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A Django helper app to add editing capabilities to the frontend using modal forms

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Warning

This project has been archived and refactored into django-htmx-forms

with the following purposes:

  • remove all dependencies (jQuery and Bootstrap)
  • take a closer look at HTMX capabilities

A Django helper app to add editing capabilities to the frontend using modal forms.

An accompaning Demo site provides:

Bases on my previous research as documented here: Editing Django models in the front end

screenshots/main_screen.png

Install the package by running:

pip install django-frontend-forms

or:

pip install git+https://github.com/morlandi/django-frontend-forms

In your settings, add:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'frontend_forms',
]

Include library's views mapping (file urls.py):

urlpatterns = [
    ...
    path('frontend_forms/', include('frontend_forms.urls', namespace='frontend_forms')),
    ...

In your base template, include: the default styles, the javascript support, the javascript messaeg catalog, and optionally the sample HTML template:

<link rel='stylesheet' href="{% static 'frontend_forms/css/frontend_forms.css' %}">
{% if USE_VANILLA_JS %}
<script src="{% static 'frontend_forms/js/frontend_forms_vanilla.js' %}"></script>
{% else %}
<script src="{% static 'frontend_forms/js/frontend_forms.js' %}"></script>
{% endif %}
<script src="{% url 'frontend_forms:javascript-catalog' %}"></script>
{% include 'frontend_forms/dialogs.html' %}

Follow the intructions given on the Demo site

In the following example, we build a Dialog() object providing some custom options; then, we use it to open a modal dialog and load it from the specified url.

For demonstration purposes, we also subscribe the 'created' notification.

<script language="javascript">

    $(document).ready(function() {

        dialog1 = new Dialog({
            html: '<h1>Loading ...</h1>',
            url: '{% url 'frontend:j_object' %}',
            width: '400px',
            min_height: '200px',
            title: '<i class="fa fa-calculator"></i> Selezione Oggetto',
            footer_text: 'testing dialog ...',
            enable_trace: true,
            callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
                switch (event_name) {
                    case "created":
                        console.log('Dialog created: dialog=%o, params=%o', dialog, params);
                        break;
                }
            }
        });

    });

</script>


<a href="#" class="btn btn-primary pull-right" onclick="dialog1.open(event); return false;">
    <i class="fa fa-plus-circle"></i>
    Test Popup
</a>
Method Effects
constructor(options={}) See options list below
open(event=null, show=true)

Open the dialog

  1. the dialog body will be immediately loaded with static content provided by option "html"
  2. then the dialog is shown (unless the "show" parameter is false)
  3. finally, dynamic content will be loaded from remote address provided by option "url" (if supplied)
  4. if successfull, a 'loaded.dialog' event is fired; you can use it to perform any action required after loading
close() Close (hide) the dialog
show() Make the dialog visible
Option Default value Notes
dialog_selector '#dialog_generic' The selector for HTML dialog template
open_event null Used to "remember" the event which triggered Dialog opening
html '' Static content to display in dialog body
url '' Optional url to retrieve dialog content via Ajax
width null  
min_width null  
max_width null  
height null  
min_height null  
max_height null  
button_save_label 'Save'  
button_save_initially_hidden false Will be shown after form rendering
button_close_label 'Cancel'  
title ''  
subtitle ''  
footer_text ''  
enable_trace false show notifications in debug console
callback null a callback to receive events
autofocus_first_visible_input true  

Unspecified options will be retrieved from corresponding HTML attributes on the element which fires the dialog opening; for example:

<a href="{% url 'frontend:whatever' object.id %}"
   data-title="My title"
   data-subtitle="My Subtitle"
   onclick="new Dialog().open(event); return false;">
        Open
</a>
Option HTML attribute
url href
html data-html
width data-width
min_width data-min-width
max_width data-max-width
height data-height
min_height data-min-height
max_height data-max-height
button_save_label data-button-save-label
button_close_label data-button-close-label
title data-title
subtitle data-subtitle
footer_text data-footer-text
event_name params
created options
closed  
initialized  
shown  
loading url
loaded url, data
loading_failed jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown
open  
submitting method, url, data
submission_failure method, url, data
submitted method, url, data

