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diff --git a/parts/django/docs/ref/forms/api.txt b/parts/django/docs/ref/forms/api.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..613d754 --- /dev/null +++ b/parts/django/docs/ref/forms/api.txt @@ -0,0 +1,791 @@ +============= +The Forms API +============= + +.. module:: django.forms.forms + +.. currentmodule:: django.forms + +.. admonition:: About this document + + This document covers the gritty details of Django's forms API. You should + read the :doc:`introduction to working with forms </topics/forms/index>` + first. + +.. _ref-forms-api-bound-unbound: + +Bound and unbound forms +----------------------- + +A :class:`Form` instance is either **bound** to a set of data, or **unbound**. + + * If it's **bound** to a set of data, it's capable of validating that data + and rendering the form as HTML with the data displayed in the HTML. + + * If it's **unbound**, it cannot do validation (because there's no data to + validate!), but it can still render the blank form as HTML. + +.. class:: Form + +To create an unbound :class:`Form` instance, simply instantiate the class:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + +To bind data to a form, pass the data as a dictionary as the first parameter to +your :class:`Form` class constructor:: + + >>> data = {'subject': 'hello', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'foo@example.com', + ... 'cc_myself': True} + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + +In this dictionary, the keys are the field names, which correspond to the +attributes in your :class:`Form` class. The values are the data you're trying to +validate. These will usually be strings, but there's no requirement that they be +strings; the type of data you pass depends on the :class:`Field`, as we'll see +in a moment. + +.. attribute:: Form.is_bound + +If you need to distinguish between bound and unbound form instances at runtime, +check the value of the form's :attr:`~Form.is_bound` attribute:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + >>> f.is_bound + False + >>> f = ContactForm({'subject': 'hello'}) + >>> f.is_bound + True + +Note that passing an empty dictionary creates a *bound* form with empty data:: + + >>> f = ContactForm({}) + >>> f.is_bound + True + +If you have a bound :class:`Form` instance and want to change the data somehow, +or if you want to bind an unbound :class:`Form` instance to some data, create +another :class:`Form` instance. There is no way to change data in a +:class:`Form` instance. Once a :class:`Form` instance has been created, you +should consider its data immutable, whether it has data or not. + +Using forms to validate data +---------------------------- + +.. method:: Form.is_valid() + +The primary task of a :class:`Form` object is to validate data. With a bound +:class:`Form` instance, call the :meth:`~Form.is_valid` method to run validation +and return a boolean designating whether the data was valid:: + + >>> data = {'subject': 'hello', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'foo@example.com', + ... 'cc_myself': True} + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> f.is_valid() + True + +Let's try with some invalid data. In this case, ``subject`` is blank (an error, +because all fields are required by default) and ``sender`` is not a valid +e-mail address:: + + >>> data = {'subject': '', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'invalid e-mail address', + ... 'cc_myself': True} + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> f.is_valid() + False + +.. attribute:: Form.errors + +Access the :attr:`~Form.errors` attribute to get a dictionary of error +messages:: + + >>> f.errors + {'sender': [u'Enter a valid e-mail address.'], 'subject': [u'This field is required.']} + +In this dictionary, the keys are the field names, and the values are lists of +Unicode strings representing the error messages. The error messages are stored +in lists because a field can have multiple error messages. + +You can access :attr:`~Form.errors` without having to call +:meth:`~Form.is_valid` first. The form's data will be validated the first time +either you call :meth:`~Form.is_valid` or access :attr:`~Form.errors`. + +The validation routines will only get called once, regardless of how many times +you access :attr:`~Form.errors` or call :meth:`~Form.is_valid`. This means that +if validation has side effects, those side effects will only be triggered once. + +Behavior of unbound forms +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +It's meaningless to validate a form with no data, but, for the record, here's +what happens with unbound forms:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + >>> f.is_valid() + False + >>> f.errors + {} + +Dynamic initial values +---------------------- + +.. attribute:: Form.initial + +Use :attr:`~Form.initial` to declare the initial value of form fields at +runtime. For example, you might want to fill in a ``username`` field with the +username of the current session. + +To accomplish this, use the :attr:`~Form.initial` argument to a :class:`Form`. +This argument, if given, should be a dictionary mapping field names to initial +values. Only include the fields for which you're specifying an initial value; +it's not necessary to include every field in your form. For example:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(initial={'subject': 'Hi there!'