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Django form not populating with POST data

SOLUTION AT THE BOTTOM
Problem: Django form populating with list of objects rather than values
Summary: I have 2 models Entities and Breaks. Breaks has a FK relationship to the entity_id (not the PK) on the Entities model.
I want to generate an empty form for all the fields of Breaks. Generating a basic form populates all the empty fields, but for the FK it generates a dropdown list of all objects of the Entities table. This is not helpful so I have excluded this in the ModelForm below and tried to replace with a list of all the entity_ids of the Entities table. This form renders as expected.
class BreakForm(ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Breaks
#fields = '__all__'
exclude = ('entity',)
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
super(BreakForm, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
self.fields['entity_id'] = ModelChoiceField(queryset=Entities.objects.all().values_list('entity_id', flat=True))
The below FormView is the cbv called by the URL. As the below stands if I populate the form, and for the FK column entity_id choose one of the values, the form will not submit. By that field on the form template the following message appears Select a valid choice. That choice is not one of the available choices.
class ContactFormView(FormView):
template_name = "breaks/test/breaks_form.html"
form_class = BreakForm
My initial thoughts were either that the datatype of this field (string/integer) was wrong or that Django needed the PK of the row in the Entities table (for whatever reason).
So I added a post function to the FormView and could see that the request.body was populating correctly. However I can't work out how to populate this into the ModelForm and save to the database, or overcome the issue mentioned above.
Addendum:
Models added below:
class Entity(models.Model):
pk_securities = models.AutoField(primary_key=True)
entity_id = models.CharField(unique=True)
entity_description = models.CharField(blank=True, null=True)
class Meta:
managed = False
db_table = 'entities'
class Breaks(models.Model):
pk_break = models.AutoField(primary_key=True)
date = models.DateField(blank=True, null=True)
entity = models.ForeignKey(Entity, on_delete= models.CASCADE, to_field='entity_id')
commentary = models.CharField(blank=True, null=True)
active = models.BooleanField()
def get_absolute_url(self):
return reverse(
"item-update", args=[str(self.pk_break)]
)
def __str__(self):
return f"{self.pk_break}"
class Meta:
managed = False
db_table = 'breaks'
SOLUTION
Firstly I got this working by adding the following to the Entity Model class. However I didn't like this as it would have consequences elsewhere.
def __str__(self):
return f"{self.entity_id}"
I found this SO thread on the topic. The accepted answer is fantastic and the comments to it are helpful.
The solution is to subclass ModelChoiceField and override the label_from_instance
class EntityChoiceField(ModelChoiceField):
def label_from_instance(self, obj):
return obj.entity_id

I think your problem is two fold, first is not rendering the dropdown correctly and second is form is not saving. For first problem, you do not need to do any changes in ModelChoiceField queryset, instead, add to_field_name:
class BreakForm(ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Breaks
#fields = '__all__'
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
super(BreakForm, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
self.fields['entity_id'] = ModelChoiceField(queryset=Entities.objects.all(), to_field_name='entity_id')
Secondly, if you want to save the form, instead of FormView, use CreateView:
class ContactFormView(CreateView):
template_name = "breaks/test/breaks_form.html"
form_class = BreakForm
model = Breaks

In Django, the request object passed as parameter to your view has an attribute called "method" where the type of the request is set, and all data passed via POST can be accessed via the request. POST dictionary. The view will display the result of the login form posted through the loggedin. html.

Issue with ModelForm and related objects

I have come to an impasse when using a ModelForm.
I'm extending the User model that comes with Django, and I'm also using a ModelForm so the user can edit it.
Following the same example in the documentation, I would have this code.
models.py
class Employee(models.Model):
user = models.OneToOneField(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
# In this case, department is optional, so I have set 'blank' and 'null' to True.
department = models.CharField(max_length=100, blank=True, null=True)
forms.py
class DepartmentForm(ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Employee
fields = ['department',]
The problem comes at the view. I found that I need to pass an instance of the model to the form so the save() function works without having to customize it, but of course, user.employee has not been created yet, therefore it throws an error.
views.py
def DepartmentView(request):
# Here is the issue.
department = request.user.employee
if request.method == 'POST':
# I need to pass the instance here.
form = DepartmentForm(request.POST, instance=department)
if form.is_valid():
form.save()
else:
# And also here so it autocompletes the form.
form = DepartmentForm(instance=department)
return render(request, 'employee.html', {'form': form})
It works if I manually add a value to user.employee.department through the shell and then reload the page, otherwise the error is as follow.
RelatedObjectDoesNotExist at [something]
User has no employee.
Or something like that... I'm sorry, I didn't try the code above so the error could be a little different, but the concept is exactly the same.
I'm also sorry if this has been asked before. I did a Google search and couldn't find an answer to this issue.

