Refs #35356 -- Clarified select related with masked field logic.

By always including related objects in the select mask via adjusting the
defer logic (_get_defer_select_mask()), it becomes possible for
select_related_descend() to treat forward and reverse relationships
indistinctively.

This work also simplifies and adds comments to
select_related_descend() to make it easier to understand.

1 files changed, 23 insertions, 23 deletions

diff --git a/django/db/models/sql/query.py b/django/db/models/sql/query.py
index c5c58b1788..a7bc0610c8 100644
--- a/django/db/models/sql/query.py
+++ b/django/db/models/sql/query.py
@@ -791,44 +791,44 @@ class Query(BaseExpression):
         if select_mask is None:
             select_mask = {}
         select_mask[opts.pk] = {}
-        # All concrete fields that are not part of the defer mask must be
-        # loaded. If a relational field is encountered it gets added to the
-        # mask for it be considered if `select_related` and the cycle continues
-        # by recursively calling this function.
-        for field in opts.concrete_fields:
+        # All concrete fields and related objects that are not part of the
+        # defer mask must be included. If a relational field is encountered it
+        # gets added to the mask for it be considered if `select_related` and
+        # the cycle continues by recursively calling this function.
+        for field in opts.concrete_fields + opts.related_objects:
             field_mask = mask.pop(field.name, None)
-            field_att_mask = mask.pop(field.attname, None)
+            field_att_mask = None
+            if field_attname := getattr(field, "attname", None):
+                field_att_mask = mask.pop(field_attname, None)
             if field_mask is None and field_att_mask is None:
                 select_mask.setdefault(field, {})
             elif field_mask:
                 if not field.is_relation:
                     raise FieldError(next(iter(field_mask)))
+                # Virtual fields such as many-to-many and generic foreign keys
+                # cannot be effectively deferred. Historically, they were
+                # allowed to be passed to QuerySet.defer(). Ignore such field
+                # references until a layer of validation at mask alteration
+                # time is eventually implemented.
+                if field.many_to_many:
+                    continue
                 field_select_mask = select_mask.setdefault(field, {})
-                related_model = field.remote_field.model._meta.concrete_model
+                related_model = field.related_model._meta.concrete_model
                 self._get_defer_select_mask(
                     related_model._meta, field_mask, field_select_mask
                 )
-        # Remaining defer entries must be references to reverse relationships.
-        # The following code is expected to raise FieldError if it encounters
-        # a malformed defer entry.
+        # Remaining defer entries must be references to filtered relations
+        # otherwise they are surfaced as missing field errors.
         for field_name, field_mask in mask.items():
             if filtered_relation := self._filtered_relations.get(field_name):
                 relation = opts.get_field(filtered_relation.relation_name)
                 field_select_mask = select_mask.setdefault((field_name, relation), {})
+                related_model = relation.related_model._meta.concrete_model
+                self._get_defer_select_mask(
+                    related_model._meta, field_mask, field_select_mask
+                )
             else:
-                relation = opts.get_field(field_name)
-                # While virtual fields such as many-to-many and generic foreign
-                # keys cannot be effectively deferred we've historically
-                # allowed them to be passed to QuerySet.defer(). Ignore such
-                # field references until a layer of validation at mask
-                # alteration time will be implemented eventually.
-                if not hasattr(relation, "field"):
-                    continue
-                field_select_mask = select_mask.setdefault(relation, {})
-            related_model = relation.related_model._meta.concrete_model
-            self._get_defer_select_mask(
-                related_model._meta, field_mask, field_select_mask
-            )
+                opts.get_field(field_name)
         return select_mask
 
     def _get_only_select_mask(self, opts, mask, select_mask=None):