From 79b9121cfbb1deee7af6b7e1a60f45a45bc8bda2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Izzy McCabe <izzym@pacificbird.dev>
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:49:48 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] flatten and flatten_ref

---
 src/entity/active_value.rs | 68 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 68 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/entity/active_value.rs b/src/entity/active_value.rs
index 315fcbeb6..0994d938c 100644
--- a/src/entity/active_value.rs
+++ b/src/entity/active_value.rs
@@ -413,6 +413,74 @@ where
             ActiveValue::NotSet => None,
         }
     }
+    
+    /// Flattens `&ActiveValue<Option<T>>` into an `Option<&T>`, folding [NotSet][ActiveValue::NotSet]
+    /// and [None][Option::None] together, and [Set][ActiveValue::Set], [Unchanged][ActiveValue::Unchanged],
+    /// and [Some][Option::Some] together. This can replace `model.field.try_as_ref().and_then(Option::as_ref)`.
+    ///
+    /// For a version on owned [ActiveValue]s, see [ActiveValue::flatten].
+    ///
+    /// ```
+    /// use sea_orm::ActiveValue;
+    ///
+    /// let x: &ActiveValue<Option<i32>> = &ActiveValue::Set(Some(0));
+    /// let y: &ActiveValue<Option<i32>> = &ActiveValue::Set(None);
+    /// let z: &ActiveValue<Option<i32>> = &ActiveValue::NotSet;
+    ///
+    /// assert_eq!(x.flatten_ref(), Some(&0));
+    /// assert_eq!(y.flatten_ref(), None);
+    /// assert_eq!(z.flatten_ref(), None);
+    /// ```
+    pub fn flatten_ref<'a, T>(&self) -> Option<&'a T>
+    where V: AsRefOption<'a, T> {
+        match self {
+            ActiveValue::Set(value) | ActiveValue::Unchanged(value) => value.as_ref_opt().as_ref(),
+            ActiveValue::NotSet  => None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Flattens `ActiveValue<Option<T>>` into an `Option<T>`, folding [NotSet][ActiveValue::NotSet]
+    /// and [None][Option::None] together, and [Set][ActiveValue::Set], [Unchanged][ActiveValue::Unchanged],
+    /// and [Some][Option::Some] together. This can replace `model.field.take().flatten()`.
+    ///
+    /// For a version on owned [ActiveValue]s, see [ActiveValue::flatten].
+    ///
+    /// ```
+    /// use sea_orm::ActiveValue;
+    ///
+    /// let x: ActiveValue<Option<i32>> = ActiveValue::Set(Some(0));
+    /// let y: ActiveValue<Option<i32>> = ActiveValue::Set(None);
+    /// let z: ActiveValue<Option<i32>> = ActiveValue::NotSet;
+    ///
+    /// assert_eq!(x.flatten(), Some(0));
+    /// assert_eq!(y.flatten(), None);
+    /// assert_eq!(z.flatten(), None);
+    /// ```
+    pub fn flatten<'a, T>(&self) -> Option<T>
+    where V: AsOwnedOption<T> {
+        match self {
+            ActiveValue::Set(value) | ActiveValue::Unchanged(value) => value.as_opt().as_ref(),
+            ActiveValue::NotSet  => None,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+trait AsRefOption<'a, T> {
+    fn as_ref_opt(self) -> &'a Option<T>;
+}
+impl<'a, T> AsRefOption<T> for &'a Option<T> {
+    fn as_ref_opt(self) -> &'a Option<T> {
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+trait AsOwnedOption<T> {
+    fn as_opt(self) -> Option<T>;
+}
+impl<T> AsOwnedOption<T> for Option<T> {
+    fn as_opt(self) -> Option<T> {
+        self
+    }
 }
 
 impl<V> std::convert::AsRef<V> for ActiveValue<V>

From 825ea88f13c24fa0c0cd0b5cbc18b46791721b0a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Izzy McCabe <izzym@pacificbird.dev>
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:20:42 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] make traits sealed + remove as_ref from flatten

---
 src/entity/active_value.rs | 12 +++++++++---
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/entity/active_value.rs b/src/entity/active_value.rs
index 0994d938c..3610efbd4 100644
--- a/src/entity/active_value.rs
+++ b/src/entity/active_value.rs
@@ -459,24 +459,30 @@ where
     pub fn flatten<'a, T>(&self) -> Option<T>
     where V: AsOwnedOption<T> {
         match self {
-            ActiveValue::Set(value) | ActiveValue::Unchanged(value) => value.as_opt().as_ref(),
+            ActiveValue::Set(value) | ActiveValue::Unchanged(value) => value.as_opt(),
             ActiveValue::NotSet  => None,
         }
     }
 }
 
-trait AsRefOption<'a, T> {
+mod private {
+    trait RefOptSealed {}
+    trait OwnedOptSealed {}
+}
+pub trait AsRefOption<'a, T>: private::RefOptSealed {
     fn as_ref_opt(self) -> &'a Option<T>;
 }
+impl<'a, T> private::RefOptSealed for &'a Option<T> {}
 impl<'a, T> AsRefOption<T> for &'a Option<T> {
     fn as_ref_opt(self) -> &'a Option<T> {
         self
     }
 }
 
-trait AsOwnedOption<T> {
+pub trait AsOwnedOption<T>: OwnedOptSealed {
     fn as_opt(self) -> Option<T>;
 }
+impl<T> private::OwnedOptSealed for Option<T> {}
 impl<T> AsOwnedOption<T> for Option<T> {
     fn as_opt(self) -> Option<T> {
         self

From c9d1d5da01a3c27e94ed7c39acd590158e1eedee Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Izzy McCabe <izzym@pacificbird.dev>
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:34:46 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] make sealed traits pub

---
 src/entity/active_value.rs | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/entity/active_value.rs b/src/entity/active_value.rs
index 3610efbd4..6465244e1 100644
--- a/src/entity/active_value.rs
+++ b/src/entity/active_value.rs
@@ -466,8 +466,8 @@ where
 }
 
 mod private {
-    trait RefOptSealed {}
-    trait OwnedOptSealed {}
+    pub trait RefOptSealed {}
+    pub trait OwnedOptSealed {}
 }
 pub trait AsRefOption<'a, T>: private::RefOptSealed {
     fn as_ref_opt(self) -> &'a Option<T>;