During it's lifetime, the Dialog will notify all interesting events to the caller, provided he supplies a suitable callback in the contructor:

self.options.callback(event_name, dialog, params)

Example:

dialog1 = new Dialog({
    ...
    callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
        console.log('event_name: %o, dialog: %o, params: %o', event_name, dialog, params);
    }
});

Result:

event_name: "created", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {options: {…}}
event_name: "initialized", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {}
event_name: "open", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {}
event_name: "shown", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {}
event_name: "loading", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {url: "/admin_ex/popup/"}
event_name: "loaded", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {url: "/admin_ex/popup/"}
event_name: "submitting", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {method: "post", url: "/admin_ex/popup/", data: "text=&number=aaa"}
event_name: "submitted", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {method: "post", url: "/admin_ex/popup/", data: "text=111&number=111"}
event_name: "closed", dialog: Dialog {options: {…}, element: …}, params: {}

You can also trace all events in the console setting the boolean flag enable_trace.

When a form submission is involved, the modal life cycle has to be modified as follows:

  • First and foremost, we need to prevent the form from performing its default submit.

    If not, after submission we'll be redirected to the form action, outside the context of the dialog.

    We'll do this binding to the form's submit event, where we'll serialize the form's content and sent it to the view for validation via an Ajax call.

  • Then, upon a successufull response from the server, we'll need to further investigate the HTML received:

    • if it contains any field error, the form did not validate successfully, so we update the modal body with the new form and its errors
    • otherwise, user interaction is completed, and we can finally close the modal

django-frontend-forms, upon detecting a form in the content downloaded from the server, already takes care of all these needs automatically, and keeps refreshing the modal after each submission until the form validation succeedes.

Thus, you can safely forget about all these technicalities and just include a form in the rendered response as you would in any common form-processing view:

urlpatterns = [
    ...
    path('j/edit_profile/', ajax.edit_profile, name='j_edit_profile'),
    ...
]


from django import forms

class UserProfileForm(forms.ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = Profile
        fields = [
            'whatever',
            ...
        ]


from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied
from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
from django.views.decorators.cache import never_cache
from django.shortcuts import render

@login_required
@never_cache
def edit_profile(request):

    is_ajax_request = request.accepts("application/json")
    if not is_ajax_request:
        raise PermissionDenied

    template_name = 'frontend_forms/generic_form_inner.html'
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = UserProfileForm(data=request.POST, instance=request.user.profile)
        if form.is_valid():
            form.save()
    else:
        form = UserProfileForm(instance=request.user.profile)

    return render(request, template_name, {
        'form': form,
        'object': request.user,  # unused, but armless
    })

and later on:

<a href="{% url 'frontend:j_edit_profile' %}"
    class="btn btn-info"
    data-title="My title"
    data-subtitle="My Subtitle"
    data-width="50%"
    data-height="50%"
    onclick="new Dialog().open(event); return false;">
        Open
</a>

or, to keep more control over the modal life cycle:

<a class="btn btn-info" href="#" onclick="dialog_edit_profile.open(); return false;">
    <i class="fa fa-user"></i> {% trans 'Edit Profile ...' %}
</a>

<script language="javascript">

    $(document).ready(function() {

        dialog_edit_profile = new Dialog({
            html: '<div>{% trans "Please wait" %} ...</div>',
            url: '{% url "frontend:j_edit_profile" %}',
            width: '400px',
            min_height: '200px',
            title: '<i class="fa fa-user"></i>&nbsp;&nbsp;{% trans "Edit Profile" %} ...',
            callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
                switch (event_name) {
                    case "loaded":
                        dialog.element.find('.django-select2').djangoSelect2({
                            // "dropdownParent" is required for Bootstrap; see:
                            // https://select2.org/troubleshooting/common-problems#select2-does-not-function-properly-when-i-use-it-inside-a-bootst
                            dropdownParent: dialog.element,
                            width: 'style'
                        });
                        break;
                    case "submitted":
                        FrontendForms.hide_mouse_cursor();
                        FrontendForms.reload_page(true);
                        break;
                }
            }
        });

    });
</script>

Sometimes, you might want to notify the user after successful form submission.

