Introduction to Django Forms
In this page:
from django import forms
class FormName(forms.Form):
field_name = forms.CharField()
def view_name(request):
form = FormName()
return render(request, 'template.html', {'form': form})Why Use Django Forms
Django Forms are Python classes that describe what fields a form has, generate the HTML automatically, and validate submitted data before your view code touches it.
Example: Why Use Django Forms
Django Forms are Python classes that describe what fields a form has, generate the HTML automatically, and validate submitted data before your view code touches it.
from django import forms
class ContactForm(forms.Form):
name = forms.CharField(max_length=100)
email = forms.EmailField()
message = forms.CharField(widget=forms.Textarea)Using a Form in a View
A view creates a form instance, passes it to a template, and later re-creates it with submitted data to validate.
- An empty ContactForm() renders blank fields
- ContactForm(request.POST) is bound to submitted data.
Example: Using a Form in a View
A view creates a form instance, passes it to a template, and later re-creates it with submitted data to validate.
from django.shortcuts import render
def contact(request):
form = ContactForm()
return render(request, 'contact.html', {'form': form})Rendering the Form
Django can render every field of a form automatically with a single template variable, wrapping each field in paragraph tags.
Example: Rendering the Form
Django can render every field of a form automatically with a single template variable, wrapping each field in paragraph tags.
<form method="post">
{% csrf_token %}
{{ form.as_p }}
<button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>- Building raw HTML forms by hand instead of using Django's Form class, losing built-in validation and cleanup.
- Forgetting that a Form object only holds data after you construct it with request.POST.
- Assuming a form is valid just because it rendered on the page, without calling is_valid().
- Django's forms app separates form definition (fields), rendering (HTML), and validation (cleaning) into one reusable class.
- A Form class lives in forms.py and mirrors the structure of a model or plain input set.
- Forms save you from writing repetitive HTML and manual validation code by hand.
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