}) + +These values are only displayed for unbound forms, and they're not used as +fallback values if a particular value isn't provided. + +Note that if a :class:`~django.forms.fields.Field` defines +:attr:`~Form.initial` *and* you include ``initial`` when instantiating the +``Form``, then the latter ``initial`` will have precedence. In this example, +``initial`` is provided both at the field level and at the form instance level, +and the latter gets precedence:: + + >>> class CommentForm(forms.Form): + ... name = forms.CharField(initial='class') + ... url = forms.URLField() + ... comment = forms.CharField() + >>> f = CommentForm(initial={'name': 'instance'}, auto_id=False) + >>> print f + <tr><th>Name:</th><td><input type="text" name="name" value="instance" /></td></tr> + <tr><th>Url:</th><td><input type="text" name="url" /></td></tr> + <tr><th>Comment:</th><td><input type="text" name="comment" /></td></tr> + +Accessing "clean" data +---------------------- + +.. attribute:: Form.cleaned_data + +Each field in a :class:`Form` class is responsible not only for validating +data, but also for "cleaning" it -- normalizing it to a consistent format. This +is a nice feature, because it allows data for a particular field to be input in +a variety of ways, always resulting in consistent output. + +For example, :class:`~django.forms.DateField` normalizes input into a +Python ``datetime.date`` object. Regardless of whether you pass it a string in +the format ``'1994-07-15'``, a ``datetime.date`` object, or a number of other +formats, ``DateField`` will always normalize it to a ``datetime.date`` object +as long as it's valid. + +Once you've created a :class:`~Form` instance with a set of data and validated +it, you can access the clean data via its ``cleaned_data`` attribute:: + + >>> data = {'subject': 'hello', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'foo@example.com', + ... 'cc_myself': True} + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> f.is_valid() + True + >>> f.cleaned_data + {'cc_myself': True, 'message': u'Hi there', 'sender': u'foo@example.com', 'subject': u'hello'} + +.. versionchanged:: 1.0 + The ``cleaned_data`` attribute was called ``clean_data`` in earlier releases. + +Note that any text-based field -- such as ``CharField`` or ``EmailField`` -- +always cleans the input into a Unicode string. We'll cover the encoding +implications later in this document. + +If your data does *not* validate, your ``Form`` instance will not have a +``cleaned_data`` attribute:: + + >>> data = {'subject': '', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'invalid e-mail address', + ... 'cc_myself': True} + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> f.is_valid() + False + >>> f.cleaned_data + Traceback (most recent call last): + ... + AttributeError: 'ContactForm' object has no attribute 'cleaned_data' + +``cleaned_data`` will always *only* contain a key for fields defined in the +``Form``, even if you pass extra data when you define the ``Form``. In this +example, we pass a bunch of extra fields to the ``ContactForm`` constructor, +but ``cleaned_data`` contains only the form's fields:: + + >>> data = {'subject': 'hello', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'foo@example.com', + ... 'cc_myself': True, + ... 'extra_field_1': 'foo', + ... 'extra_field_2': 'bar', + ... 'extra_field_3': 'baz'} + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> f.is_valid() + True + >>> f.cleaned_data # Doesn't contain extra_field_1, etc. + {'cc_myself': True, 'message': u'Hi there', 'sender': u'foo@example.com', 'subject': u'hello'} + +``cleaned_data`` will include a key and value for *all* fields defined in the +``Form``, even if the data didn't include a value for fields that are not +required. In this example, the data dictionary doesn't include a value for the +``nick_name`` field, but ``cleaned_data`` includes it, with an empty value:: + + >>> class OptionalPersonForm(Form): + ... first_name = CharField() + ... last_name = CharField() + ... nick_name = CharField(required=False) + >>> data = {'first_name': u'John', 'last_name': u'Lennon'} + >>> f = OptionalPersonForm(data) + >>> f.is_valid() + True + >>> f.cleaned_data + {'nick_name': u'', 'first_name': u'John', 'last_name': u'Lennon'} + +In this above example, the ``cleaned_data`` value for ``nick_name`` is set to an +empty string, because ``nick_name`` is ``CharField``, and ``CharField``\s treat +empty values as an empty string. Each field type knows what its "blank" value +is -- e.g., for ``DateField``, it's ``None`` instead of the empty string. For +full details on each field's behavior in this case, see the "Empty value" note +for each field in the "Built-in ``Field`` classes" section below. + +You can write code to perform validation for particular form fields (based on +their name) or for the form as a whole (considering combinations of various +fields). More information about this is in :doc:`/ref/forms/validation`. + +Outputting forms as HTML +------------------------ + +The second task of a ``Form`` object is to render itself as HTML. To do so, +simply ``print`` it:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + >>> print f + <tr><th><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></td></tr> + +If the form is bound to data, the HTML output will include that data +appropriately. For example, if a field is represented by an +``<input type="text">``, the data will be in the ``value`` attribute. If a +field is represented by an ``<input type="checkbox">``, then that HTML will +include ``checked="checked"`` if appropriate:: + + >>> data = {'subject': 'hello', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'foo@example.com', + ... 'cc_myself': True} + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> print f + <tr><th><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" value="hello" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" value="Hi there" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" value="foo@example.com" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" checked="checked" /></td></tr> + +This default output is a two-column HTML table, with a ``<tr>`` for each field. +Notice the following: + + * For flexibility, the output does *not* include the ``<table>`` and + ``</table>`` tags, nor does it include the ``<form>`` and ``</form>`` + tags or an ``<input type="submit">`` tag. It's your job to do that. + + * Each field type has a default HTML representation. ``CharField`` and + ``EmailField`` are represented by an ``<input type="text">``. + ``BooleanField`` is represented by an ``<input type="checkbox">``. Note + these are merely sensible defaults; you can specify which HTML to use for + a given field by using widgets, which we'll explain shortly. + + * The HTML ``name`` for each tag is taken directly from its attribute name + in the ``ContactForm`` class. + + * The text label for each field -- e.g. ``'Subject:'``, ``'Message:'`` and + ``'Cc myself:'`` is generated from the field name by converting all + underscores to spaces and upper-casing the first letter. Again, note + these are merely sensible defaults; you can also specify labels manually. + + * Each text label is surrounded in an HTML ``<label>`` tag, which points + to the appropriate form field via its ``id``. Its ``id``, in turn, is + generated by prepending ``'id_'`` to the field name. The ``id`` + attributes and ``<label>`` tags are included in the output by default, to + follow best practices, but you can change that behavior. + +Although ``<table>`` output is the default output style when you ``print`` a +form, other output styles are available. Each style is available as a method on +a form object, and each rendering method returns a Unicode object. + +``as_p()`` +~~~~~~~~~~ + +.. method:: Form.as_p + + ``as_p()`` renders the form as a series of ``<p>`` tags, with each ``<p>`` + containing one field:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + >>> f.as_p() + u'<p><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p>\n<p><label for="id_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></p>\n<p><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></p>\n<p><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></p>' + >>> print f.as_p() + <p><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p> + <p><label for="id_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></p> + <p><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></p> + <p><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></p> + +``as_ul()`` +~~~~~~~~~~~ + +.. method:: Form.as_ul + + ``as_ul()`` renders the form as a series of ``<li>`` tags, with each + ``<li>`` containing one field. It does *not* include the ``<ul>`` or + ``</ul>``, so that you can specify any HTML attributes on the ``<ul>`` for + flexibility:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + >>> f.as_ul() + u'<li><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li>\n<li><label for="id_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></li>\n<li><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></li>\n<li><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></li>' + >>> print f.as_ul() + <li><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li> + <li><label for="id_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></li> + <li><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></li> + <li><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></li> + +``as_table()`` +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +.. method:: Form.as_table + + Finally, ``as_table()`` outputs the form as an HTML ``<table>``. This is + exactly the same as ``print``. In fact, when you ``print`` a form object, + it calls its ``as_table()`` method behind the