To obtain this, all you have to do, after the form has been validated and saved, is to return an HTML fragment with no forms in it; in this case:

  • the popup will not close
  • the "save" button will be hidden

thus giving to the user a chance to read your feedback.

def form_validation_with_feedback(request):

    assert request.is_ajax()

    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = MyForm(data=request.POST)
        if form.is_valid():
            form.save()
            return HttpResponse("<h1>Great !</h1> Your form has been validated")
    else:
        form = MyForm()

    return render(request, "my_form.html", {
        'form': form,
    })
...
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = MyForm(data=request.POST)
        if form.is_valid():
            form.save()
            if not is_ajax(request):
                messages.info(request, "Form has been validated")
            else:
                return JsonResponse(form.cleaned_data)

If you're trying to minimize page switching and reduce navigation in your frontend, why not provide a modal window for login as well ?

The library contains a login view adapted from the standard (function based) Django login view, which can be used for either a standalone HTML page or in a Dialog.

For example:

<a id="login_with_dialog" href="{% url 'frontend_forms:login' %}">
    <i class="fa fa-sign-in"></i>
    Login
</a>

<script language="javascript">

    $(document).ready(function() {

        $('#login_with_dialog').on('click', function(event) {
            event.preventDefault();
            var target = $(event.target);
            var url = target.attr('href');
            var logged_in = false;

            var login_dialog = new Dialog({
                url: url,
                width: '400px',
                min_height: '200px',
                title: '<i class="fa fa-sign-in"></i> Login ...',
                button_save_label: "Login",
                button_close_label: "Close",
                callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
                    switch (event_name) {
                        case "submitted":
                            logged_in = true;
                            break;
                        case "closed":
                            if (logged_in) {
                                FrontendForms.redirect('/', true);
                            }
                            break;
                    }
                }

            });

            login_dialog.open(event);
        });

    });

</script>

screenshots/login-dialog.png

You can customize the following templates:

  • frontend_forms/login.html
  • frontend_forms/login_inner.html
  • frontend_forms/login_successful_message.html

A decorator suitable for modal forms is provided to replace login_required():

from frontend_forms.decorators import check_logged_in

@check_logged_in()
def my_view(request, ...):
    ...

It checks that the user is logged in, showing an error message in place if not.

You can customize the following template:

  • frontend_forms/check_logged_in_failed.html

screenshots/contract-form.png

We start by creating a view for form rendering and submission:

file ajax.py:

import time
from frontend_forms.decorators import check_logged_in
from django.views.decorators.cache import never_cache
from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied
from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect


@check_logged_in()
@never_cache
def select_contract(request):

    # if settings.DEBUG:
    #     time.sleep(0.5);

    if not request.user.has_perm('backend.view_contract') or not request.is_ajax():
        raise PermissionDenied

    #template_name = 'frontend/dialogs/generic_form_inner_with_video.html'
    template_name = 'dashboard/dialogs/select_contract.html'

    object = None
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = SelectContractForm(request=request, data=request.POST)
        if form.is_valid():
            object = form.save(request)
            if not request.is_ajax():
                # reload the page
                next = request.META['PATH_INFO']
                return HttpResponseRedirect(next)
            # if is_ajax(), we just return the validated form, so the modal will close
    else:
        form = SelectContractForm(request=request)

    return render(request, template_name, {
        'form': form,
        'object': object,  # unused, but armless
    })

and provide an endpoint to it for ajax call:

file urls.py

from django.urls import path
from . import ajax

app_name = 'dashboard'

urlpatterns = [
    ...
    path('j/select_contract/', ajax.select_contract, name='j_select_contract'),
    ...
]

The Form in this example does a few interesting things:

