> Hello all,

> I've been playing around with the newforms library and I'd like to
> check that I'm on the right track.

> I've got a fairly complicated model that has a few foreign keys and
> m2m fields. One of the m2m fields references a table with ~130,000
> rows so the usual select boxes aren't that usable. I've created a form
> which simplifies the entry but I would like to check the preferred way
> of doing certain things.

> 1. Additional validation - One field is a RegexField but I would like
> to add extra validation. At the moment I've subclassed it and added my
> own 'clean' method.

> 2. Saving the model - I've implemented a save method in the form which
> will return an instance of the model in a similar fashion to
> form_for_model. Is this good practice or should I create the instance
> in my view and populate it from the form?

> 3. Binding data - I'd like the form to handle editing of an instance.
> I could construct a dictionary of values and pass it to the form as
> per the docs but I'd like to just pass a model instance and have the
> form sort things out. Is this advisable? If so then does anyone have
> any pointers about what methods I need to implement?

> Thanks in advance for any pointers.

> Felix

> P.S. Are there any thoughts about form inheritance? I'd like to be
> able to create a form base on another but with some more fields. At
> the moment this doesn't seem to work as expected...

> > Hello all,

> > I've been playing around with the newforms library and I'd like to
> > check that I'm on the right track.

> > I've got a fairly complicated model that has a few foreign keys and
> > m2m fields. One of the m2m fields references a table with ~130,000
> > rows so the usual select boxes aren't that usable. I've created a form
> > which simplifies the entry but I would like to check the preferred way
> > of doing certain things.

> > 1. Additional validation - One field is a RegexField but I would like
> > to add extra validation. At the moment I've subclassed it and added my
> > own 'clean' method.

> You can either override clean (remember to call the super.clean) on
> the field, or implement clean_FIELD on the form

> I do the same thing since I reuse the form in multiple views

> the easiest way how to do this is in __init__ of the form create the
> dictionary from the model and use it when calling super.__init__

> it works but only for dynamic fields added via self.fields['name'] =
> forms.Field(...)
> I use it with success

> You can use the model instances __dict__:

> my_form = CreateForm(initial=model_instance.__dict__)

> Saves copying each field into a seperate dict or implementing any extra
> methods in your form.