This isn't the form library you're looking for

95% you don't need this package: try some real Plone form libraries like:

• z3c.form
• collective.wtforms

Move along... move along...

Your mind powers will not work on me, boy

If you really want to know what is this, keep reading.

Introduction

This is not a form library for Plone, it's only a set of ZPT macros that you can use to create HTML form in the old way, keeping the Plone layout. For this reason this product will not handle what to do when you submit the form, it's only focused onto rendering some advanced fields.

The nice thing is that you can use those macros with the old-way-TTW approach.

Field reference

Every field has some custom options you can/must configure, but some of them are globals:

fieldName (mandatory)

The name of the field, that is the name you will read from the request when sending the form

fieldLabel

The label of the field

fieldHelp

Additional explanation of the field

required

Display the required UI information of the field. Please note that it's only a visual effect, you are in charge of really handle the requirement.

cssFieldAdditionalClasses

Additional CSS classes that will be appended to the div containing the whole field

Lines Field

This field can be used to provide a list of elements (strings) for the submitted form. Elements are loaded one at time from a text input.

The field name will be composed as "fieldName:list", so you will read a list of element directly from the request.

Additional parameters

fieldType (default to "text")

The type of the HTML input field used to populate the list. You can change it to HTML 5 new elements type to use some of the browser native features.

pattern

The HTML 5 pattern attribute, for field validation. This regex is used to validate the field value before adding it to the list

elements

Existings elements to be used to populate the list. Provide a sequence of dicts with a "title" and "value" couple

How to use

Call the macro

<tal:field define="fieldName string:test_lines_field;
                   fieldLabel string:Testing lines field;
                   fieldHelp string:Write something, then add it;
                   ">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.lines/field" />
</tal:field>

You need to include a JavaScript in your final HTML.

<metal:head fill-slot="javascript_head_slot">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.lines/javascript_helpers" />
</metal:head>

Autocomplete Lines Field

This field can be used to provide a list of elements (strings) for the submitted form. Elements are selected by an autocomplete feature obtained through jQueryUI Autocomplete; in Plone the easyest way to get this is by installing collective.js.jqueryui.

The field name will be composed as "fieldName:list", so you will read a list of element directly from the request.

Additional parameters

source (mandatory)

An URL that jQueryUI will call for getting selectable elements. This call must return a valid JSON sequence with "value" and "label" elements.

elements

Existings elements to be used to populate the list. Provide a sequence of dicts with a "title" and "value" couple

How to use

Call the macro

<tal:field define="fieldName string:test_lines_field;
                   source string:${portal_url}/@@rt.zptformfield.test.vocab;
                   fieldLabel string:Testing autocomplete field;
                   fieldHelp string:Write something and test the autocomplete feature;
                   ">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.autocomplete_lines/field" />
</tal:field>

You need to include a JavaScript in your final HTML.

<metal:head fill-slot="javascript_head_slot">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.autocomplete_lines/javascript_helpers" />
</metal:head>

TinyMCE Field

This field render a textarea and trigger the default Plone WYSIWYG editor on the field (using the Products.TinyMCE features, version 1.3 or better).

Additional parameters

rows

Number of rows of the textarea

cols

Number of columns of the textarea

configuration_method

The view to be called for obtaining TinyMCE configuration. Do not use for loading the default ones

configuration_json

Directly provide the JSON configuration. Do not use to load it from the "configuration_method"

value

Default text in the field

How to use

Call the macro

<tal:field define="fieldName string:test_lines_field;
                   fieldLabel string:Testing TinyMCE field;
                   fieldHelp string:You can use the WYSIWYG editor below;
                   rows python:15;
                   value string:The cat is on the table;
                   ">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.tinymce/field" />
</tal:field>

Reference Field

This field render a selection of a site content using the native archetypes.referencebrowserwidget machinery. The only problem is that the AJAX call must be called on a real Archetypes content that provide a (not multivalued) reference field of a well know name (even if hidden and never used).

