mm-dynamic-forms

mm-dynamic-forms ===================== Build ngMaterial based forms in AngularJS From JSON This is a "Work in Progress" : currently covers elements - test, number, email, tel, select, submit button TODO: radio, checkbox, file, image and time-based elements Uses the MIT License. See `LICENSE` file for details. Installation ------------ ### Bower ### The easy way. 1. `bower install mm-dynamic-forms` (add `--save` if you want to add the dependency to your own project - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) ### Git ### The old way. 1. Clone the project from either [GitHub][] or [BitBucket][] - whichever you prefer. 2. Copy `mm-dynamic-forms.js` into your project wherever your other assets reside. #### Use #### Use --- As with any other [AngularJS][] module: * include the script into your page anywhere after [AngularJS][] itself, using whichever mechanism you use for including scripts in your project: ```html <script src="bower_components/mm-dynamic-forms/mm-dynamic-forms.js"></script> ``` ```javascript require('mm-dynamic-forms'); ``` * inject `mmDynamicForm` as a dependency of your project. ```javascript appModule = angular.module('app', ['mmDynamicForm']); ``` * add the [mm-dynamic-form] attribute(#the-directive) to the element anywhere in your page. ```html <form mm-dynamic-form template="formTemplate" ng-model="formData" ng-submit="processForm()"> </form> ``` * populate your [template](#the-template) with a JSON array describing the form you want to create. ```javascript $scope.formData = {}; // JavaScript needs an object to put our form's models into. $scope.formTemplate = [ { "type": "text", "label": "First Name", "model": "name.first", "tabindex": "1" }, { "type": "text", "label": "Last Name", "model": "name.last", "tabindex": "2" }, { "type": "email", "label": "Email Address", "model": "email", "tabindex": "3" }, { "type": "submit", "model": "submit", "tabindex": "4" }, ]; $scope.processForm = function () { /* Handle the form submission... */ }; ``` And that's about it! Check out the demo for a more robust example, or keep reading to learn about all of the things you can do with this module. The TL;DR Version ----------------- ### The Directive Attribute ### You invoke this directive, by adding the `mm-dynamic-form` attribute to a <form></form> element (`<form mm-dynamic-form></form>`) - other options (such as class, attribute, and comment) are unsupported (for now). The directive requires two attributes: an [`ng-model`][], and either a `template` or a `template-url`. The [`ng-model`][] will be used to generate valid [`ng-model`][] attributes for the various input controls in the template. In accordance with how [AngularJS][] handles this attribute elsewhere, your entire form's data will be available in keys of whichever model you specify here (though nested forms are an exception, unless you specify a key in the outer form's model as the [`ng-model`][] of the inner form). **You _must_ initialize this parent model to an object, or your app will break.** If you specify a `template-url`, the `mm-dynamic-form` directive will retrieve the form template via [`$http`][] and build out your form based on the response. Currently, failure is silently ignored. This may change in a later release. You may not want to rely on the directive to retrieve your form directly - perhaps you want to do some processing on the server response before passing it to the directive for building, or maybe you need to specify a more complex [`$http`][] request with advanced authentication. Or perhaps you just want to proactively handle failure to retrieve the template. Enter the `template` attribute. When the directive sees `template`, it ignores any `template-url` and instead uses the array identified by the `template` attribute. (See [below](#the-template) for more details on this value.) At some point in the future you will also be able to dynamically update this array, and the changes will automatically be reflected in the DOM. This is currently unsupported, however, and for technical reasons, will likely not be supported at all for `templateUrl` arrays. Any other attributes you specify on the `mm-dynamic-form` element are copied across to the `form` or [`ng-form`][] element that the directive builds to replace itself with. Similarly, any pre-existing contents are copied across as well, to the top of the resulting form, with the dynamically-specified controls below them. This allows you to nest `dynamic-form`s inside each other in the same way as [`ng-form`][] (which is one reason this directive implements this pseudo-transclusion). The `mm-dynamic-form` directive makes every attempt to set up the forms it generates to be valid HTML forms, complete with the ability to have their data submitted to the server by the browser's native form submission mechanism and still have the data in the same structure that it takes on in your [AngularJS][] models. This makes it easy to implement a fallback mode in case there is a problem with using the standard [Angular][AngularJS] methods to handle your form inputs. You