296 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
296 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
====================
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The newforms library
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====================
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``django.newforms`` is a new replacement for ``django.forms``, the old Django
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form/manipulator/validation framework. This document explains how to use this
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new form library.
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Migration plan
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==============
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``django.newforms`` currently is only available in the Django development version
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-- i.e., it's not available in the Django 0.95 release. For the next Django
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release, our plan is to do the following:
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* Move the current ``django.forms`` to ``django.oldforms``. This will allow
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for an eased migration of form code. You'll just have to change your
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import statements::
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from django import forms # old
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from django import oldforms as forms # new
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* Move the current ``django.newforms`` to ``django.forms``.
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* We will remove ``django.oldforms`` in the release *after* the next Django
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release -- the release that comes after the release in which we're
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creating ``django.oldforms``.
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With this in mind, we recommend you use the following import statement when
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using ``django.newforms``::
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from django import newforms as forms
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This way, your code can refer to the ``forms`` module, and when
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``django.newforms`` is renamed to ``django.forms``, you'll only have to change
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your ``import`` statements.
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If you prefer "``import *``" syntax, you can do the following::
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from django.newforms import *
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This will import all fields, widgets, form classes and other various utilities
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into your local namespace. Some people find this convenient; others find it
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too messy. The choice is yours.
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Overview
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========
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As the ``django.forms`` ("manipulators") system before it, ``django.newforms``
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is intended to handle HTML form display, validation and redisplay. It's what
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you use if you want to perform server-side validation for an HTML form.
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For example, if your Web site has a contact form that visitors can use to
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send you e-mail, you'd use this library to implement the display of the HTML
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form fields, along with the form validation. Any time you need to use an HTML
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``<form>``, you can use this library.
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The library deals with these concepts:
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* **Widget** -- A class that corresponds to an HTML form widget, e.g.
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``<input type="text">`` or ``<textarea>``. This handles rendering of the
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widget as HTML.
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* **Field** -- A class that is responsible for doing validation, e.g.
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an ``EmailField`` that makes sure its data is a valid e-mail address.
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* **Form** -- A collection of fields that knows how to validate itself and
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display itself as HTML.
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Form objects
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============
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The primary way of using the ``newforms`` library is to create a form object.
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Do this by subclassing ``django.newforms.Form`` and specifying the form's
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fields, in a declarative style that you'll be familiar with if you've used
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Django database models. In this section, we'll iteratively develop a form
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object that you might to implement "contact me" functionality on your personal
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Web site.
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Start with this basic ``Form`` subclass, which we'll call ``ContactForm``::
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from django import newforms as forms
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class ContactForm(forms.Form):
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subject = forms.CharField(max_length=100)
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message = forms.CharField()
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sender = forms.EmailField()
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cc_myself = forms.BooleanField()
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A form is composed of ``Field`` objects. In this case, our form has four
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fields: ``subject``, ``message``, ``sender`` and ``cc_myself``. We'll explain
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the different types of fields -- e.g., ``CharField`` and ``EmailField`` --
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shortly.
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Outputting forms as HTML
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------------------------
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The first thing we can do with this is output it as HTML. To do so, instantiate
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it and ``print`` it::
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>>> f = ContactForm()
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>>> print f
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<tr><th><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="id_message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></td></tr>
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This default output is a two-column HTML table, with a ``<tr>`` for each field.
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Notice the following:
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* For flexibility, the output does *not* include the ``<table>`` and
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``</table>`` tags, nor does it include the ``<form>`` and ``</form>``
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tags or an ``<input type="submit">`` tag. It's your job to do that.
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* Each field type has a default HTML representation. ``CharField`` and
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``EmailField`` are represented by an ``<input type="text">``.
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``BooleanField`` is represented by an ``<input type="checkbox">``. Note
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these are merely sensible defaults; you can specify which HTML to use for
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a given field by using ``widgets``, which we'll explain shortly.
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* The HTML ``name`` for each tag is taken directly from its attribute name
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in the ``ContactForm`` class.
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* The text label for each field -- e.g. ``'Subject:'``, ``'Message:'`` and
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``'CC myself:'`` is generated from the field name by converting all
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underscores to spaces and upper-casing the first letter. Again, note
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these are merely sensible defaults; you can also specify labels manually.
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* Each text label is surrounded in an HTML ``<label>`` tag, which points
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to the appropriate form field via its ``id``. Its ``id``, in turn, is
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generated by prepending ``'id_'`` to the field name. The ``id``
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attributes and ``<label>`` tags are included in the output by default, to
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follow best practices, but you can change that behavior.
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Although ``<table>`` output is the default output style when you ``print`` a
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form, other output styles are available. Each style is available as a method on
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a form object, and each rendering method returns a Unicode object.