  • includes some specific assets declaring an inner Media class
  • receives the request upon construction
  • uses it to provide specific initial values to the widgets
  • provides some specific validations with clean()
  • encapsulates in save() all actions required after successfull submission

file forms.py:

import json
import datetime
from django import forms
from selectable.forms import AutoCompleteWidget, AutoCompleteSelectWidget, AutoComboboxSelectWidget
from backend.models import Contract
from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
from .lookups import ContractLookup


class SelectContractForm(forms.Form):

    contract = forms.CharField(
        label='Contract',
        widget=AutoComboboxSelectWidget(ContractLookup, limit=10),
        required=True,
        help_text=mark_safe("&nbsp;"),
    )
    today = forms.BooleanField(label="Oggi", required=False)
    date = forms.DateField(widget=forms.DateInput(), label='', required=False)

    class Media:
        css = {
            'screen': ('dashboard/css/select_contract_form.css', )
        }
        js = ('dashboard/js/select_contract_form.js', )


    def __init__(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.fields['date'].widget = forms.DateInput(attrs={'class': 'datepicker'})
        assert request.user.is_authenticated and request.user.is_active
        self.fields['contract'].initial = request.user.contract_attivo
        self.fields['date'].initial = request.user.data_attiva
        self.fields['today'].initial = request.user.data_attiva is None

    def lookup_contract(self):
        try:
            contract = Contract.objects.get(
                id=self.cleaned_data['contract']
            )
        except Contract.DoesNotExist:
            contract = None
        return contract

    def clean(self):
        cleaned_data = self.cleaned_data
        if not cleaned_data['today'] and not cleaned_data['date']:
            raise forms.ValidationError({
                'date': 'Questo campo è obbligatorio'
            })
        return cleaned_data

    def save(self, request):
        user = request.user
        assert request.user.is_authenticated and request.user.is_active
        user.contract_attivo = self.lookup_contract()
        if self.cleaned_data['today']:
            user.data_attiva = None
        else:
            user.data_attiva = self.cleaned_data['date']
        user.save(update_fields=['contract_attivo', 'data_attiva', ])

The javascript and css assets are used for specific needs of this form:

function onChangeToday(event) {
    var controller = $('#id_today');
    var value = controller.is(":checked");
    $('#id_date').prop('disabled', value);
    $('.field-date .ui-datepicker-trigger').prop('disabled', value);
    if (value) {
        $('#id_date').datepicker('setDate', null);
    }
}

$(document).ready(function() {
    $('#id_today').on('change', onChangeToday);
    onChangeToday();
});

In the template, remember to include the Form's assets:

{% load i18n frontend_forms_tags %}

{{ form.media.css }}

<div class="row">
    <div class="col-sm-12">
        <form action="{{ action }}" method="post" class="form {{form.form_class}}" novalidate autocomplete="off">
            {% csrf_token %}

            {% if form.errors or form.non_field_errors %}
                <p class="errornote">{% trans 'Please correct the error below.' %}</p>
            {% endif %}

            {% if form.non_field_errors %}
                <ul class="errorlist">
                    {% for error in form.non_field_errors %}
                        <li>{{ error }}</li>
                    {% endfor %}
                </ul>
            {% endif %}

            {% for hidden_field in form.hidden_fields %}
                {{ hidden_field }}
            {% endfor %}

            <fieldset>
                {% render_form_field form.contract %}
                <div>Data di riferimento:</div>
                <div class="data-selection-block">
                    {% render_form_field form.today %}
                    {% render_form_field form.date %}
                </div>
            </fieldset>

            <input type="hidden" name="object_id" value="{{ object.id|default:'' }}">
            <div class="form-submit-row">
                <input type="submit" value="Save" />
            </div>
        </form>
    </div>
</div>

{% if request.is_ajax %}
    {{ form.media.js }}
{% endif %}

And finally, the Dialog itself;

please note that we use the loaded event notification to rebind the widgets after form rendering.

