info)
  3. a subclass of Info (in which case the node transmits all its infos of that type)
  4. a list of any combination of the above
“to_whom” dictates which node(s) the infos are sent to, it can be:
  1. None (in which case the node’s _to_whom method is called)
  2. a Node (in which case the node transmits to that node)
  3. a subclass of Node (in which case the node transmits to all nodes of that type it is connected to)
  4. a list of any combination of the above
Will additionally raise an error if:
  1. _what() or _to_whom() returns None or a list containing None.
  2. what is/contains an info that does not originate from the transmitting node
  3. to_whom is/contains a node that the transmitting node does not have a not-failed connection with.
Node.update(infos)[source]

Process received infos.

Update controls the default behavior of a node when it receives infos. By default it does nothing.

Node.vectors(direction='all', failed=False)[source]

Get vectors that connect at this node.

Direction can be “incoming”, “outgoing” or “all” (default). Failed can be True, False or all

Vector

A vector is a directional link between two nodes. Nodes connected by a vector can send Transmissions to each other, but because Vectors have a direction, two Vectors are needed for bi-directional Transmissions.

class dallinger.models.Vector(origin, destination)[source]

A directed path that links two Nodes.

Nodes can only send each other information if they are linked by a Vector.

Columns

Vector.origin_id

the id of the Node at which the vector originates

Vector.destination_id

the id of the Node at which the vector terminates.

Vector.network_id

the id of the network the vector is in.

Relationships

Vector.origin

the Node at which the vector originates.

Vector.destination

the Node at which the vector terminates.

Vector.network

the network the vector is in.

dallinger.models.Vector.all_transmissions

All Transmissions sent along the Vector.

Methods

Vector.__repr__()[source]

The string representation of a vector.

Vector.__json__()[source]

The json representation of a vector.

Vector.fail()[source]

Fail a vector.

Vector.transmissions(status='all')[source]

Get transmissions sent along this Vector.

Status can be “all” (the default), “pending”, or “received”.

Info

An Info is a piece of information created by a Node. It can be sent along Vectors as part of a Transmission.

class dallinger.models.Info(origin, contents=None)[source]

A unit of information.

Columns

Info.id
Info.creation_time
Info.property1
Info.property2
Info.property3
Info.property4
Info.property5
Info.failed
Info.time_of_death
Info.type

a String giving the name of the class. Defaults to “info”. This allows subclassing.

Info.origin_id

the id of the Node that created the info

Info.network_id

the id of the network the info is in

Info.contents

the contents of the info. Must be stored as a String.

Relationships

Info.origin

the Node that created the info.

Info.network

the network the info is in

dallinger.models.Info.all_transmissions

All Transmissions of this Info.

dallinger.models.Info.transformation_applied_to

All Transformations of which this info is the info_in

dallinger.models.Info.transformation_whence

All Transformations of which this info is the info_out

Methods

Info.__repr__()[source]

The string representation of an info.

Info.__json__()[source]

The json representation of an info.

Info._mutated_contents()[source]

The mutated contents of an info.

When an info is asked to mutate, this method will be executed in order to determine the contents of the new info created.

The base class function raises an error and so must be overwritten to be used.

Info.fail()[source]

Fail an info.

Set info.failed to True and time_of_death to now. Instruct all transmissions and transformations involving this info to fail.

Info.transformations(relationship='all')[source]

Get all the transformations of this info.

Return a list of transformations involving this info. relationship can be “parent” (in which case only transformations where the info is the info_in are returned), “child” (in which case only transformations where the info is the info_out are returned) or all (in which case any transformations where the info is the info_out or the info_in are returned). The default is all

Info.transmissions(status='all')[source]

Get all the transmissions of this info.

status can be all/pending/received.

Transmission

A transmission represents an instance of an Info being sent along a Vector. Transmissions are not necessarily received when they are sent (like an email) and must also be received by the Node they are sent to.

class dallinger.models.Transmission(vector, info)[source]

An instance of an Info being sent along a Vector.

Columns

Transmission.origin_id

the id of the Node that sent the transmission

Transmission.destination_id

the id of the Node that the transmission was sent to

Transmission.vector_id

the id of the vector the info was sent along

Transmission.network_id

the id of the network the transmission is in

Transmission.info_id

the id of the info that was transmitted

Transmission.receive_time

the time at which the transmission was received

Transmission.status

the status of the transmission, can be “pending”, which means the transmission has been sent, but not received; or “received”, which means the transmission has been sent and received

Relationships

Transmission.origin

the Node that sent the transmission.

Transmission.destination

the Node that the transmission was sent to.

Transmission.vector

the vector the info was sent along.

Transmission.network

the network the transmission is in.

Transmission.info

the info that was transmitted.