You could use get_or_create to fetch the employee from the db, or create it if it doesn't exist.
department, created = Employee.objects.get_or_create(user=request_or_user, department='')
if request.method == 'POST':
form = DepartmentForm(request.POST, instance=department)
...
Another option is to use a signal, so that the related model is created when the user is created. Then you can assume that the employee already exists, and you can use request.user.employee instead of get_or_create.

Django: combine two ForeignKeys into one field

I need to implement the following:
The user shall be presented with a form that will have a drop down choice menu consisting of property names. There are two types of properties: general properties, i.e. properties common for all users and custom properties, i.e. properties that each user has defined prior to that. The models would look something like that:
class GeneralPropertyName(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=20)
class CustomPropertyName(models.Model):
user = models.ForeignKey(User)
name = models.CharField(max_length=20)
The drop down menu should have all general properties and only those custom properties that pertain to the user.
First question: how to define such a model?
I need to: 1. somehow unify both properties, 2. take only those items from CustomPropertyName that pertain to the user
class SpecData(models.Model):
user = models.ForeignKey(User)
selection_title = models.CharField(max_length=20)
property = ForeignKey(GeneralPropertyName) ??UNIFY??? ForeignKey(CustomPropertyName)
Second, is there anything special that needs to be done with ModelForm?
class SpecDataForm(ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = SpecData
And the 3rd question is what needs to be done in the view? I will need to use inline formsets since I will have a few dynamic forms like that.
def index(request):
user = User.objects.get(username=request.user.username)
specdataFormSet = inlineformset_factory(User, SpecData, form=SpecDataForm, extra=30)
...
specdata_formset = specdataFormSet(instance=user, prefix='specdata_set')
...
Thanks.
EDIT: Adjusted juliocesar's suggestion to include formsets. Somehow I am getting the following error message: Cannot resolve keyword 'property' into field. Choices are: id, name, selection_title, user
def index(request):
user = User.objects.get(username=request.user.username)
user_specdata_form = UserSpecDataForm(user=user)
SpecdataFormSet = inlineformset_factory(User, SpecData, form=user_specdata_form, extra=30)

You can use a GenericForeignKey to handle it, but you still need more to solve your further questions about forms and view.
I have made an example of how you solve your problem (logged user can select from General properties and his Custom properties, non-logged user only can select General properties). I used model inheritance for the properties (In your sample code it seems that a CustomPropertyName is a PropertyName with other fields). I think inheritance is an easier and a more basic concept than ContentTypes and it fits to your needs.
NOTE: I remove some code like imports to simplify the code.
1) models.py file:
class PropertyName(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=20)
def __unicode__(self):
return self.name
class CustomPropertyName(PropertyName): # <-- Inheritance!!
user = models.ForeignKey(User)
def __unicode__(self):
return self.name
class SpecData(models.Model):
user = models.ForeignKey(User)
selection_title = models.CharField(max_length=20)
property = models.ForeignKey(PropertyName)
NOTES: The field SpecData.property points to PropertyName since all properties are saved in the PropertyName's database table.
2) forms.py file:
from django import forms
from django.db.models import Q
from models import SpecData, PropertyName
def UserSpecDataForm(user=None):
UserPropertiesQueryset = PropertyName.objects.filter(Q(custompropertyname__user=None) | Q(custompropertyname__user__id=user.id))
class SpecDataForm(forms.ModelForm):
property = forms.ModelChoiceField(queryset=UserPropertiesQueryset)
class Meta:
model = SpecData
exclude = ('user',)
return SpecDataForm
NOTES: The trick here is to generate the form SpecDataForm dynamically, by filtering properties according the user specified in the parameter.
3) views.py file:
from forms import UserSpecDataForm
def index(request):
if request.POST:
form = UserSpecDataForm(request.user)(request.POST) # instance=user
if form.is_valid():
spec_data = form.save(commit=False)
spec_data.user = request.user
spec_data.save()
else:
form = UserSpecDataForm(request.user)()
return render_to_response('properties.html', {'form': form}, context_instance=RequestContext(request))
NOTES: Nothing special here, just a call to form.UserSpecDataForm(request.user) that returns the form class and then instantiate. Also setted the logged-in user to the object returned on save since It was excluded in the form to not show in front-end.
Following this basic example you can do the same with formsets if you need it.
UPDATE:
Formset can be used by adding following code to the view:
user_specdata_form = UserSpecDataForm(user=request.user)
SpecdataFormSet = inlineformset_factory(User, SpecData, form=user_specdata_form, extra=30)
The complete project sample can be downloaded from http://ge.tt/904Wg7O1/v/0
Hope this helps

1a) have you looked into django's ContentType framework this will allow you to have generic foreign keys and you can put restrictions on what types of models are acceptable to store in.
1b) I think that the validation for accepting what type of foreign key is acceptable shouldn't be in your model but should be part of your form validation before saving.
2) If you do use a model form you're going to have to define your own custom widget for the propery field. This means you're probably going to have to write you're own render function to render the html from the field. You should also define your own validation function on the form to make sure that only the appropriate data is acceptable to save.
3) I don't think you'll have to do anything you aren't already doing in the views

Use GenericForeignKey:
class SpecData(models.Model):
user = models.ForeignKey(User)
selection_title = models.CharField(max_length=20)
content_type = models.ForeignKey(ContentType)
object_id = models.PositiveIntegerField()
property = GenericForeignKey('content_type', 'object_id')
You can use this to combine the two fields(type & id) into a single choice field.