{% block extrajs %}
<script language="javascript">
    $(document).ready(function() {

        dialog1 = new Dialog({
            dialog_selector: '#dialog_generic',
            html: '',
            url: "{% url 'dashboard:j_select_contract' %}",
            width: '80%',
            max_width: '400px',
            min_height: '200px',
            button_save_label: 'Salva',
            button_close_label: 'Annulla',
            title: '<i class="fa fa-file-o"></i> Selezione Contract',
            footer_text: '',
            enable_trace: true,
            callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
                switch (event_name) {
                    case "loaded":
                        bindSelectables();
                        dialog.element.find(".datepicker").datepicker({});
                        break;
                    case "submitted":
                        FrontendForms.reload_page(show_layer=true);
                        break;
                }
            }
        });

        $('.btn-cambia-contract').off().on('click', function(event) {
            event.preventDefault();
            dialog1.open();
        })

    });

</script>
{% endblock extrajs %}

TODO: TO BE REFINED ... AND VERIFIED ;)

First of all, we need a view for form rendering and submission.

For example:

@check_logged_in()
@never_cache
def edit_something(request, id_object=None):

    # if not request.user.has_perm('backend.view_something') or not request.is_ajax():
    #     raise PermissionDenied

    if id_object is not None:
        object = get_object_or_404(Something, id=id_object)
    else:
        object = None

    template_name = 'frontend_forms/generic_form_inner.html'

    if request.method == 'POST':

        form = SomethingForm(data=request.POST, instance=object)
        if form.is_valid():
            object = form.save(request)
            if not request.is_ajax():
                # reload the page
                next = request.META['PATH_INFO']
                return HttpResponseRedirect(next)
            # if is_ajax(), we just return the validated form, so the modal will close
    else:
        form = SomethingForm()

    return render(request, template_name, {
        'form': form,
        'object': object,  # unused, but armless
    })

where:

class SomethingForm(forms.ModelForm):

    class Meta:
        model = Someghing
        exclude = []

    ...

and an endpoint for Ajax call:

File "urls.py" ...

path('j/edit_something/<int:id_object>/', ajax.edit_something, name='j_edit_something'),

We can finally use the form in a Dialog:

$(document).ready(function() {

    dialog1 = new Dialog({
        dialog_selector: '#dialog_generic',
        html: '<h1>Loading ...</h1>',
        url: '/j/edit_something/{{ object.id }}/',
        width: '400px',
        min_height: '200px',
        title: '<i class="fa fa-add"></i> Edit',
        footer_text: '',
        enable_trace: true,
        callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
            switch (event_name) {
                case "created":
                    console.log('Dialog created: dialog=%o, params=%o', dialog, params);
                    break;
                case "submitted":
                    FrontendForms.hide_mouse_cursor();
                    FrontendForms.reload_page(true);
                    break;
            }
        }
    });

});

When contructing a Dialog, you can use the dialog_selector option to select which HTML fragment of the page will be treated as the dialog to work with.

It is advisable to use an HTML structure similar to the default layout:

<div id="dialog_generic" class="dialog draggable">
    <div class="dialog-dialog">
        <div class="dialog-content">
            <div class="dialog-header">
                <span class="spinner">
                    <i class="fa fa-spinner fa-spin"></i>
                </span>
                <span class="close">&times;</span>
                <div class="title">Title</div>
            </div>
            <div class="dialog-body ui-front">

            </div>
            <div class="dialog-footer">
                <input type="submit" value="Close" class="btn btn-close" />
                <input type="submit" value="Save" class="btn btn-save" />
                <div class="text">footer</div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

Notes:

  • ".draggable" make the Dialog draggable
  • adding ".ui-front" to the ".dialog-box" element helps improving the behaviour of the dialog on a mobile client
Option Accepted values
FRONTEND_FORMS_FORM_LAYOUT_FLAVOR "generic", "bs4"
FRONTEND_FORMS_FORM_LAYOUT_DEFAULT "vertical", "horizontal"
FRONTEND_FORMS_MODEL_FORMS_MODULES  

Default values:

FRONTEND_FORMS_FORM_LAYOUT_FLAVOR  = "generic"
FRONTEND_FORMS_FORM_LAYOUT_DEFAULT = "vertical"
FRONTEND_FORMS_MODEL_FORMS_MODULES = ['frontend.forms', ]

