Quixote Widget Classes
======================

[This is reference documentation.  If you haven't yet read "Lesson 5:
widgets" of demo.txt, you should go and do so now.  This document also
assumes you have a good understanding of HTML forms and form elements.
If not, you could do worse than pick up a copy of *HTML: The Definitive
Guide* by Chuck Musciano & Bill Kennedy (O'Reilly).  I usually keep it
within arm's reach.]

Web forms are built out of form elements: string input, select lists,
checkboxes, submit buttons, and so forth.  Quixote provides a family of
classes for handling these form elements, or widgets, in the
quixote.form.widget module.  The class hierarchy is::

    Widget [A]
    |
    +--StringWidget
    |  |
    |  +--PasswordWidget
    |  |
    |  +--NumberWidget [*] [A]
    |     |
    |     +-FloatWidget [*]
    |     +-IntWidget [*]
    |     
    +--TextWidget
    | 
    +--CheckboxWidget
    | 
    +--SelectWidget [A]
    |  |
    |  +--SingleSelectWidget
    |  |  |
    |  |  +-RadiobuttonsWidget
    |  |  |
    |  |  +-OptionSelectWidget [*]
    |  |    
    |  +--MultipleSelectWidget
    |    
    +--SubmitButtonWidget
    | 
    +--HiddenWidget
    |
    +--ListWidget [*]

    [*] Widget classes that do not correspond exactly with a particular
        HTML form element
    [A] Abstract classes 


Widget: the base class
----------------------

Widget is the abstract base class for the widget hierarchy.  It provides
the following facilities:

* widget name (``name`` attribute, ``set_name()`` method)
* widget value (``value`` attribute, ``set_value()`` and ``clear()`` methods)
* ``__str__()`` and ``__repr__()`` methods
* some facilities for writing composite widget classes

The Widget constructor signature is::

    Widget(name : string, value : any = None)
  
``name``
  the name of the widget.  For non-compound widgets (ie. everything in
  the above class hierarchy), this will be used as the "name"
  attribute for the main HTML tag that defines the form element.

``value``
  the current value of the form element.  The type of 'value' depends
  on the widget class.  Most widget classes support only a single
  type, eg. StringWidget always deals with strings and IntWidget with
  integers.  The SelectWidget classes are different; see the
  descriptions below for details.


Common widget methods
---------------------

The Widget base class also provides a couple of useful
methods:

``set_name(name:string)``
  use this to change the widget name supplied to the constructor.
  Unless you know what you're doing, you should do this before
  rendering or parsing the widget.

``set_value(value:any)``
  use this to set the widget value; this is the same as supplying
  a value to the constructor (and the same type rules apply, ie.
  the type of 'value' depends on the widget class).

``clear()``
  clear the widget's current value.  Equivalent to
  ``widget.set_value(None)``.

The following two methods will be used on every widget object you
create; if you write your own widget classes, you will almost certainly
have to define both of these:

``render(request:HTTPRequest)`` : ``string``
  return a chunk of HTML that implements the form element
  corresponding to this widget.

``parse(request:HTTPRequest)`` : ``any``
  extract the form value for this widget from ``request.form``, parse it
  according to the rules for this widget class, and return the
  resulting value.  The return value depends on the widget class, and
  will be of the same type as the value passed to the constructor
  and/or ``set_value()``.


StringWidget
------------

Used for short, single-line string input with no validation (ie. any
string will be accepted.)  Generates an ``<input type="text">`` form
element.

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    StringWidget(name : string,
                 value : string = None,
                 size : int = None,
                 maxlength : int = None)

``size``
  used as the ``size`` attribute of the generated ``<input>`` tag;
  controls the physical size of the input field.

``maxlength``
  used as the ``maxlength`` attribute; controls the maximum amount
  of input.

