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Extended Form Wizard with ability to go backwards

Author:
mtsyganov
Posted:
April 20, 2009
Language:
Python
Version:
1.0
Score:
2 (after 2 ratings)

This is an extended version of django wizard with the ability to go back and execute any step directly. To define next step to execute use the form field with the name "wizard_next_step". Don't forget to specify in your form the wizard_max_step field, so the knows the step number with the highest number, where the user was. An other improvement is the variable "wizard_data". It's a QueryDict with data from all wizard forms. It can be used to retrieve values from the field values of the forms from other steps. It could be helpfully for the latest step, where the user should see an overview of his input.

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"""
FormWizard class -- implements a multi-page form, validating between each
step and storing the form's state as HTML hidden fields so that no state is
stored on the server side.
This is an extended version of django wizard with the ability to go back
and execute any step directly.
To define next step to execute use the form field with the name 
"wizard_next_step".
Don't forget to specify in your form the wizard_max_step field, so the 
knows the step number with the highest number, where the user was.
An other improvement is the variable "wizard_data". It's a QueryDict with
data from all wizard forms. It can be used to retrieve values from the 
field values of the forms from other steps. It could be helpfully for
the latest step, where the user should see an overview of his input.
"""

from django import forms
from django.conf import settings
from django.http import Http404
from django.shortcuts import render_to_response
from django.template.context import RequestContext
from django.utils.hashcompat import md5_constructor
from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
from django.utils.encoding import smart_str, force_unicode

class FormWizard(object):
    # Dictionary of extra template context variables.
    extra_context = {}

    # The HTML (and POST data) field name for the "step" variable.
    step_field_name="wizard_step"
    next_step_field_name="wizard_next_step"
    max_step_field_name="wizard_max_step"
    wizard_data_name="wizard_data"

    # METHODS SUBCLASSES SHOULDN'T OVERRIDE ###################################

    def __init__(self, form_list, initial=None):
        "form_list should be a list of Form classes (not instances)."
        self.form_list = form_list[:]
        self.initial = initial or {}
        self.step = 0 # A zero-based counter keeping track of which step we're in.

    def __repr__(self):
        return "step: %d\nform_list: %s\ninitial_data: %s" % (self.step, self.form_list, self.initial)

    def get_form(self, step, data=None):
        "Helper method that returns the Form instance for the given step."
        return self.form_list[step](data, prefix=self.prefix_for_step(step), initial=self.initial.get(step, None))

    def num_steps(self):
        "Helper method that returns the number of steps."
        # You might think we should just set "self.form_list = len(form_list)"
        # in __init__(), but this calculation needs to be dynamic, because some
        # hook methods might alter self.form_list.
        return len(self.form_list)

    def __call__(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        """
        Main method that does all the hard work, conforming to the Django view
        interface.
        """
        if 'extra_context' in kwargs:
            self.extra_context.update(kwargs['extra_context'])
        current_step = self.determine_step(request, *args, **kwargs)
        next_step = self.determine_next_step(request, *args, **kwargs)
        max_step = self.determine_max_step(request, *args, **kwargs)
        self.parse_params(request, *args, **kwargs)
        
        # Sanity check.
        if current_step >= self.num_steps():
            raise Http404('Step %s does not exist' % current_step)

        # For each previous step, verify the hash and process.
        # TODO: Move "hash_%d" to a method to make it configurable.
        for i in range(current_step):
            form = self.get_form(i, request.POST)
            form.full_clean() # to make cleaned data
            if request.POST.get("hash_%d" % i, '') != self.security_hash(request, form):
                return self.render_hash_failure(request, i, max_step)
            self.process_step(request, form, i)

        # Process the current step. If it's valid, go to the next step or call
        # done(), depending on whether any steps remain.
        if request.method == 'POST':
            form = self.get_form(current_step, request.POST)
        else:
            form = self.get_form(current_step)
        if form.is_valid():
            self.process_step(request, form, current_step)


            # If this was the last step, validate all of the forms one more
            # time, as a sanity check, and call done().
            num = self.num_steps()
            if next_step == num:
                final_form_list = [self.get_form(i, request.POST) for i in range(num)]

