error when using autocomplete_light.ChoiceField

[normal-cock]

My autocomplete is :

class ProfessionAutocomplete(autocomplete_light.AutocompleteListBase):
    choices = []
    def choices_for_request(self):
        self.choices = ['dae', 'abc', 'daa']
        return super(ProfessionAutocomplete, self).choices_for_request()

Form is :

from django import forms
class RegisterForm(forms.Form):
    profession = autocomplete_light.ChoiceField('ProfessionAutocomplete')

View is :

def test(request):
    if request.method == 'POST':
        # create a form instance and populate it with data from the request:
        f = RegisterForm(request.POST)
        # check whether it's valid:
        if f.is_valid():
            return HttpResponseRedirect('/thanks/')
    else:
        f = RegisterForm()
    return render(request, 'admin_crm/register_document_edit.html', {'form':f})

However, when I post the resquest with 'dae' as the profession, 'f.is_valid()' failed saying that 'dae' is not a valid choice. What the matter?

[jpic]

What versions ? (Django, Python, OS, Browser)

Maybe Django is passing unicode and it can't compare with items which are in your str list.

[normal-cock]

My django version is 1.5.2, python 2.7.5, mac os, firefox browser.
I think it has nothing to do with compare between items in my str list and django unicode, because when I stepped into the error , I found that the choice list of autocomplete_light.ChoiceField, which was actually empty, didn't change when the ProfessionAutocomplete instance's choices field changed due to override of choices_for_request method. So the error seems to be reasonable.
I think this is a bug. What do you think?

[jpic]

I think that the problem is that the way you do would require overriding choices_for_values(). So choices_for_values will use choices=[].

Maybe it would be easier for you to make a choices dynamic property with @property decorator instead of setting choices=[]?

[normal-cock]

I think you haven't got my point.
The choices variable of AutocompleteListBase has been dynamic already. However, the choices variable of ChoiceField, which is assigned at the __init__ period of ChoiceField, is still static. That's why 'dae' is not a valid choice show up.

[jpic]

On Wed, May 13, 2015 at 4:44 AM, zhiyajun11 notifications@github.com
wrote:

The choices variable of AutocompleteListBase have been dynamic already.
However, the choices variable of ChoiceField, which is assigned at the
init period of ChoiceField, is still static. That's why 'dae' is not
a valid choice show up.

I'm sorry, but choices_for_request() is for the autocomplete view to render
a list of choices to the user in JS. validate_values() is for the
autocomplete widget to validate choices, so it should be the root cause of
the validation problem.

http://django-autocomplete-light.readthedocs.org/en/stable-2.x.x/api.html#autocomplete_light.autocomplete.base.AutocompleteInterface.validate_values
http://django-autocomplete-light.readthedocs.org/en/stable-2.x.x/api.html#autocomplete-class-api

As I said, that:

class ProfessionAutocomplete(autocomplete_light.AutocompleteListBase):
    choices = []
    def choices_for_request(self):
        self.choices = ['dae', 'abc', 'daa']
        return super(ProfessionAutocomplete, self).choices_for_request()

Is wrong, because obviously choices is set only in choices_for_value() but then it's empty in validate_values() the next time the autocomplete classe is instanciated. It's a simple interface:

http://django-autocomplete-light.readthedocs.org/en/stable-2.x.x/api.html#autocompleteinterface

If you want to continue breaking the pattern it was designed for, override choices in validation too, and that's validate_values().

Else, maybe set self.choices in constructor or make it a dynamic property.

http://yourlabs.org http://blog.yourlabs.org
Customer is king - Le client est roi - El cliente es rey.

[jpic]

The choices variable of AutocompleteListBase has been dynamic already.

That's not how it works. You can't set some instance variable in one request (ajax GET request), and then expect it to still be there in another request (form POST submit). Hopefully Django and autocomplete-light are both thread safe.

[normal-cock]

def validate(self, value):
    """
    Wrap around Autocomplete.validate_values().
    """
    super(FieldBase, self).validate(value)

    # FIXME: we might actually want to change the Autocomplete API to
    # support python values instead of raw values, that would probably be
    # more performant.
    values = self.prepare_value(value)

    if value and not self.autocomplete(values=values).validate_values():
        raise forms.ValidationError('%s cannot validate %s' % (
            self.autocomplete.__name__, value))

The above code, which is the method of FieldBase of autocomplete-light, shows that it failed at super(FieldBase, self).validate(value) , in which is the validation of django's ChoiceField, before validate_values(). That's my problem and what I mean :).
Maybe I should define my own field to meet my needs.

[jpic]

Nice catch ! There's even a docstring issue there because it doesn't mention the super call. It would probably have been better in the beginning to pass the field instance to the autocomplete instance in that code and let `Autocomplete.validate_values()` call `field.validate(value)`.​ It's a bit a harsh BC break but might be a good idea for v3. A perhaps simple way would be to add a field attribute, ie. ChoiceField('FooAutocomplete', skip_field_validation=True). What do you think ?

[jpic]

I think that fix works, but I can't release it without making a proper security audit.

[normal-cock]

It would probably have been better in the beginning to pass the field
instance to the autocomplete instance in that code and let
Autocomplete.validate_values() call field.validate(value).​ It's a bit
a harsh BC break but might be a good idea for v3.

That's will be fine. But it's not an easy job based on current structure. Hoping for v3 and autocomplete-light is really a nice project. Good luck.

[jpic]

Closing in favor of PR #416 which should be in the next release.

Thanks again for your feedback !

[jpic]

Could you try with 2.2.0rc1 which was released yesterday ?

Thanks.

[normal-cock]

The backend seems to go well. But there is a js error in the front-end, which result in the disappearing of prompt box. The error is:

ReferenceError: isOpera is not defined
autocomplete.js line 82

My browser is firefox.