django/docs/newforms.txt

====================
The newforms library
====================

``django.newforms`` is a new replacement for ``django.forms``, the old Django
form/manipulator/validation framework. This document explains how to use this
new form library.

Migration plan
==============

``django.newforms`` currently is only available in the Django development version
-- i.e., it's not available in the Django 0.95 release. For the next Django
release, our plan is to do the following:

    * As of revision [4208], we've copied the current ``django.forms`` to
      ``django.oldforms``. This allows you to upgrade your code *now* rather
      than waiting for the backwards-incompatible change and rushing to fix
      your code after the fact. Just change your import statements like this::

          from django import forms             # old
          from django import oldforms as forms # new

    * At an undecided future date, we will move the current ``django.newforms``
      to ``django.forms``. This will be a backwards-incompatible change, and
      anybody who is still using the old version of ``django.forms`` at that
      time will need to change their import statements, as described in the
      previous bullet.

    * We will remove ``django.oldforms`` in the release *after* the next Django
      release -- the release that comes after the release in which we're
      creating the new ``django.forms``.

With this in mind, we recommend you use the following import statement when
using ``django.newforms``::

    from django import newforms as forms

This way, your code can refer to the ``forms`` module, and when
``django.newforms`` is renamed to ``django.forms``, you'll only have to change
your ``import`` statements.

If you prefer "``import *``" syntax, you can do the following::

    from django.newforms import *

This will import all fields, widgets, form classes and other various utilities
into your local namespace. Some people find this convenient; others find it
too messy. The choice is yours.

Overview
========

As the ``django.forms`` ("manipulators") system before it, ``django.newforms``
is intended to handle HTML form display, validation and redisplay. It's what
you use if you want to perform server-side validation for an HTML form.

For example, if your Web site has a contact form that visitors can use to
send you e-mail, you'd use this library to implement the display of the HTML
form fields, along with the form validation. Any time you need to use an HTML
``<form>``, you can use this library.

The library deals with these concepts:

    * **Widget** -- A class that corresponds to an HTML form widget, e.g.
      ``<input type="text">`` or ``<textarea>``. This handles rendering of the
      widget as HTML.

    * **Field** -- A class that is responsible for doing validation, e.g.
      an ``EmailField`` that makes sure its data is a valid e-mail address.

    * **Form** -- A collection of fields that knows how to validate itself and
      display itself as HTML.

The library is decoupled from the other Django components, such as the database
layer, views and templates. It relies only on Django settings, a couple of
``django.utils`` helper functions and Django's internationalization system.

Form objects
============

The primary way of using the ``newforms`` library is to create a form object.
Do this by subclassing ``django.newforms.Form`` and specifying the form's
fields, in a declarative style that you'll be familiar with if you've used
Django database models. In this section, we'll iteratively develop a form
object that you might to implement "contact me" functionality on your personal
Web site.

Start with this basic ``Form`` subclass, which we'll call ``ContactForm``::

    from django import newforms as forms

    class ContactForm(forms.Form):
        subject = forms.CharField(max_length=100)
        message = forms.CharField()
        sender = forms.EmailField()
        cc_myself = forms.BooleanField()

A form is composed of ``Field`` objects. In this case, our form has four
fields: ``subject``, ``message``, ``sender`` and ``cc_myself``. We'll explain
the different types of fields -- e.g., ``CharField`` and ``EmailField`` --
shortly.

Outputting forms as HTML
------------------------

The first thing we can do with this is output it as HTML. To do so, instantiate
it and ``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>

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()``
~~~~~~~~~~

``Form.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()``
~~~~~~~~~~~

``Form.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()``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, ``Form.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>

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``
``'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'``.

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.

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" />'

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" />

More coming soon
================

That's all the documentation for now. For more, see the file
http://code.djangoproject.com/browser/django/trunk/tests/regressiontests/forms/tests.py
-- the unit tests for ``django.newforms``. This can give you a good idea of
what's possible.

If you're really itching to learn and use this library, please be patient.
We're working hard on finishing both the code and documentation.

Using forms with templates
==========================

Using forms in views
====================