Release: 2.1.0b1 | Release Date: January 21, 2026

# SQLAlchemy 2.1 Documentation

# Setup for ORM Queryguide: Joined Inheritance

This page illustrates the mappings and fixture data used by the Joined Table Inheritance examples in the Writing SELECT statements for Inheritance Mappings document of the ORM Querying Guide.

    >>> from typing import List
    >>> from sqlalchemy import create_engine
    >>> from sqlalchemy import ForeignKey
    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import DeclarativeBase
    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import Mapped
    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import mapped_column
    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship
    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
    >>>
    >>>
    >>> class Base(DeclarativeBase):
    ...     pass
    >>> class Company(Base):
    ...     __tablename__ = "company"
    ...     id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
    ...     name: Mapped[str]
    ...     employees: Mapped[List["Employee"]] = relationship(back_populates="company")
    >>>
    >>> class Employee(Base):
    ...     __tablename__ = "employee"
    ...     id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
    ...     name: Mapped[str]
    ...     type: Mapped[str]
    ...     company_id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(ForeignKey("company.id"))
    ...     company: Mapped[Company] = relationship(back_populates="employees")
    ...
    ...     def __repr__(self):
    ...         return f"{self.__class__.__name__}({self.name!r})"
    ...
    ...     __mapper_args__ = {
    ...         "polymorphic_identity": "employee",
    ...         "polymorphic_on": "type",
    ...     }
    >>>
    >>> class Manager(Employee):
    ...     __tablename__ = "manager"
    ...     id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(ForeignKey("employee.id"), primary_key=True)
    ...     manager_name: Mapped[str]
    ...     paperwork: Mapped[List["Paperwork"]] = relationship()
    ...     __mapper_args__ = {
    ...         "polymorphic_identity": "manager",
    ...     }
    >>> class Paperwork(Base):
    ...     __tablename__ = "paperwork"
    ...     id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
    ...     manager_id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(ForeignKey("manager.id"))
    ...     document_name: Mapped[str]
    ...
    ...     def __repr__(self):
    ...         return f"Paperwork({self.document_name!r})"
    >>>
    >>> class Engineer(Employee):
    ...     __tablename__ = "engineer"
    ...     id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(ForeignKey("employee.id"), primary_key=True)
    ...     engineer_info: Mapped[str]
    ...     __mapper_args__ = {
    ...         "polymorphic_identity": "engineer",
    ...     }
    >>>
    >>> engine = create_engine("sqlite://", echo=True)
    >>>
    >>> Base.metadata.create_all(engine)
    BEGIN ...

    >>> conn = engine.connect()
    >>> from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
    >>> session = Session(conn)
    >>> session.add(
    ...     Company(
    ...         name="Krusty Krab",
    ...         employees=[
    ...             Manager(
    ...                 name="Mr. Krabs",
    ...                 manager_name="Eugene H. Krabs",
    ...                 paperwork=[
    ...                     Paperwork(document_name="Secret Recipes"),
    ...                     Paperwork(document_name="Krabby Patty Orders"),
    ...                 ],
    ...             ),
    ...             Engineer(name="SpongeBob", engineer_info="Krabby Patty Master"),
    ...             Engineer(
    ...                 name="Squidward",
    ...                 engineer_info="Senior Customer Engagement Engineer",
    ...             ),
    ...         ],
    ...     )
    ... )
    >>> session.commit()
    BEGIN ...