One way is that you have only one model, make user nullable:
class PropertyName(models.Model):
user = models.ForeignKey(User, null=True, blank=True)
name = models.CharField(max_length=20)
class SpecData(models.Model):
user = models.ForeignKey(User)
selection_title = models.CharField(max_length=20)
property = ForeignKey(PropertyName)
So, if user is not set, it is a general property. If it is set, it is related to this user.
However, please note that if you need unique property names, that NULL != NULL.
Of course, the suggested GenericForeignKey solution is better for some cases.
Also, you can easily make the normal (non-model) form with that you describe and separate form logic from model logic.

How can I prefill value in a custom form field in a ModelForm

Let's say I have a model as follows.
models.py
class Profile(models.Model):
user = models.OneToOneField(User)
middle_name = models.CharField(max_length=30, blank=True, null=True)
And I have a custom field email as follows in a ModelForm
forms.py
class ProfileForm(ModelForm):
email = forms.CharField()
class Meta:
model = models.Profile
fields = ('email', 'middle_name')
In the am setting an instance of the above mentioned modelform so the data is prefilled in the form for an edit template as follows.
views.py
def edit_profile(request):
profile = models.Profile.objects.get(user=request.user)
profileform = forms.ProfileForm(instance=profile)
return render_to_response('edit.html', { 'form' : 'profileform' }, context_instance=RequestContext(request))
Now in the form I get all the values prefilled for all the fields under Profile model but the custom fields are empty and it makes sense.
but is there a way I can prefill the value of the custom fields ? maybe something like:
email = forms.CharField(value = models.Profile.user.email)

Can I suggest something else? I'm not a huge fan of having that email field within a ModelForm of Profile if it has nothing to do with that model.
Instead, how about just having two forms and passing in initial data to your custom one containing email? So things would look like this:
forms.py
# this name may not fit your needs if you have more fields, but you get the idea
class UserEmailForm(forms.Form):
email = forms.CharField()
views.py
profile = models.Profile.objects.get(user=request.user)
profileform = forms.ProfileForm(instance=profile)
user_emailform = forms.UserEmailForm(initial={'email': profile.user.email})
Then, you're validating both the profile and user email form, but otherwise things are mostly the same.
I assume you are not sharing logic between the Profile ModelForm and this UserEmailForm. If you need profile instance data, you could always pass that in there.
I prefer this approach because it's less magical and if you look back at your code in a year, you won't be wondering why, in brief scanning, why email is part of the ModelForm when it does not exist as a field on that model.

When should I use user.get_profile in django?

I saw another answer here and other places on the web that recommend using user.get_profile when extending the built-in django user. I didn't do that in the below example. The functionality seems to be working fine, but is there a downside for not using user.get_profile()?
model
class UserProfile(models.Model):
user = models.ForeignKey(User, primary_key=True)
quote = models.CharField('Favorite quote', max_length = 200, null=True, blank=True)
website = models.URLField('Personal website/blog', null=True, blank=True)
class UserProfileForm(ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = UserProfile
fields = ('quote', 'website')
view
#login_required
def user_profile(request):
user = User.objects.get(pk=request.user.id)
if request.method == 'POST':
upform = UserProfileForm(request.POST)
if upform.is_valid():
up = upform.save(commit=False)
up.user = request.user
up.save()
return HttpResponseRedirect('/accounts/profile')
else:
upform = UserProfileForm()
return render_to_response('reserve/templates/edit_profile.html', locals(), context_instance=RequestContext(request))

The code works as you've written it, but because you don't pass an instance to your model it's a bit unusual, so it might take another Django developer a bit longer to work out what's going on.
The view you link to instantiates the model form with an instance, so that the existing profile values are displayed in the form. In your case, you'll get empty fields.
upform = UserProfileForm(instance=user.get_profile())
Because you don't provide an instance, saving would try to create a new user_profile, which we wouldn't want. That won't happen in your case, because you've made user the primary key, but that's a little unusual as well.
The main advantage of writing user.get_profile() is that you don't need to know which model is used for the user profile. If you are happy to hardcode UserProfile model in your code, you could put instance=UserProfile.objects.get(user=user) instead.