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``as_p()``
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~~~~~~~~~~
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``Form.as_p()`` renders the form as a series of ``<p>`` tags, with each ``<p>``
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containing one field::
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>>> f = ContactForm()
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>>> f.as_p()
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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>'
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>>> print f.as_p()
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<p><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p>
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<p><label for="id_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></p>
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<p><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></p>
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<p><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></p>
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``as_ul()``
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~~~~~~~~~~~
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``Form.as_ul()`` renders the form as a series of ``<li>`` tags, with each
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``<li>`` containing one field. It does *not* include the ``<ul>`` or ``</ul>``,
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so that you can specify any HTML attributes on the ``<ul>`` for flexibility::
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>>> f = ContactForm()
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>>> f.as_ul()
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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>'
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>>> print f.as_ul()
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<li><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li>
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<li><label for="id_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></li>
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<li><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></li>
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<li><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></li>
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``as_table()``
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Finally, ``Form.as_table()`` outputs the form as an HTML ``<table>``. This is
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exactly the same as ``print``. In fact, when you ``print`` a form object, it
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calls its ``as_table()`` method behind the scenes::
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>>> f = ContactForm()
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>>> f.as_table()
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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>'
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>>> print f.as_table()
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<tr><th><label for="id_subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="id_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="id_message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="id_message" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="id_sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="id_sender" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="id_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_cc_myself" /></td></tr>
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Configuring HTML ``<label>`` tags
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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An HTML ``<label>`` tag designates which label text is associated with which
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form element. This small enhancement makes forms more usable and more accessible
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to assistive devices. It's always a good idea to use ``<label>`` tags.
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By default, the form rendering methods include HTML ``id`` attributes on the
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form elements and corresponding ``<label>`` tags around the labels. The ``id``
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attribute values are generated by prepending ``id_`` to the form field names.
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This behavior is configurable, though, if you want to change the ``id``
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convention or remove HTML ``id`` attributes and ``<label>`` tags entirely.
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Use the ``auto_id`` argument to the ``Form`` constructor to control the label
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and ``id`` behavior. This argument must be ``True``, ``False`` or a string.
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If ``auto_id`` is ``False``, then the form output will not include ``<label>``
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tags nor ``id`` attributes::
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>>> f = ContactForm(auto_id=False)
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>>> print f.as_table()
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<tr><th>Subject:</th><td><input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th>Message:</th><td><input type="text" name="message" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th>Sender:</th><td><input type="text" name="sender" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th>Cc myself:</th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></td></tr>
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>>> print f.as_ul()
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<li>Subject: <input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li>
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<li>Message: <input type="text" name="message" /></li>
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<li>Sender: <input type="text" name="sender" /></li>
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<li>Cc myself: <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></li>
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>>> print f.as_p()
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<p>Subject: <input type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p>
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<p>Message: <input type="text" name="message" /></p>
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<p>Sender: <input type="text" name="sender" /></p>
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<p>Cc myself: <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" /></p>
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If ``auto_id`` is set to ``True``, then the form output *will* include
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``<label>`` tags and will simply use the field name as its ``id`` for each form
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field::
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>>> f = ContactForm(auto_id=True)
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>>> print f.as_table()
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<tr><th><label for="subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="message" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="sender" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="cc_myself">Cc myself:</label></th><td><input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="cc_myself" /></td></tr>
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>>> print f.as_ul()
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<li><label for="subject">Subject:</label> <input id="subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li>
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<li><label for="message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="message" /></li>
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<li><label for="sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="sender" /></li>
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<li><label for="cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="cc_myself" /></li>
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>>> print f.as_p()
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<p><label for="subject">Subject:</label> <input id="subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p>
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<p><label for="message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="message" /></p>
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<p><label for="sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="sender" /></p>
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<p><label for="cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="cc_myself" /></p>
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If ``auto_id`` is set to a string containing the format character ``'%s'``,
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then the form output will include ``<label>`` tags, and will generate ``id``
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attributes based on the format string. For example, for a format string
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``'field_%s'``, a field named ``subject`` will get the ``id``
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``'field_subject'``. Continuing our example::
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>>> f = ContactForm(auto_id='id_for_%s')
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>>> print f.as_table()
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<tr><th><label for="id_for_subject">Subject:</label></th><td><input id="id_for_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="id_for_message">Message:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="message" id="id_for_message" /></td></tr>
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<tr><th><label for="id_for_sender">Sender:</label></th><td><input type="text" name="sender" id="id_for_sender" /></td></tr>
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<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>
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>>> print f.as_ul()
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<li><label for="id_for_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_for_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></li>
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<li><label for="id_for_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_for_message" /></li>
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<li><label for="id_for_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_for_sender" /></li>
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<li><label for="id_for_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_for_cc_myself" /></li>
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>>> print f.as_p()
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<p><label for="id_for_subject">Subject:</label> <input id="id_for_subject" type="text" name="subject" maxlength="100" /></p>
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<p><label for="id_for_message">Message:</label> <input type="text" name="message" id="id_for_message" /></p>
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<p><label for="id_for_sender">Sender:</label> <input type="text" name="sender" id="id_for_sender" /></p>
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<p><label for="id_for_cc_myself">Cc myself:</label> <input type="checkbox" name="cc_myself" id="id_for_cc_myself" /></p>
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If ``auto_id`` is set to any other true value -- such as a string that doesn't
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include ``%s`` -- then the library will act as if ``auto_id`` is ``True``.
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By default, ``auto_id`` is set to the string ``'id_%s'``.
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Notes on field ordering
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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In the ``as_p()``, ``as_ul()`` and ``as_table()`` shortcuts, the fields are
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displayed in the order in which you define them in your form class. For
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example, in the ``ContactForm`` example, the fields are defined in the order
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``subject``, ``message``, ``sender``, ``cc_myself``. To reorder the HTML
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output, just change the order in which those fields are listed in the class.
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More coming soon
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================
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That's all the documentation for now. For more, see the file
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http://code.djangoproject.com/browser/django/trunk/tests/regressiontests/forms/tests.py
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-- the unit tests for ``django.newforms``. This can give you a good idea of
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what's possible.
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Using forms to validate data
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----------------------------
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Using forms with templates
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==========================
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Using forms in views
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====================
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