will, of course, need to provide your own `action` and `method` attributes for this to work completely. ### The Template ### Regardless of whether it arrives via `template` or `template-url`, the form template is a fairly-straightforward JavaScript array/object. Each index/key of the template value (referred to elsewhere in this README as an ID) serves as the `name` and [`ng-model`][] (where applicable) of the control described in the corresponding value. Each of the values, then, is an object describing a form input control. A `type` key identifies what kind of control to build, which in turn determines what [other keys](#common-options) are expected. Any `type` that isn't supported builds a `<span>` containing the value of the `label` key, if one exists, as its content, and any other keys as attributes. ### Supported Control Types ### Following is a list of all currently-supported `type`s, and then a more detailed specification of each. Links to Angular documentation in the specifications below indicate that values will be added to the Angular-defined attributes mentioned, and that Angular provides the actual functionality described there. Note that not all of these `type`s are properly supported in all browsers, yet; there are a number of references around the web for [which browsers support what][formsupport]. #### Common Options #### * `attributes`: key-value pairs for arbitrary attributes not otherwise supported here; it is strongly recommended that you use this option *only* if the attribute you need isn't already supported, as any attributes specified here bypass any enhancements this module provides. * `class`: see [`ng-class`][] * `callback`: see [`ng-change`][] (or [`ng-click`][] for button-like types) * `disabled`: see [`ng-disabled`][] * `label`: wraps the control in a `<label>` tag with the value as text content (but see specific types for exceptions to how this is handled) * __The following options are only supported for types that have values:__ * `model`: overrides the control's ID as the value of [`ng-model`][] and `name` attributes; allows multiple controls to be tied to a single model - you can nest your models further by using dot notation in the value * `readonly`: see [`ng-readonly`][] * `required`: see [`ng-required`][] * `val`: an initial value for the model * [button](#button) * [checkbox](#checkbox) * [checklist](#checklist) * [color](#color) * [date](#date) * [datetime](#datetime) * [datetime-local](#datetime-local) * [email](#email) * [fieldset](#fieldset) * [file](#file) * [hidden](#hidden) * [image](#image) * [legend](#legend) * [month](#month) * [number](#number) * [password](#password) * [radio](#radio) * [range](#range) * [reset](#reset) * [search](#search) * [select](#select) * [submit](#submit) * [tel](#tel) * [text](#text) * [textarea](#textarea) * [time](#time) * [url](#url) * [week](#week) #### button #### * __Renders:__ `<button></button>` * __Additional Options:__ * None * __Other Notes:__ * The value of `label` is used as the content of the `<button>` itself; no additional elements are created #### checkbox #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="checkbox">` * __Additional Options:__ * `isOn`: see [`ng-true-value`][] * `isOff`: see [`ng-false-value`][] * `slaveTo`: see [`ng-checked`][] * __Other Notes:__ * See also the [checklist](#checklist) type, below #### checklist #### * __Renders:__ multiple `<input type="checkbox">` controls * __Additional Options:__ * `options`: an object containing a collection of child objects, each describing a checkbox * The key of each child object specifies the key to associate with the checkbox it describes * `class`: applies a specific [`ng-class`][] to the current checkbox, independently of the rest * `label`: operates identically to the standard `label` option, but applies to a specific checkbox in the list * See the [checkbox](#checkbox) type for other fields supported here * __Other Notes:__ * This is a convenience type, used to tie a group of [checkbox](#checkbox) controls together under a single model; the model holds an object, and each control sets a separate key within it * You can set a `val` on the entire `checklist` (it must, of course, be an object) in addition to any per-option `val`s; the per-option versions are set after the full `checklist` version, so they will override anything set to their key by the `checklist` itself #### color #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="color">` * __Additional Options:__ * None * __Other Notes:__ * May not be [supported][colorsupport] in all browsers #### date #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="date">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * May not be [supported][datesupport] in all browsers #### datetime #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="datetime">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * May not be [supported][datesupport] in all browsers #### datetime-local #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="datetime-local">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * May not be [supported][datesupport] in all browsers #### email #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="email">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * On devices that have on-screen keyboards, the browser may modify the keyboard layout to make entering email addresses in these controls easier. #### fieldset #### * __Renders:__ `<fieldset></fieldset>` * __Additional Options:__ * `fields`: the template for the fields which should appear in the `fieldset` * __Other Notes:__ * The value of `label` is used to create a `<legend>` tag as the first child of the `fieldset` #### file #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="file">` * __Additional Options:__ * `multiple`: whether or not the user can select more than one file at a time with this single control * __Other Notes:__ * [A directive][filedirective] is included with this module that allows `file` controls to properly bind to [AngularJS][] models - the control's FileList object is stored in the model, and updating the model's value with a valid FileList object will update the control accordingly * Also included is [an AngularJS service][fileservice] that wraps the browser's FileReader in a promise, so you can get the contents of the selected file for further manipulation, or even send it along in an AJAX request, and all without leaving [AngularJS][] * Both of these additions are modified versions of code by [K. Scott Allen][] and made available on the [OdeToCode][] website; the original versions are linked above #### hidden #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="hidden">` * __Additional Options:__ * None * __Other Notes:__ * Because the underlying HTML control has so little functionality, this control only supports `model` and `val` keys #### image #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="image">` * __Additional Options:__ * `source`: the URL of the image to display in this control * __Other Notes:__ * The value of `label` is used to set the `alt` attribute of this control #### legend #### * __Renders:__ `<legend></legend>` * __Additional Options:__ * None * __Other Notes:__ * As a display-only control, only `class`, `label`, `callback` (via [`ng-click`][]) and `disabled` are supported on this control * The value of `label` is used to set the contents of this control #### month #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="month">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * May not be [supported][datesupport] in all browsers #### number #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="number">` * __Additional Options:__ * `maxValue`: the largest allowed value for this control * `minValue`: the smallest allowed value for this control * `step`: the amount by which the control can increase or decrease in value * Also see [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * May not be [supported][numbersupport] in all browsers #### password #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="password">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * The only real difference between this control and a [text](#text) control is in the rendering, so they support exactly the same options (with the exception of `splitBy`, since it makes no sense to split obscured-input strings) #### radio #### * __Renders:__ multiple `<input type="radio">` controls * __Additional Options:__ * `values`: an object which acts as a simple list of radio options to include * The key of each property of this option specifies the value the model should be set to when the associated radio `input` is selected * The value of each property of this option specifies the label to use for the associated radio `input` * __Other Notes:__ * Because a single radio `input` by itself isn't particularly useful in most cases, this control type assumes users will want to define a list of `value:label` pairs tied to a single model; if this is incorrect, you can still create `radio` controls with just one `value:label` each, and then tie them together using the `model` key * [The directive](#the-directive) doesn't prevent you from applying a `label` to the entire collection of `input` controls created by this control type - the entire `div` containing them will be wrapped in a `<label>` tag; keep this in mind when building style sheets #### range #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="range">` * __Additional Options:__ * `step`: the amount by which the control can increase or decrease in value * Also see [number](#number) above * __Other Notes:__ * By default, this control seems to provide its values to [AngularJS][] as strings. This might be due to [Angular][AngularJS] (as well as the browser) handling them as regular [text](#text) controls internally. Among its other minor tweaks, this module contains a very simple directive to override the default [`$parsers`][] mechanism for `range` controls and convert these values back to numbers (floats, in case your `step` is not an integer). * May not be [supported][rangesupport] in all browsers #### reset #### * __Renders:__ `<button