The submitted data will be the uuid of the selected document.

Additional parameters

startup_directory

The directory where start browsing the site. Default is the current context.

context_helper

The context of which call the refbrowserhelper view. Default is the current context.

fake_field_name (mandatory)

This field name will not be used in the form, but must be an existing Archetypes reference field name on the context defined by "context_helper".

search_index

The TextIndex to be used for the overlay search box. Default is Plone default "SearchableText".

How to use

Call the macro

<tal:field define="fieldName string:test_reference_field;
                   fake_field_name string:foo_field;
                   fieldLabel string:Testing reference browser field;
                   fieldHelp string:Use the Plone reference browser feature.
                   ">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.reference/field" />
</tal:field>

In the example above we didn't provide context_helper parameter so it must be called on a Plone content that behave the "foo_field" singlevalued reference field.

You need to include a JavaScript in your final HTML.

<metal:head fill-slot="javascript_head_slot">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.reference/javascript_helpers" />
</metal:head>

Multivalued Reference Field

This is the same as the reference field above, but from the overlay displayed you will be able to select multiple elements.

The submitted data will be the a uuid list of selected documents.

Additional parameters

See "Reference Field"

How to use

Call the macro

<tal:field define="fieldName string:test_multivalued_reference_field;
                   fake_field_name string:relatedItems;
                   fieldLabel string:Testing multivalued reference browser field;
                   fieldHelp string:Use the Plone reference browser feature.
                   ">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.multivalued_reference/field" />
</tal:field>

In the example above we didn't provide context_helper parameter so it must be called on a Plone content that behave the "relatedItems" multivalued reference field (by default: all content types).

You need to include a JavaScript in your final HTML.

<metal:head fill-slot="javascript_head_slot">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.multivalued_reference/javascript_helpers" />
</metal:head>

Calendar Field

This field can be used to submit a date (or date-time) using the Plone default calendar. Date can be filled by using a set of HTML select elements or with a popup calendar widget.

This field is based on Plone inner calendar support (JavaScript and ZPT macros) so you can't use this outside Plone.

Additional parameters

value

The date to be displayed (a Zope DateTime object). Default will not show any date.

show_hm

Boolean value for showing the hours/minutes widget elements. Default will show them.

show_ymd

Boolean value for showing the day widget elements. Default will show them.

starting_year

Integer value for defining the first year to be used in the year combo box.

ending_year

Integer value for defining the last year to be used in the year combo box.

future_years

Integer value for defining how many years in the future (from current date) will be shown in the calendar widget. Will be ignored if ending_year is provided.

minute_step

If minutes combobox is shown, define the interval between minutes values. Plone default is 5.

calendar_lang

Language of the calendar popup UI. For an old and never fixed Plone bug the default is to english language and not to the current language. Change at your own risk. Also: note that this parameter is for the javascript_helpers macros (see example below)

How to use

Call the macro

<tal:field define="fieldName string:test_calendar_field;
                   fieldLabel string:Testing Calendar field;
                   fieldHelp string:The standard Plone calendar;">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.calendar/field" />
</tal:field>

You need to include a JavaScript in your final HTML. Another warning about the usage of calendar_lang parameter: it's buggy.

<metal:head fill-slot="javascript_head_slot" tal:define="calendar_lang context/@@plone_portal_state/language;">
    <metal:field-content use-macro="context/@@rt.zptformfield.calendar/javascript_helpers" />
</metal:head>

Finally, the calendar popup needs some CSS styles:

<metal:head fill-slot="style_slot">
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="jscalendar/calendar-system.css"
          tal:attributes="href string:$portal_url/jscalendar/calendar-system.css" />
</metal:head>

Live examples

This product contains a set of demo views for all fields. You must activate them by including the tests.zcml file.

[instance]
eggs +=
    ...
    rt.zptformfield

zcml +=
    ...
    rt.zptformfield:tests.zcml

Check the code for an updated list of examples.

Authors

This product was developed by RedTurtle Technology team.