Examples
~~~~~~~~
::

    >>> StringWidget("foo", value="hello").render(request)
    '<input name="foo" type="text" value="hello">'

    >>> StringWidget("foo", size=10, maxlength=20).render(request)
    '<input name="foo" type="text" size="10" maxlength="20">'


PasswordWidget
--------------

PasswordWidget is identical to StringWidget except for the type of the
HTML form element: ``password`` instead of ``text``.


TextWidget
----------

Used for multi-line text input.  The value is a single string with
newlines right where the browser supplied them.  (``\r\n``, if present,
is converted to ``\n``.)  Generates a ``<textarea>`` form element.

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    TextWidget(name : string,
               value : string = None,
               cols : int = None,
               rows : int = None,
               wrap : string = "physical")

``cols``, ``rows``
  number of columns/rows in the textarea
``wrap``
  controls how the browser wraps text and includes newlines in the
  submitted form value; consult an HTML book for details.


CheckboxWidget
--------------

Used for single boolean (on/off) value.  The value you supply can be
anything, since Python has a boolean interpretation for all values; the
value returned by ``parse()`` will always be 0 or 1 (but you shouldn't
rely on that!).  Generates an ``<input type="checkbox">`` form element.

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    CheckboxWidget(name : string,
                   value : boolean = false)

Examples
~~~~~~~~
::

    >>> CheckboxWidget("foo", value=0).render(request)
    '<input name="foo" type="checkbox" value="yes">'

    >>> CheckboxWidget("foo", value="you bet").render(request)
    '<input name="foo" type="checkbox" value="yes" checked>'


RadiobuttonsWidget
------------------

Used for a *set* of related radiobuttons, ie. several ``<input
type="radio">`` tags with the same name and different values.  The set
of values are supplied to the constructor as ``allowed_values``, which
may be a list of any Python objects (not just strings).  The current
value must be either ``None`` (the default) or one of the values in
``allowed_values``; if you supply a ``value`` not in ``allowed_values``,
it will be ignored.  ``parse()`` will return either ``None`` or one of
the values in ``allowed_values``.

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    RadiobuttonsWidget(name : string,
                       value : any = None,
                       allowed_values : [any] = None,
                       descriptions : [string] = map(str, allowed_values),
                       quote : boolean = true,
                       delim : string = "\n")

``allowed_values``
  specifies how many ``<input type="radio">`` tags to generate and the
  values for each.  Eg. ``allowed_values=["foo", "bar"]`` will result in
  (roughly)::

    <input type="radio" value="foo">
    <input type="radio" value="bar">

``descriptions``
  the text that will actually be shown to the user in the web page
  that includes this widget.  Handy when the elements of
  ``allowed_values`` are too terse, or don't have a meaningful
  ``str()``, or you want to add some additional cues for the user.  If
  not supplied, ``map(str, allowed_values)`` is used, with the
  exception that ``None`` in ``allowed_values`` becomes ``""`` (the
  empty string) in ``descriptions``.  If supplied, ``descriptions``
  must be the same length as ``allowed_values``.

``quote``
  if true (the default), the elements of 'descriptions' will be
  HTML-quoted (using ``quixote.html.html_quote()``) when the widget is
  rendered.  This is essential if you might have characters like
  ``&`` or ``<`` in your descriptions.  However, you'll want to set
  ``quote`` to false if you are deliberately including HTML markup
  in your descriptions.

``delim``
  the delimiter to separate the radiobuttons with when rendering
  the whole widget.  The default ensures that your HTML is readable
  (by putting each ``<input>`` tag on a separate line), and that there
  is horizontal whitespace between each radiobutton.

