Forms are static - no they aren’t

Markus Holtermann @m_holtermann slides - https://speakerdeck.com/markush/forms-are-static-no-they-arent

django-dynamic-forms

• talking about django.forms
• most important thing - user data validation
• can also be used for data from API or similar
• static? the form in the page doesn’t change while you interact with it

what about request dependent forms

• eg captcha only shown for anonymous users
• still static - need to modify code to make changes, do testing etc

What are non-static forms

• forms that can change layout - which fields present, order of fields
• doesn’t require changes on code level

Why do you need them?

• had small client, organised events, each event had different details for form
• so wanted client to be able to change form themselves

How does that work?

• ModelForm does dynamic class construction, uses Meta class
• but ultimately still static - and models aren’t modified during app runtime
• type(name, bases, attrs) rocks!
• form instance stored in database
• FormModel - Name, Actions, ..., URLs
• FormFieldModel - wrap Django form fields - name, label ... options
• will be able to use data from postgres json fields once Django 1.9
• in admin, form meta stuff, then inline for adding fields