startproject is disabled if a settings module is specified

[whiskybar]

I believe the documentation to django-admin.py should say the command startproject will be disabled if a settings module has been specified on the command-line or $DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE has been set. I have spent hours browsing docs, tickets, googlegroups, and irc to see where the command startproject has gone and why no one actually complains.

Finally, I came across a very well hidden documentation string at get_commands() in django/core/management/init.py which explained the problem to me.

[Russell Keith-Magee]

Duplicate of #8329.

[Karen Tracey]

#8329 looks to be geared toward making the error message more explanatory. Given that it has been moved to post-1.0, would it make sense to reopen this & get the little doc fix suggested here into 1.0? I think #8666 is another using tripping over this.

[Malcolm Tredinnick]

Yes, we have to do something here. I got bitten by this the other day, too, and had a momentary "huh?!" moment.

[James Bennett]

(In [8740]) Fixed #8639; documented the fact that the "startproject" command is invalid when fed an existing project's settings

[anonymous]

I don't consider this fixed. Why can't it have a statement when I try to use the command that I have that shows which app is already in context to let me know, instead "unknown command." It's not an unknown command, it's all over the docs. It's a command that's disabled because an existing app's settings are being used and the command line response should point that out including indicating what that current project's name is.

[Russell Keith-Magee]

This *was* fixed to the satisfaction of the core team in [8740]. Please don't reopen tickets that have been closed by the core. If you disagree with a decision that has been made, ask on django-dev.

[msabramo]

Replying to anonymous:

I don't consider this fixed. Why can't it have a statement when I try to use the command that I have that shows which app is already in context to let me know, instead "unknown command."
It's not an unknown command, it's all over the docs. It's a command that's disabled because an existing app's settings are being used
and the command line response should point that out including indicating what that current project's name is.

I agree that there should be a warning. Note that there are two different patches that address this (one is mine) in #8329.

[Jacob]

Milestone 1.0 deleted