Examples
~~~~~~~~
::

    >>> colours = ["red", "green", "blue", "pink"]
    >>> widget = RadiobuttonsWidget("foo", allowed_values=colours)
    >>> print widget.render(request)
    <input name="foo" type="radio" value="0">red</input>
    <input name="foo" type="radio" value="1">green</input>
    <input name="foo" type="radio" value="2">blue</input>
    <input name="foo" type="radio" value="3">pink</input>
  
(Note that the actual form values, ie. what the browser returns to the
server, are always stringified indices into the 'allowed_values' list.
This is irrelevant to you, since SingleSelectWidget takes care of
converting ``"1"`` to ``1`` and looking up ``allowed_values[1]``.)

::

    >>> values = [val1, val2, val3]
    >>> descs = ["thing <b>1</b>",
                 "thing <b>2</b>",
                 "thing <b>3</b>"]
    >>> widget = RadiobuttonsWidget("bar",
                     allowed_values=values,
                     descriptions=descs,
                     value=val3,
                     delim="<br>\n",
                     quote=0)
    >>> print widget.render(request)
    <input name="bar" type="radio" value="0">thing <b>1</b></input><br>
    <input name="bar" type="radio" value="1">thing <b>2</b></input><br>
    <input name="bar" type="radio" value="2" checked="checked">thing <b>3</b></input>


SingleSelectWidget
------------------

Used to select a single value from a list that's too long or ungainly
for a set of radiobuttons.  (Most browsers implement this as a scrolling
list; UNIX versions of Netscape 4.x and earlier used a pop-up menu.)
The value can be any Python object; ``parse()`` will return either
``None`` or one of the values you supply to the constructor as
``allowed_values``.  Generates a ``<select>...</select>`` tag, with one
``<option>`` tag for each element of ``allowed_values``.

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    SingleSelectWidget(name : string,
                       value : any = None,
                       allowed_values : [any] = None,
                       descriptions : [string] = map(str, allowed_values),
                       quote : boolean = true,
                       size : int = None)

``allowed_values``
  determines the set of ``<option>`` tags that will go inside the
  ``<select>`` tag; these can be any Python values (not just strings).
  ``parse()`` will return either one of the ``allowed_values`` or ``None``.
  If you supply a ``value`` that is not in ``allowed_values``, it
  will be ignored.

``descriptions``
  (same as RadiobuttonsWidget above)

``quote``
  (same as RadiobuttonsWidget above)

``size``
  corresponds to the ``size`` attribute of the ``<select>`` tag: ask
  the browser to show a select list with ``size`` items visible.
  Not always respected by the browser; consult an HTML book.

Examples
~~~~~~~~
::

    >>> widget = SingleSelectWidget("foo",
                                    allowed_values=["abc", 123, 5.5])
    >>> print widget.render(request)
    <select name="foo">
    <option value="0">abc
    <option value="1">123
    <option value="2">5.5
    </select>

    >>> widget = SingleSelectWidget("bar",
                                    value=val2,  
                                    allowed_values=[val1, val2, val3],
                                    descriptions=["foo", "bar", "foo & bar"],
                                    size=3)
    >>> print widget.render(request)
    <select name="bar" size="3">
    <option value="0">foo
    <option selected value="1">bar
    <option value="2">foo &amp; bar
    </select>


MultipleSelectWidget
--------------------

Used to select multiple values from a list.  Everything is just like
SingleSelectWidget, except that ``value`` can be a list of objects
selected from ``allowed_values`` (in which case every object in ``value``
will initially be selected).  Generates a ``<select multiple>...</select>``
tag, with one ``<option>`` tag for each element of ``allowed_values``.

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    MultipleSelectWidget(name : string,
                         value : any | [any] = None,
                         allowed_values : [any] = None,
                         descriptions : [string] = map(str, allowed_values),
                         quote : boolean = true,
                         size : int = None)


SubmitButtonWidget
------------------

Used for generating submit buttons.  Note that HTML submit buttons are
rather weird, and Quixote preserves this weirdness -- the Widget classes
are meant to be a fairly thin wrapper around HTML form elements, after
all.

In particular, the widget value for a submit button controls two things:
what the user sees in their browser (the text in the button) and what
the browser returns as the value for that form element.  You can't
control the two separately, as you can with radiobuttons or selection
widgets.