Add the .compact-fields class to the form to modify the layout as in the right picture below:

screenshots/bs4-forms.png

Helper Purpose
display_server_error(errorDetails) Display an error message using SweetAlert2; failing that, uses a simple alert instead
display_message(html_content) Display a message using SweetAlert2; failing that, uses a simple alert instead
redirect(url, show_overlay=False) Similar behavior as an HTTP redirect; optionally calls overlay_show('body')
gotourl(url, show_overlay=False) Similar behavior as clicking on a link; optionally calls overlay_show('body')
reload_page(show_overlay=False) Reload the current page; optionally calls overlay_show('body')
overlay_show(element) Show overlay on given element; Requires: gasparesganga-jquery-loading-overlay or {% include 'frontend_forms/overlay.html' %}
overlay_hide(element) Hide overlay on given element; Requires: gasparesganga-jquery-loading-overlay or {% include 'frontend_forms/overlay.html' %}
hide_mouse_cursor Hide the mouse cursor
dumpObject(obj, max_depth) Serialize the given dictionary up to max_depth levels
logObject(element, obj) Render obj content as HTML table an assign to given element
isEmptyObject(obj) Check if given obj is empty
cloneObject(obj) Deep clone an object in JavaScript
lookup(array, prop, value) Find an Object by attribute in an Array
formdata_serialize(formData) Serializing form data with the vanilla JS FormData() object
formdata_to_querystring(formData) Transform FormData into query string
adjust_canvas_size(id) Adapts canvas size to desired size
getCookie(name) Add to POST headers as follows: FrontendForms.getCookie('csrftoken')
confirmRemoteAction(url, options, afterDoneCallback) Invoke remote action upon user confirmation.
downloadFromAjaxPost(url, params, headers, callback) Handle file download from ajax post
querystring_parse(qs, sep, eq, options) Parse query string
set_datepicker_defaults(language_code) Set datepicker defaults, and optionally select language ("it" or "es" for now)
apply_multiselect(elements) Bind MultiSelect widget

A render_form(form, flavor=None, layout=FORM_LAYOUT_DEFAULT) template tag is available for form rendering:

{% load frontend_forms_tags ... %}

<form method="post">
    {% csrf_token %}

    {% render_form form %}

    <div class="form-group form-submit-row">
        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-lg btn-primary btn-block">{% trans 'Submit' %}</button>
    </div>
</form>

For more a more advanced customization, you can use render_form_field(field, flavor=None, extra_attrs='', layout=FORM_LAYOUT_DEFAULT, index=0, addon='') instead:

{% load frontend_forms_tags ... %}

<form method="post">
    {% csrf_token %}

    {% if form.non_field_errors %}
        <ul class="errorlist">
            {% for error in form.non_field_errors %}
                <li>{{ error }}</li>
            {% endfor %}
        </ul>
    {% endif %}

    {% for hidden_field in form.hidden_fields %}
        {{ hidden_field }}
    {% endfor %}

    <fieldset>
        {% render_form_field form.username extra_attrs="autocomplete=^off,role=presentation,autocorrect=off,autocapitalize=none" %}
        {% render_form_field form.password extra_attrs="autocomplete=^off,role=presentation,autocorrect=off,autocapitalize=none" addon='<i class="fa fa-user"></i>' %}
    </fieldset>

    <div class="form-group form-submit-row">
        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-lg btn-primary btn-block">{% trans 'Submit' %}</button>
    </div>
</form>

In this second example, we supply extra_attrs attributes to each form field; these will be added to the attributes already derived from the Django Form field definitions.

The special prefix ^ will be removed from the attribute, and interpreted as "replace" instead of "append".

A generic template is also available:

generic_form_inner.html:

{% load i18n frontend_forms_tags %}

<div class="row">
    <div class="col-sm-12">
        <form action="{{ action }}" method="post" class="form" novalidate autocomplete="off">
            {% csrf_token %}
            {% render_form form %}
            <input type="hidden" name="object_id" value="{{ object.id|default:'' }}">
            <div class="form-submit-row">
                <input type="submit" value="Save" />
            </div>
        </form>
    </div>
</div>

Please note that, as a convenience when editing a Django Model, we've added an hidden field object_id; in other occasions, this is useless (but also armless, as long as the form doesn't contain a field called "object").