                # Validate all the forms. If any of them fail validation, that
                # must mean the validator relied on some other input, such as
                # an external Web site.
                for i, f in enumerate(final_form_list):
                    if not f.is_valid():
                        return self.render_revalidation_failure(request, i, max_step, f)
                return self.done(request, final_form_list)
            # Otherwise, move along to the next step.
            else:
                # actualize max_step
                if max_step < next_step:
                    max_step = next_step

                if max_step > next_step:
                    form = self.get_form(next_step, request.POST)
                else:
                    # do w/o validation errors
                    form = self.get_form(next_step)

        else:
            if next_step > current_step:
                # dont let user go forward, if this form has validation errors
                next_step = current_step
            else:
                # we go backwards, skip validation errors
                form = self.get_form(next_step, request.POST)

        self.step = current_step = next_step

        return self.render(form, request, current_step, max_step)

    def render(self, form, request, step, max_step, context=None):
        "Renders the given Form object, returning an HttpResponse."
        old_data = request.POST
        prev_fields = []
        if old_data:
            hidden = forms.HiddenInput()
            # Collect all data from previous steps and render it as HTML hidden fields.
            for i in range(max_step+1):
                if i != step:
                    old_form = self.get_form(i, old_data)
                    hash_name = 'hash_%s' % i
                    prev_fields.extend([bf.as_hidden() for bf in old_form])
                    prev_fields.append(hidden.render(hash_name, old_data.get(hash_name, self.security_hash(request, old_form))))
        return self.render_template(request, form, ''.join(prev_fields), step, max_step, context)

    # METHODS SUBCLASSES MIGHT OVERRIDE IF APPROPRIATE ########################

    def prefix_for_step(self, step):
        "Given the step, returns a Form prefix to use."
        return str(step)

    def render_hash_failure(self, request, step, max_step):
        """
        Hook for rendering a template if a hash check failed.

        step is the step that failed. Any previous step is guaranteed to be
        valid.

        This default implementation simply renders the form for the given step,
        but subclasses may want to display an error message, etc.
        """
        return self.render(self.get_form(step), request, step, max_step, context={'wizard_error': _('We apologize, but your form has expired. Please continue filling out the form from this page.')})

    def render_revalidation_failure(self, request, step, max_step, form):
        """
        Hook for rendering a template if final revalidation failed.

        It is highly unlikely that this point would ever be reached, but See
        the comment in __call__() for an explanation.
        """
        return self.render(form, request, step, max_step)

    def security_hash(self, request, form):
        """
        Calculates the security hash for the given HttpRequest and Form instances.

        Subclasses may want to take into account request-specific information,
        such as the IP address.
        """
        data = []
        for bf in form:
            value = bf.data
            if not value:
                # for not commited False values of checkboxes
                if isinstance(bf.field, forms.BooleanField):
                    value = u'False'
                else:
                    value = ''
            data.append((bf.name, force_unicode(value)))
        data.append(settings.SECRET_KEY)

        hash = md5_constructor(u'%s' % data).hexdigest()
        return hash

    def determine_step(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        """
        Given the request object and whatever *args and **kwargs were passed to
        __call__(), returns the current step (which is zero-based).

        Note that the result should not be trusted. It may even be a completely
        invalid number. It's not the job of this method to validate it.
        """
        if not request.POST:
            return 0
        try:
            step = int(request.POST.get(self.step_field_name, 0))
        except ValueError:
            return 0
        return step
        
    def determine_max_step(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        """
        Determine and return the step number of a validated form 
        with the highest number
        """
        if not request.POST:
            return 0
        try:
            max_step = int(request.POST.get(self.max_step_field_name, 0))
        except ValueError:
            return 0
        return max_step
        
    def determine_next_step(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        """
        Determine and return the number of the next requested step
        """
        current_step = self.determine_step(request, *args, **kwargs)
        next_step = current_step
        try:
            next_step = int(request.POST.get(self.next_step_field_name, None))
        except:
            pass
        if next_step == current_step: return next_step + 1
        else: return next_step        

    def parse_params(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        """
        Hook for setting some state, given the request object and whatever
        *args and **kwargs were passed to __call__(), sets some state.

        This is called at the beginning of __call__().
        """
        pass

    def get_template(self, step):
        """
        Hook for specifying the name of the template to use for a given step.