scenes:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + >>> f.as_table() + u'<tr><th><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr>\n<tr><th><label for="id_message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></td></tr>\n<tr><th><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></td></tr>\n<tr><th><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></td></tr>' + >>> print f.as_table() + <tr><th><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></td></tr> + +Styling required or erroneous form rows +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +.. versionadded:: 1.2 + +It's pretty common to style form rows and fields that are required or have +errors. For example, you might want to present required form rows in bold and +highlight errors in red. + +The :class:`Form` class has a couple of hooks you can use to add ``class`` +attributes to required rows or to rows with errors: simple set the +:attr:`Form.error_css_class` and/or :attr:`Form.required_css_class` +attributes:: + + class ContactForm(Form): + error_css_class = 'error' + required_css_class = 'required' + + # ... and the rest of your fields here + +Once you've done that, rows will be given ``"error"`` and/or ``"required"`` +classes, as needed. The HTML will look something like:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> print f.as_table() + <tr class="required"><th><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label> ... + <tr class="required"><th><label for="id_message">Message:</label> ... + <tr class="required error"><th><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label> ... + <tr><th><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:<label> ... + +.. _ref-forms-api-configuring-label: + +Configuring HTML ``<label>`` tags +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +An HTML ``<label>`` tag designates which label text is associated with which +form element. This small enhancement makes forms more usable and more accessible +to assistive devices. It's always a good idea to use ``<label>`` tags. + +By default, the form rendering methods include HTML ``id`` attributes on the +form elements and corresponding ``<label>`` tags around the labels. The ``id`` +attribute values are generated by prepending ``id_`` to the form field names. +This behavior is configurable, though, if you want to change the ``id`` +convention or remove HTML ``id`` attributes and ``<label>`` tags entirely. + +Use the ``auto_id`` argument to the ``Form`` constructor to control the label +and ``id`` behavior. This argument must be ``True``, ``False`` or a string. + +If ``auto_id`` is ``False``, then the form output will not include ``<label>`` +tags nor ``id`` attributes:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(auto_id=False) + >>> print f.as_table() + <tr><th>Subject:</th><td><input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr> + <tr><th>Message:</th><td><input type="text" name="message" /></td></tr> + <tr><th>Sender:</th><td><input type="text" name="sender" /></td></tr> + <tr><th>Cc myself:</th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></td></tr> + >>> print f.as_ul() + <li>Subject: <input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li> + <li>Message: <input type="text" name="message" /></li> + <li>Sender: <input type="text" name="sender" /></li> + <li>Cc myself: <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></li> + >>> print f.as_p() + <p>Subject: <input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p> + <p>Message: <input type="text" name="message" /></p> + <p>Sender: <input type="text" name="sender" /></p> + <p>Cc myself: <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></p> + +If ``auto_id`` is set to ``True``, then the form output *will* include +``<label>`` tags and will simply use the field name as its ``id`` for each form +field:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(auto_id=True) + >>> print f.as_table() + <tr><th><label for="subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="message" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="sender" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="cc_myself" /></td></tr> + >>> print f.as_ul() + <li><label for="subject">Subject:</label> <input id="subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li> + <li><label for="message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="message" /></li> + <li><label for="sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="sender" /></li> + <li><label for="cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="cc_myself" /></li> + >>> print f.as_p() + <p><label for="subject">Subject:</label> <input id="subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p> + <p><label for="message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="message" /></p> + <p><label for="sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="sender" /></p> + <p><label for="cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="cc_myself" /></p> + +If ``auto_id`` is set to a string containing the format character ``'%s'``, +then the form output will include ``<label>`` tags, and will generate ``id`` +attributes based on the format string. For example, for a format string +``'field_%s'``, a field named ``subject`` will get the ``id`` value +``'field_subject'``. Continuing our example:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(auto_id='id_for_%s') + >>> print f.as_table() + <tr><th><label for="id_for_subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="id_for_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_for_message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="id_for_message" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_for_sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="id_for_sender" /></td></tr> + <tr><th><label for="id_for_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_for_cc_myself" /></td></tr> + >>> print f.as_ul() + <li><label for="id_for_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_for_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_for_message" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_for_sender" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_for_cc_myself" /></li> + >>> print f.as_p() + <p><label for="id_for_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_for_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p> + <p><label for="id_for_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_for_message" /></p> + <p><label for="id_for_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_for_sender" /></p> + <p><label for="id_for_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_for_cc_myself" /></p> + +If ``auto_id`` is set to any other true value -- such as a string that doesn't +include ``%s`` -- then the library will act as if ``auto_id`` is ``True``. + +By default, ``auto_id`` is set to the string ``'id_%s'``. + +Normally, a colon (``:``) will be appended after any label name when a form is +rendered. It's possible to change the colon to another character, or omit it +entirely, using the ``label_suffix`` parameter:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(auto_id='id_for_%s', label_suffix='') + >>> print f.as_ul() + <li><label for="id_for_subject">Subject</label> <input id="id_for_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_message">Message</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_for_message" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_sender">Sender</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_for_sender" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_cc_myself">Cc myself</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_for_cc_myself" /></li> + >>> f = ContactForm(auto_id='id_for_%s', label_suffix=' ->') + >>> print f.as_ul() + <li><label for="id_for_subject">Subject -></label> <input id="id_for_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_message">Message -></label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_for_message" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_sender">Sender -></label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_for_sender" /></li> + <li><label for="id_for_cc_myself">Cc myself -></label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_for_cc_myself" /></li> + +Note that the label suffix is added only if the last character of the +label isn't a punctuation character (``.``, ``!``, ``?`` or ``:``) + +Notes on field ordering +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +In the ``as_p()``, ``as_ul()`` and ``as_table()`` shortcuts, the fields are +displayed in the order in which you define them in your form class. For +example, in the ``ContactForm`` example, the fields are defined in the order +``subject``, ``message``, ``sender``, ``cc_myself``. To reorder the HTML +output, just change the order in which those fields are listed in the class. + +How errors are displayed +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +If you render a bound ``Form`` object, the act of rendering will automatically +run the form's validation if it hasn't already happened, and the HTML output +will include the validation errors as a ``<ul class="errorlist">`` near the +field. The particular positioning of the error messages depends on the output +method you're using:: + + >>> data = {'subject': '', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'invalid e-mail address', + ... 'cc_myself': True} + >>> f = ContactForm(data, auto_id=False) + >>> print f.as_table() + <tr><th>Subject:</th><td><ul class="errorlist"><li>This field is required.</li></ul><input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr> + <tr><th>Message:</th><td><input type="text" name="message" value="Hi there" /></td></tr> + <tr><th>Sender:</th><td><ul class="errorlist"><li>Enter a valid e-mail address.</li></ul><input type="text" name="sender" value="invalid e-mail address" /></td></tr> + <tr><th>Cc myself:</th><td><input checked="checked" type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></td></tr> + >>> print f.as_ul() + <li><ul class="errorlist"><li>This field is required.