A basic support is provided for jquery-ui datepicker.

Follow these steps:

  1. Initialize datepicker default by calling FrontendForms.set_datepicker_defaults(language_code) once:
<script language="javascript">
    $(document).ready(function() {
        moment.locale('it');

        FrontendForms.set_datepicker_defaults('{{LANGUAGE_CODE}}');    <-------------
        ...
  1. In your form, make sure that the datepicker class is assigned to the input element; for example:
class MyForm(forms.Form):

    date = forms.DateField(widget=forms.DateInput())
    ...

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.fields['date'].widget = forms.DateInput(attrs={'class': 'datepicker'})
  1. If loading the form in a dialog, rebind as necessary:
dialog1 = new Dialog({
    ...
    callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
        switch (event_name) {
            case "loaded":
                bindSelectables();
                dialog.element.find(".datepicker").datepicker({});    <-------------
                break;
            ...
        }
    }
});

Requirements:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{% static 'multiselect/css/multi-select.css' %}" />

<script src="{% static 'multiselect/js/jquery.multi-select.js' %}"></script>
<script src="{% static 'jquery.quicksearch/dist/jquery.quicksearch.min.js' %}"></script>

Follow these steps:

  1. In your form, add the multiselect class to the SelectMultiple() widget
class MyForm(forms.ModelForm):

    ...

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.fields['operators'].widget.attrs = {'class': 'multiselect'}
  1. Later on, bind the widget using apply_multiselect() helper:
dialog1 = new Dialog({
    ...
    callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
        switch (event_name) {
            case "loaded":
                FrontendForms.apply_multiselect(dialog.element.find('.multiselect'));
                break;
            ...
        }
    }
});

Requirements:

pip install django-select2
npm install select2

Changes to "settings.py":

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'django_select2',
    ...

Changes to "base.html":

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{% static 'select2/dist/css/select2.min.css' %}" />

<script src="{% static 'select2/dist/js/select2.min.js' %}"></script>
<script src="{% static 'select2/dist/js/i18n/it.js' %}"></script>
<script language="javascript">
    $.fn.select2.defaults.set('language', 'it');
</script>
<script src="{% static 'django_select2/django_select2.js' %}"></script>

Follow these steps:

  1. In your form, use one or more Select2Widget():
from django_select2.forms import HeavySelect2Widget

class MyForm(forms.ModelForm):

    ...

    class Meta:
        ...
        widgets = {
            'fieldname': HeavySelect2Widget(
                data_url='/url/to/json/response'
            )
        }
  1. Later on, bind the widgets using djangoSelect2() helper:
dialog1 = new Dialog({
    ...
    callback: function(event_name, dialog, params) {
        switch (event_name) {
            case "loaded":
                dialog.element.find('.django-select2').djangoSelect2({
                    // "dropdownParent" is required for Bootstrap; see:
                    // https://select2.org/troubleshooting/common-problems#select2-does-not-function-properly-when-i-use-it-inside-a-bootst
                    dropdownParent: dialog.element,
                    width: 'style'
                });
                break;
            ...
        }
    }
});

I normally opt to include all required static files in "base.hmtml", since I'm already including so much javascript stuff.

In this case, make sure django-select2 won't istall them twice; for example:

class MySelect2Widget():
    """
    Avoid inclusion of select2 by django-select2 as a result of {{form.media}},
    since we're already including everything in base.html
    """
    def _get_media(self):
        return None
    media = property(_get_media)


class AlbumWidget(MySelect2Widget, ModelSelect2Widget):
    model = Album
    search_fields = [
        'name__istartswith',
    ]

    def build_attrs(self, base_attrs, extra_attrs=None):
        attrs = super().build_attrs(base_attrs=base_attrs, extra_attrs=extra_attrs)
        # "data-minimum-input-length";
        # - either override build_attrs() here,
        # - or provide as attr in the instance; for example:
        #   'album': AlbumWidget(attrs={'data-minimum-input-length': 0,}),
        attrs['data-minimum-input-length'] = 0
        return attrs