+ In order to make it possible to use ad_form to build common form snippets within procs, code + blocks are executed at the current template parse level. This is necessary if validate and + similar blocks are to have access to the form's contents but may cause surprises for the + unwary. So be wary. +
+ On the other hand when subst is called, for instance when setting values in the form, the + caller's level is used. Why do this? A proc building a common form snippet may need to + build a list of valid select elements or similarly compute values that need to be set in + the form, and these should be computed locally. + +
+ + Yes, this is a bit bizarre and not necessarily well thought out. The semantics were decided + upon when I was writing a fairly complex package for Greenpeace, International and worked well + there so for now, I'm leaving them the way they are. + +
+ Here's an example of a simple page implementing an add/edit form:
@@ -42,7 +62,7 @@ my_table_key:optional } - ad_form -name form_name -form { + ad_form -name form_name -export {foo {bar none}} -form { my_table_key:key(my_table_sequence) @@ -110,6 +130,13 @@
+
- -extend
+
- Extend an existing form. This allows one to build forms incrementally. Forms are built at the + template level. As a consequence one can write utility procs that use -extend to build form + snippets common to several data entry forms. +
+This must be the first switch passed into ad_form +
- -name
- Declares the name of the form. Defaults to the name of the script being served.
@@ -123,11 +150,17 @@ define multipart file handling forms. -- -extend
-
- Extend an existing form. This allows one to build forms incrementally. Forms are built at the - template level. As a consequence one can write utility procs that use -extend to build form - snippets common to several data entry forms. +
- -action
+
- The name of the script to be called when the form is submitted. Defaults to the name of the script + being served.
+ +- -export
+
- Similar to the utility export_vars. Takes a list of values to insert in the form as + "hidden" elements. Each value is either a name, in which case the Tcl variable at the caller's + level is passed to the form if it exists, or a name-value pair. "multiple", "array", "sign" and + similar flags are not allowed though it would be good to do so in the future. +
- -form
- Declare form elements (described in detail below) @@ -312,7 +345,7 @@ } set valid_args { form method action html name select_query select_query_name new_data on_refresh - edit_data validate on_submit confirm_template new_request edit_request }; + edit_data validate on_submit confirm_template new_request edit_request export}; ad_arg_parser $valid_args $args @@ -340,7 +373,7 @@ foreach valid_arg $valid_args { if { [info exists $valid_arg] } { if { [info exists af_parts(${form_name}__$valid_arg)] && - ![lsearch { form name validate } $valid_arg] == -1 } { + ![lsearch { form name validate export } $valid_arg] == -1 } { return -code error "Form \"$form_name\" already has a \"$valid_arg\" section" } @@ -350,7 +383,7 @@ # and validation block to be extended, for now at least until I get more experience # with this ... - if { [lsearch { name form method action html validate } $valid_arg ] == -1 } { + if { [lsearch { name form method action html validate export } $valid_arg ] == -1 } { set af_parts(${form_name}__extend) "" } } @@ -479,6 +512,17 @@ } + if { [info exists export] } { + foreach value $export { + set name [lindex $value 0] + if { [llength $value] == 1 } { + template::element create $form_name $name -datatype text -widget hidden -value [uplevel [list set $name]] + } else { + template::element create $form_name $name -datatype text -widget hidden -value [uplevel [list subst [lindex $value 1]]] + } + } + } + # We need to track these for submission time and for error checking global af_type