Also, SubmitButtonWidget is the only widget with an optional ``name``.
In many simple forms, all you care about is the fact that the form was
submitted -- which submit button the user used doesn't matter.

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    SubmitButtonWidget(name : string = None,
                       value : string = None)

``value``
  the text that will be shown in the user's browser, *and* the
  value that will be returned for this form element (widget)
  if the user selects this submit button.

Examples
~~~~~~~~

    >>> SubmitButtonWidget(value="Submit Form").render(request)
    '<input type="submit" value="Submit Form">'


HiddenWidget
------------

Used to generate HTML hidden widgets, which can be useful for carrying
around non-sensitive application state.  (The Quixote form framework
uses hidden widgets for form tokens as a measure against cross-site
request forgery [CSRF] attacks.  So by "sensitive" I mean "information
which should not be revealed", rather than "security-related".  If you
wouldn't put it in a cookie or in email, don't put it in a hidden form
element.)

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    HiddenWidget(name : string,
                 value : string)

Examples
~~~~~~~~
::

    >>> HiddenWidget("form_id", "2452345135").render(request)
    '<input type="hidden" name="form_id" value="2452345135">'


IntWidget
---------

The first derived widget class: this is a subclass of StringWidget
specifically for entering integer values.  As such, this is the first
widget class we've covered that can reject certain user input.  (The
selection widgets all have to validate their input in case of broken or
malicious clients, but they just drop bogus values.)  If the user enters
a string that Python's built-in ``int()`` can't convert to an integer,
IntWidget's ``parse()`` method raises FormValueError (also defined in
the quixote.form.widget module).  This exception is handled by Quixote's
form framework, but if you're using widget objects on their own, you'll
have to handle it yourself.

``IntWidget.parse()`` always returns an integer or ``None``.

Constructor
~~~~~~~~~~~
::

    IntWidget(name : string,
              value : int = None,
              size : int = None,
              maxlength : int = None)

Constructor arguments are as for StringWidget, except that ``value``
must be an integer (or ``None``).  Note that ``size`` and
``maxlength`` have exactly the same meaning: they control the size of
the input widget and the maximum number of characters of input.

[Examples]

    >>> IntWidget("num", value=37, size=5).render(request)
    '<input type="string" name="num" value="37" size="5">'


FloatWidget
-----------

FloatWidget is identical to IntWidget, except:

* ``value`` must be a float
* ``parse()`` returns a float or ``None``
* ``parse()`` raises FormValueError if the string entered by the
  user cannot be converted by Python's built-in ``float()`` function


OptionSelectWidget
------------------

OptionSelectWidget is simply a SingleSelectWidget that uses a bit of
Javascript to automatically submit the current form as soon as the user
selects a value.  This is useful for very simple one-element forms where
you don't want to bother with a submit button, or for very complex forms
where you need to revamp the user interface based on a user's selection.
Your form-processing code could then detect that style of form
submission, and regenerate a slightly different form for the user.  (Or
you could treat it as a full-blown form submission, if the only widget
of interest is the OptionSelectWidget.)

For example, if you're asking a user for their address, some of the
details will vary depending on which country they're in.  You might make
the country widget an OptionSelectWidget: if the user selects "Canada",
you'll ask them for a province and a postal code; if they select "United
States", you ask for a state and a zip code; and so forth.  (I don't
really recommend a user interface that works this way: you'll spend way
too much time getting the details right ["How many states does Australia
have again?"], and you're bound to get something wrong -- there are over
200 countries in the world, after all.)

Be warned that since OptionSelectWidget relies on Javascript to work,
using it makes immediately makes your application less portable and more
fragile.  One thing to avoid: form elements with a name of ``submit``,
since that masks the Javascript function called by OptionSelectWidget.


$Id: widgets.txt 20217 2003-01-16 20:51:53Z akuchlin $