</li></ul>Subject: <input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li> + <li>Message: <input type="text" name="message" value="Hi there" /></li> + <li><ul class="errorlist"><li>Enter a valid e-mail address.</li></ul>Sender: <input type="text" name="sender" value="invalid e-mail address" /></li> + <li>Cc myself: <input checked="checked" type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></li> + >>> print f.as_p() + <p><ul class="errorlist"><li>This field is required.</li></ul></p> + <p>Subject: <input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p> + <p>Message: <input type="text" name="message" value="Hi there" /></p> + <p><ul class="errorlist"><li>Enter a valid e-mail address.</li></ul></p> + <p>Sender: <input type="text" name="sender" value="invalid e-mail address" /></p> + <p>Cc myself: <input checked="checked" type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></p> + +Customizing the error list format +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +By default, forms use ``django.forms.util.ErrorList`` to format validation +errors. If you'd like to use an alternate class for displaying errors, you can +pass that in at construction time:: + + >>> from django.forms.util import ErrorList + >>> class DivErrorList(ErrorList): + ... def __unicode__(self): + ... return self.as_divs() + ... def as_divs(self): + ... if not self: return u'' + ... return u'<div class="errorlist">%s</div>' % ''.join([u'<div class="error">%s</div>' % e for e in self]) + >>> f = ContactForm(data, auto_id=False, error_class=DivErrorList) + >>> f.as_p() + <div class="errorlist"><div class="error">This field is required.</div></div> + <p>Subject: <input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p> + <p>Message: <input type="text" name="message" value="Hi there" /></p> + <div class="errorlist"><div class="error">Enter a valid e-mail address.</div></div> + <p>Sender: <input type="text" name="sender" value="invalid e-mail address" /></p> + <p>Cc myself: <input checked="checked" type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></p> + +More granular output +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The ``as_p()``, ``as_ul()`` and ``as_table()`` methods are simply shortcuts for +lazy developers -- they're not the only way a form object can be displayed. + +To display the HTML for a single field in your form, use dictionary lookup +syntax using the field's name as the key, and print the resulting object:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + >>> print f['subject'] + <input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /> + >>> print f['message'] + <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /> + >>> print f['sender'] + <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /> + >>> print f['cc_myself'] + <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /> + +Call ``str()`` or ``unicode()`` on the field to get its rendered HTML as a +string or Unicode object, respectively:: + + >>> str(f['subject']) + '<input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" />' + >>> unicode(f['subject']) + u'<input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" />' + +Form objects define a custom ``__iter__()`` method, which allows you to loop +through their fields:: + + >>> f = ContactForm() + >>> for field in f: print field + <input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /> + <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /> + <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /> + <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /> + +The field-specific output honors the form object's ``auto_id`` setting:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(auto_id=False) + >>> print f['message'] + <input type="text" name="message" /> + >>> f = ContactForm(auto_id='id_%s') + >>> print f['message'] + <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /> + +For a field's list of errors, access the field's ``errors`` attribute. This +is a list-like object that is displayed as an HTML ``<ul class="errorlist">`` +when printed:: + + >>> data = {'subject': 'hi', 'message': '', 'sender': '', 'cc_myself': ''} + >>> f = ContactForm(data, auto_id=False) + >>> print f['message'] + <input type="text" name="message" /> + >>> f['message'].errors + [u'This field is required.'] + >>> print f['message'].errors + <ul class="errorlist"><li>This field is required.