Methods

Transmission.__repr__()[source]

The string representation of a transmission.

Transmission.__json__()[source]

The json representation of a transmissions.

Transmission.fail()[source]

Fail a transmission.

Transmission.mark_received()[source]

Mark a transmission as having been received.

Transformation

A Transformation is a relationship between two Infos. It is similar to how a Vector indicates a relationship between two Nodes, but whereas a Vector allows Nodes to Transmit to each other, Transformations don’t allow Infos to do anything new. Instead they are a form of book-keeping allowing you to keep track of relationships between various Infos.

class dallinger.models.Transformation(info_in, info_out)[source]

An instance of one info being transformed into another.

Columns

Transformation.type

a String giving the name of the class. Defaults to “transformation”. This allows subclassing.

Transformation.node_id

the id of the Node that did the transformation.

Transformation.network_id

the id of the network the transformation is in.

Transformation.info_in_id

the id of the info that was transformed.

Transformation.info_out_id

the id of the info produced by the transformation.

Relationships

Transformation.node

the Node that did the transformation.

Transformation.network

the network the transmission is in.

Transformation.info_in

the info that was transformed.

Transformation.info_out

the info produced by the transformation.

Methods

Transformation.__repr__()[source]

The string representation of a transformation.

Transformation.__json__()[source]

The json representation of a transformation.

Transformation.fail()[source]

Fail a transformation.

Participant

The Participant object corresponds to a real world participant. Each person who takes part will have a corresponding entry in the Participant table. Participants can be associated with Nodes and Questions.

class dallinger.models.Participant(worker_id, assignment_id, hit_id, mode)[source]

An ex silico participant.

Columns

Participant.type

a String giving the name of the class. Defaults to “participant”. This allows subclassing.

Participant.worker_id

A String, the worker id of the participant.

Participant.assignment_id

A String, the assignment id of the participant.

Participant.unique_id

A String, a concatenation of worker_id and assignment_id, used by psiTurk.

Participant.hit_id

A String, the id of the hit the participant is working on

Participant.mode

A String, the mode in which Dallinger is running – live, sandbox or debug.

Participant.end_time

The time at which the participant finished.

Participant.base_pay

The amount the participant was paid for finishing the experiment.

Participant.bonus

the amount the participant was paid as a bonus.

Participant.status

String representing the current status of the participant, can be

  • working - participant is working
  • submitted - participant has submitted their work
  • approved - their work has been approved and they have been paid
  • rejected - their work has been rejected
  • returned - they returned the hit before finishing
  • abandoned - they ran out of time
  • did_not_attend - the participant finished, but failed the attention check
  • bad_data - the participant finished, but their data was malformed
  • missing_notification - this indicates that Dallinger has inferred that a Mechanical Turk notification corresponding to this participant failed to arrive. This is an uncommon, but potentially serious issue.

Relationships

dallinger.models.Participant.all_questions

All the questions associated with this participant.

dallinger.models.Participant.all_nodes

All the Nodes associated with this participant.

Methods

Participant.__json__()[source]

Return json description of a participant.

Participant.fail()[source]

Fail a participant.

Set failed to True and time_of_death to now. Instruct all not-failed nodes associated with the participant to fail.

Participant.infos(type=None, failed=False)[source]

Get all infos created by the participants nodes.

Return a list of infos produced by nodes associated with the participant. If specified, type filters by class. By default, failed infos are excluded, to include only failed nodes use failed=True, for all nodes use failed=all. Note that failed filters the infos, not the nodes - infos from all nodes (whether failed or not) can be returned.

Participant.nodes(type=None, failed=False)[source]

Get nodes associated with this participant.

Return a list of nodes associated with the participant. If specified, type filters by class. By default failed nodes are excluded, to include only failed nodes use failed=True, for all nodes use failed=all.

Participant.questions(type=None)[source]

Get questions associated with this participant.

Return a list of questions associated with the participant. If specified, type filters by class.

Question

A Question is a way to store information associated with a Participant as opposed to a Node (Infos are made by Nodes, not Participants). Questions are generally useful for storing responses debriefing questions etc.

class dallinger.models.Question(participant, question, response, number)[source]

Responses of a participant to debriefing questions.

Columns

Question.type

a String giving the name of the class. Defaults to “question”. This allows subclassing.

Question.participant_id

the participant who made the response

Question.number

A number identifying the question. e.g., each participant might complete three questions numbered 1, 2, and 3.

Question.question

the text of the question

Question.response

the participant’s response. Stored as a string.

Relationships

Question.participant

the participant who answered the question

Methods

Question.__json__()[source]

Return json description of a question.

Question.fail()[source]

Fail a question.

Set failed to True and time_of_death to now.