        Note that this can return a tuple of template names if you'd like to
        use the template system's select_template() hook.
        """
        return 'forms/wizard.html'

    def render_template(self, request, form, previous_fields, step, max_step, context=None):
        """
        Renders the template for the given step, returning an HttpResponse object.

        Override this method if you want to add a custom context, return a
        different MIME type, etc. If you only need to override the template
        name, use get_template() instead.

        The template will be rendered with the following context:
            step_field -- The name of the hidden field containing the step.
            step0      -- The current step (zero-based).
            step       -- The current step (one-based).
            step_count -- The total number of steps.
            form       -- The Form instance for the current step (either empty
                          or with errors).
            previous_fields -- A string representing every previous data field,
                          plus hashes for completed forms, all in the form of
                          hidden fields. Note that you'll need to run this
                          through the "safe" template filter, to prevent
                          auto-escaping, because it's raw HTML.
        """
        context = context or {}
        context.update({self.wizard_data_name:request.POST})
        context.update(self.extra_context)
        return render_to_response(self.get_template(step), dict(context,
            next_step_field=self.next_step_field_name,
            max_step_field=self.max_step_field_name,
            max_step=max_step,
            step_field=self.step_field_name,
            step0=step,
            step=step + 1,
            step_count=self.num_steps(),
            form=form,
            previous_fields=previous_fields
        ), context_instance=RequestContext(request))

    def process_step(self, request, form, step):
        """
        Hook for modifying the FormWizard's internal state, given a fully
        validated Form object. The Form is guaranteed to have clean, valid
        data.

        This method should *not* modify any of that data. Rather, it might want
        to set self.extra_context or dynamically alter self.form_list, based on
        previously submitted forms.

        Note that this method is called every time a page is rendered for *all*
        submitted steps.
        """
        pass

    # METHODS SUBCLASSES MUST OVERRIDE ########################################

    def done(self, request, form_list):
        """
        Hook for doing something with the validated data. This is responsible
        for the final processing.

        form_list is a list of Form instances, each containing clean, valid
        data.
        """
        raise NotImplementedError("Your %s class has not defined a done() method, which is required." % self.__class__.__name__)

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Comments

dingue (on September 25, 2009):

Hi,

How does the user access the previous steps. Is it via the back button of the browser or do we need to add a back button to the form? Also what fields do I need to set in my FormWizard and where do I set them? Do I do it after the class delcaration or do I override the init def.

Regards Dingue

#

mengjian (on April 26, 2010):

Wonderful code. and adding some html template will be better off.

#

yzh (on October 11, 2011):

Hi, there is a bug in lines 112-113

            if max_step > next_step:
                form = self.get_form(next_step, request.POST)

If we have initial data for second step we will not get it, because "get_form" method checks data parameter (it equals request.POST for second step) and thinks the form is already bound, but it is not. So you will not see initial values as expected.

Solution is to someshow check we didn't open second step before. For example, I'm checking specific parameters:

                if next_step == 1 and not request.POST.__contains__(u'1-sender_firstname'):
                    form = self.get_form(next_step)
                elif next_step == 2 and not request.POST.__contains__(u'2-event_type'):
                    form = self.get_form(next_step)    
                else:
                    form = self.get_form(next_step, request.POST)

You can create your own solution.

#

yzh (on October 17, 2011):

Sorry, my fix is not working. There is another fix :) I have revrite "get_form" mothod and check specific parameters in the POST. If I don't find them then I clear data collection and "self.form_list" respects initial data.

def get_form(self, step, data=None):
    "Helper method that returns the Form instance for the given step."

    if step == 1 and not data.__contains__(u'1-sender_firstname'):
        data=None
    elif step == 2 and not data.__contains__(u'2-content_type'):
        data=None        
    return self.form_list[step](data, prefix=self.prefix_for_step(step), initial=self.initial.get(step, None))

#

peroksid (on December 21, 2011):

This this is outdated. Simply change wizard_step and submit the form, it will bring you to required step of wizard.

#

Hugotox (on July 28, 2012):

peroksid: What do you mean? I tried to change the value of wizard_step with javascript but it does not work

#

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