</li></ul> + >>> f['subject'].errors + [] + >>> print f['subject'].errors + + >>> str(f['subject'].errors) + '' + +.. versionadded:: 1.2 + +When you use Django's rendering shortcuts, CSS classes are used to +indicate required form fields or fields that contain errors. If you're +manually rendering a form, you can access these CSS classes using the +``css_classes`` method:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> f['message'].css_classes() + 'required' + +If you want to provide some additional classes in addition to the +error and required classes that may be required, you can provide +those classes as an argument:: + + >>> f = ContactForm(data) + >>> f['message'].css_classes('foo bar') + 'foo bar required' + +.. _binding-uploaded-files: + +Binding uploaded files to a form +-------------------------------- + +.. versionadded:: 1.0 + +Dealing with forms that have ``FileField`` and ``ImageField`` fields +is a little more complicated than a normal form. + +Firstly, in order to upload files, you'll need to make sure that your +``<form>`` element correctly defines the ``enctype`` as +``"multipart/form-data"``:: + + <form enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post" action="/foo/"> + +Secondly, when you use the form, you need to bind the file data. File +data is handled separately to normal form data, so when your form +contains a ``FileField`` and ``ImageField``, you will need to specify +a second argument when you bind your form. So if we extend our +ContactForm to include an ``ImageField`` called ``mugshot``, we +need to bind the file data containing the mugshot image:: + + # Bound form with an image field + >>> from django.core.files.uploadedfile import SimpleUploadedFile + >>> data = {'subject': 'hello', + ... 'message': 'Hi there', + ... 'sender': 'foo@example.com', + ... 'cc_myself': True} + >>> file_data = {'mugshot': SimpleUploadedFile('face.jpg', <file data>)} + >>> f = ContactFormWithMugshot(data, file_data) + +In practice, you will usually specify ``request.FILES`` as the source +of file data (just like you use ``request.POST`` as the source of +form data):: + + # Bound form with an image field, data from the request + >>> f = ContactFormWithMugshot(request.POST, request.FILES) + +Constructing an unbound form is the same as always -- just omit both +form data *and* file data:: + + # Unbound form with a image field + >>> f = ContactFormWithMugshot() + +Testing for multipart forms +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +If you're writing reusable views or templates, you may not know ahead of time +whether your form is a multipart form or not. The ``is_multipart()`` method +tells you whether the form requires multipart encoding for submission:: + + >>> f = ContactFormWithMugshot() + >>> f.is_multipart() + True + +Here's an example of how you might use this in a template:: + + {% if form.is_multipart %} + <form enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post" action="/foo/"> + {% else %} + <form method="post" action="/foo/"> + {% endif %} + {{ form }} + </form> + +Subclassing forms +----------------- + +If you have multiple ``Form`` classes that share fields, you can use +subclassing to remove redundancy. + +When you subclass a custom ``Form`` class, the resulting subclass will +include all fields of the parent class(es), followed by the fields you define +in the subclass. + +In this example, ``ContactFormWithPriority`` contains all the fields from +``ContactForm``, plus an additional field, ``priority``. The ``ContactForm`` +fields are ordered first:: + + >>> class ContactFormWithPriority(ContactForm): + ... priority = forms.CharField() + >>> f = ContactFormWithPriority(auto_id=False) + >>> print f.as_ul() + <li>Subject: <input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li> + <li>Message: <input type="text" name="message" /></li> + <li>Sender: <input type="text" name="sender" /></li> + <li>Cc myself: <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></li> + <li>Priority: <input type="text" name="priority" /></li> + +It's possible to subclass multiple forms, treating forms as "mix-ins." In this +example, ``BeatleForm`` subclasses both ``PersonForm`` and ``InstrumentForm`` +(in that order), and its field list includes the fields from the parent +classes:: + + >>> class PersonForm(Form): + ... first_name = CharField() + ... last_name = CharField() + >>> class InstrumentForm(Form): + ... instrument = CharField() + >>> class BeatleForm(PersonForm, InstrumentForm): + ... haircut_type = CharField() + >>> b = BeatleForm(auto_id=False) + >>> print b.as_ul() + <li>First name: <input type="text" name="first_name" /></li> + <li>Last name: <input type="text" name="last_name" /></li> + <li>Instrument: <input type="text" name="instrument" /></li> + <li>Haircut type: <input type="text" name="haircut_type" /></li> + +.. _form-prefix: + +Prefixes for forms +------------------ + +.. attribute:: Form.prefix + +You can put several Django forms inside one ``<form>`` tag. To give each +``Form`` its own namespace, use the ``prefix`` keyword argument:: + + >>> mother = PersonForm(prefix="mother") + >>> father = PersonForm(prefix="father") + >>> print mother.as_ul() + <li><label for="id_mother-first_name">First name:</label> <input type="text" name="mother-first_name" id="id_mother-first_name" /></li> + <li><label for="id_mother-last_name">Last name:</label> <input type="text" name="mother-last_name" id="id_mother-last_name" /></li> + >>> print father.as_ul() + <li><label for="id_father-first_name">First name:</label> <input type="text" name="father-first_name" id="id_father-first_name" /></li> + <li><label for="id_father-last_name">Last name:</label> <input type="text" name="father-last_name" id="id_father-last_name" /></li> |