type="reset"></button>` * __Additional Options:__ * None * __Other Notes:__ * As with [button](#button), the value of `label` provides the control's contents * [AngularJS][] doesn't seem to monitor the `reset` event, so your models wouldn't normally be updated when the form is cleared in this way; while this control is strongly dis-recommended in most cases, this directive supports it, so code is included that monitors and properly handles these events (NOTE - this feature has not been widely tested; please report any issues on [GitHub][issues-github] or [Bitbucket][issues-bitbucket]) #### search #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="search">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * All browsers support this because it works exactly like a [text](#text) control. The idea is that search boxes will be styled differently, and on some devices might even support additional input methods, such as voice recognition. You'll probably want to tie these controls to some kind of search mechanism in your app, since users whose browsers *do* render them differently will expect them to act accordingly. #### select #### * __Renders:__ `<select></select>` * __Additional Options:__ * `autoOptions`: see [`ng-options`][] * `empty`: if not `false` or undefined, specifies the display value (contents) of an empty `option`, and tells the directive to include it in its output * `multiple`: if not `false` or undefined, allows the user to select more than one `option` at one time * `options`: an object containing a collection of child objects, each describing an `option` to include in the `select` list * The key of each child object gives the value of the associated `option` * `disabled`: see [`ng-disabled`][] * `group`: adds the `option` to an `optgroup` whose label is the value of the `group` key * `label`: the display value (contents) of the `option` * `slaveTo`: see [`ng-selected`][] * __Other Notes:__ * An unreleased prototype version of this module (which used a combination of [`ng-repeat`][] and [`ng-switch`][] instead of a [directive][]) specified four different control types for the functionality provided by this one - one for normal lists, one for grouped lists, one for multi-select lists, and one that combined multi-select with group support; this version is much cleaner about its approach - multi-select is the 'flag' option `multiple`, and groups are enabled by simply defining them with their associated values * Note that only one of `options` and `autoOptions` will be honored by this module - if you specify `autoOptions`, `options` is completely ignored; keep this in mind when building your forms because the actual values will have to be specified in a separate object #### submit #### * __Renders:__ `<button type="submit"></button>` * __Additional Options:__ * None * __Other Notes:__ * As with [button](#button), the value of `label` provides the control's contents #### tel #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="tel">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) below * __Other Notes:__ * There is currently no validation support for this control in nearly any browser, and [AngularJS][] doesn't provide any by default. This is mostly because telephone numbers are tricky beasts, especially with the differences between how these numbers are allocated from one part of the world to another. And that's before we start getting messy with things like VoIP "numbers". #### text #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="text">` * __Additional Options:__ * `maxLength`: see [`ng-maxlength`][] * `minLength`: see [`ng-minlength`][] * `placeholder`: a value to display in a `text`-like control when it is empty * `splitBy`: see [`ng-list`][] (this option is only supported by `text` and [textarea](#textarea) controls) * `validate`: see [`ng-pattern`][] * __Other Notes:__ * This control serves as the base template for nearly all the other form input controls defined by HTML - as such, most of the controls supported by this directive support these options as well, leading their entries to refer here #### textarea #### * __Renders:__ `<textarea></textarea>` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) above * __Other Notes:__ * While the syntax used to define them in raw HTML differs to some extent, the only practical difference between [text](#text) and `textarea` controls is the multi-line support offered by `textarea` - therefore, the options available to each are identical #### time #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="time">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) above * __Other Notes:__ * May not be [supported][datesupport] in all browsers #### url #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="url">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) above * __Other Notes:__ * Similar to the [email](#email) type, some browsers will alter on-screen keyboards when this control type is selected in such a way that URL entry is simplified; [AngularJS][], meanwhile, enforces the requirement that the value be a valid URL, even