[Html-widget] latest formfu developments

[Mario Minati]

Carl Franks schrieb:
> The past week has seen a few formfu developments...
Hi Carl,
you have really been active in the last two weeks, while I've been away. 
And your code evolvs more and more. Congratulations.
>
> I18N support has been added, with all error messages being moved out
> to the FormFu/I18N/en.pm package.
I discovered that and found a bug (probably).
When defining a constraint like this:
$form->constraint( Required => qw/shortname name/ )->message('mm - 
Required. ');
It tries to get a translation for 'mm - Required. ', which of course is 
not available.
So I think we need a way to bypass the I18N.
> You can also alternatively provide your own i18n object or package, to
> allow the messages to come from your main application's localized
> message files.
> The formfu catalyst controller now allows provides for integration
> with the Catalyst::Plugin::I18N or a compatible module.
I saw that but am not sure how to code it, could you put a little 
example in the Catalyst FormFu Controller ;-)

An other question about the FormFu Controller:
First I was really amazed by the idea of creating forms from yml, but 
than I realized, that I need Callback-constraints and to incoporate data 
from different tables into select fields, which won't work via yml files.
Then I tried to use the FormFu Controller in FormMethod style to create 
the form. But I don't understand yet how to create the data for the 
populate function. If it is also 'only' a hashref like in the .t-files 
than I also cannot create callbacks.
If I am right (don't hope so) how can I create a form, as with the Form 
Action the result gets calculated before I could add any elements 
programatically.

At the moment I am useing a Catalyst::Plugin::FormFu which I created 
similary to the HTML::Widget Plugin, but I really would like to switch 
to the Action style you started.
>
> Sitting alongside filters and constraints, there are now 2 new
> namespaces: Deflator and Inflator.
> These are similar in idea to DBIx::Class's InflateColumn.
> If, for example, you feed $field->default() with a DateTime object,
> and you want to ensure the field value is displayed in a certain
> format, you could do:
>    $field->deflator( 'Strftime' )->strftime( '%d/%m/%Y' );
>
> Likewise, you can ensure the value from $result->params->{date} is a
> DateTime object with the following:
>    $field->inflator( 'DateTime' )->parser( strptime => '%d/%m/%Y' );
> (passing parser() any value that DateTime::Format::Builder::parser() 
> accepts)
That is really cool.
>
> These 2 features allow for seamless integration with DBIx::Class, all
> from the form config/setup, without any extra code.
> The Strftime deflator was developed specially for the
> Dojo::DropdownDatePicker element - you would of course need a smarter
> solution for parsing dates that a human will have typed.
>
> The css has also been updated to improve the rendering of error messages.
> Also containers now automatically get the class name 'label' added if
> the field has a label defined. This allows the example css to do away
> with the 'nolabel' class name hack.
> The css editor/preview application has also been updated with these 
> changes:
> http://www.fireartist.com/html-formfu-cssapp/
I uploaded my first adjustments, but there will be more to come.
One idea I am having in my mind is to provide an icon for every label so 
the user has an improved GUI experience. What do you think is the best 
way to realize that, with the xml attributes or enhanceing the code?
>
> Form fields now have a default() method.
> For most fields, this is just an alias to value() - except for
> Checkbox and Radio fields, where you would normally set its value, but
> may or may not set a default value.
> This means we no longer have to manually set the 'checked' attribute
> in our code, instead just setting default().
> The DBIx::Class::FormFu entension has also been updated - the
> fill_formfu_values() method now expects a $form object, not a $result
> - this is changed back to how DBIx::Class::HTMLWidget does it, as it
> makes more sense conceptually, and (because it's setting
> $field->default internally) it now works properly if the result is
> being re-displayed after errors.
>
> The internals of constraints and filters has been completely reworked.
> Now, if you list multiple names - like so:
>    $form->constraint( Required => 'foo', 'bar' );
> it creates a new constraint for each of the named fields.
> This means fields which abused(?) this mechanism, such as
>    $form->constraint( DependOn => 'foo', 'bar' );
> now work differently:
>    $form->constraint( DependOn => 'foo' )->others( 'bar' );
>
> Take note though, that if you list multiple names - because it returns
> multiple constraints, chained methods no longer work.
> Because I'm now tending to define all forms in config files, this
> isn't an issue.
> You could work around the issue with an idiom such as:
>    map { $_->callback( \&my_sub ) }
>        $form->constraints( Callback => 'foo', 'bar' );
>
> The constrain_fields() method has been removed, because now if you add
> a constraint or filter without listing any names, it immediately
> creates that constraint/filter for every field already on the form.
>
> I've also copied over lots more of the constraints from the
> HTML::Widget package, and added support for 'Not_' constraint names.
Perfect.

I found the following problems in the code you send me two weeks ago, so 
I am not sure if they are still relevant:
- a fieldset cannot receive class attribute with add_container_attr, 
only add_attributes worked
    my $fs_last = $form->element('Fieldset')->add_attributes( { class => 
'fs_submit_area' } );

- the xml/css for errors doesn't work, on FF2 the layout collapses 
because of the span node that is created
  maybe this is only a css problem but at present time it looks realy ugly.
  Do you have a working example, maybe you extend the html-formfu-cssapp 
with a form with labels and errors.
  Where do you think should be the place for the errors, where the 
labels are, under the labels, where the comments are or under the comments?
  Can we provide a way to switch that programatically (ease of use) or 
you think changing the templates is always the way to go?
       
- value for submit/reset buttons gets changed to '' when calling result
  I think that only happens any longer on a reset button.



I have an other idea of extending the formfu. Actually It's more a need 
than an idea.
I need forms to submit n-times the same field, e. g. I want to be able 
to submit telephone numbers, but don't know if it will be only one or ten.
My database is that flexible that it can hold as many numbers as given.
Now I would like to create an javascript-supported form which gives me 
in the beginning one field for a telephone number and a '+'-button which 
creates an additional field.
This concept should not only work for one single field that can be 
repeated but also for a complete fieldset, so that I could submit 
multiple address to give an other example.

What do you think. I'll do the codeing, but I'll need definetly your 
help on how to integrate it in the structures of formfu.
>
> I hope this has been helpful.
> Cheers,
> Carl
Greets,
Mario