if the browser does not #### week #### * __Renders:__ `<input type="week">` * __Additional Options:__ * See [text](#text) above * __Other Notes:__ * May not be [supported][datesupport] in all browsers Acknowledgements ---------------- * [Daniel Hunsaker][https://github.com/danhunsaker] for his initial work and which has been adapted here. * [Frank Linehan][] for leading me in [the right direction][directive]. * [K. Scott Allen][] for the [file input directive][filedirective] and the [FileReader service][fileservice] adapted for use here. * [Joel Hooks][] for pointing out that the LGPL is too strong for this kind of project, and that a monolithic piece of code like version 0.0.0 makes very little sense in an MVVM environment. * For various code enhancements (see commit history for details): * [Florian Rathgeber][] Alternatives ------------ * [JSON Form][json-form] - A jQuery-based library for converting JSON Schemas into HTML forms; a mature option with many advanced features, though centered around Twitter Bootstrap. * [Angular Schema Form][schema-form] - An Angular implementation of (not wrapper for) JSON Form. * [Alpaca][alpacajs] - Another jQuery-based library, it boasts many of the same features as JSON Form. * [MetaWidget][metawidget] - Apparently automated, based on existing infrastructure, rather than controlled by code. Boasts compatibility with many languages and frameworks, including AngularJS, Java Swing, native Android, and others. * [inputEx][inputex] - A YUI3 library offering. * ["The Other" ADF][wbreza] - Wallace Breza's project with the same name this one started with. Issues And Assistance --------------------- If you notice a problem, let me know about it on [GitHub][issues-github] or [Bitbucket][issues-bitbucket]! Any and all help is welcome; just fork the project on either [GitHub][] or [BitBucket][] (whichever you prefer), and submit a pull request with your contribution(s)! [colorsupport]: http://caniuse.com/input-color [datesupport]: http://caniuse.com/input-datetime [filedirective]: http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2013/07/05/a-file-input-directive-for-angularjs.aspx [fileservice]: http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2013/07/03/building-a-filereader-service-for-angularjs-the-service.aspx [formsupport]: http://caniuse.com/forms [numbersupport]: http://caniuse.com/input-number [pholdsupport]: http://caniuse.com/input-placeholder [rangesupport]: http://caniuse.com/input-range [GitHub]: https://github.com/danhunsaker/angular-dynamic-forms [BitBucket]: https://bitbucket.org/danhunsaker/angular-dynamic-forms [issues-github]: https://github.com/danhunsaker/angular-dynamic-forms/issues [issues-bitbucket]: https://bitbucket.org/danhunsaker/angular-dynamic-forms/issues [wbreza]: https://github.com/wbreza/angular-dynamic-forms [json-form]: https://github.com/joshfire/jsonform [schema-form]: https://github.com/Textalk/angular-schema-form [alpacajs]: http://www.alpacajs.org/ [metawidget]: http://metawidget.sourceforge.net/ [inputex]: http://neyric.github.io/inputex/ [`$http`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.$http [`$parsers`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngModel.NgModelController [directive]: http://docs.angularjs.org/guide/directive [`ng-change`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngChange [`ng-checked`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngChecked [`ng-class`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngClass [`ng-click`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngClick [`ng-disabled`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngDisabled [`ng-false-value`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:input.checkbox [`ng-form`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:form [`ng-list`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngList [`ng-maxlength`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:input [`ng-minlength`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:input [`ng-model`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngModel [`ng-multiple`]: http://code.angularjs.org/1.0.8/docs/api/ng.directive:ngMultiple [`ng-options`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:select [`ng-pattern`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:input [`ng-readonly`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngReadonly [`ng-repeat`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngRepeat [`ng-required`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:input [`ng-selected`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngSelected [`ng-switch`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngSwitch [`ng-true-value`]: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:input.checkbox [AngularJS]: http://angularjs.org [Daniel Hunsaker]: https://github.com/danhunsaker [Frank Linehan]: http://frank-code.com [K. Scott Allen]: http://odetocode.com/about/scott-allen [OdeToCode]: http://odetocode.com [Joel Hooks]: http://joelhooks.com [Florian Rathgeber]: http://florianrathgeber.me/about/