Django: how to add custom fields to data on form save? - django

Question

I want to insert some custom variable eg Status into the model when the user submits the form. I want the field status to be updated to Pending when a new record is inserted. This should be done automatically when the user inserts a new form. I know how to insert the form with values set by the user how can i insert my own values instead.
My current form that inserts all data into db and it looks like this
def createProcess(request):
form = ProcessForm()
if request.method =='POST':
#print('Printing POST request : ', request.POST)
form = ProcessForm(request.POST)
if form.is_valid():
form.save() # above this i think i can add something to set the status
return redirect('process_list')
context = {'form' : form}
return render(request, 'process/create_process.html', context)
How can I customize the value of for eg the status field? I want the status field to automatically be updated without the user submitting any information.
This is the model
class ProcessInfo(models.Model):
process_name = models.CharField(max_length=120, null=True)
process_L2_process_name = models.CharField(default='L2 Process Name', max_length=120, null=True)
process_L3_process_name = models.CharField(default='L3 Process Name', max_length=120, null=True)
process_critical = models.BooleanField(default=True, null=True)
date_created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True, null=True)
status = models.CharField(max_length=200, null=True, choices=STATUS)
user_rel = models.ForeignKey(User, null=True, on_delete=models.SET_NULL)
tags = models.ManyToManyField(Tag)
def __str__(self):
return self.process_name

Answer 1

You can make a form without the status field:
class ProcessForm(forms.ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Process
exclude = ('status',)
in the view, you can then set the .status of the instance:
from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
#login_required
def createProcess(request):
form = ProcessForm()
if request.method =='POST':
form = ProcessForm(request.POST)
if form.is_valid():
form.instance.status = 'pending'
form.instance.user_rel = request.user
form.save()
return redirect('process_list')
context = {'form' : form}
return render(request, 'process/create_process.html', context)
You can however also specify the default value for status in your model, and set the editable=… parameter [Django-doc] to False to prevent it showing up in the form, then it is autoamtically set to default value:
class ProcessInfo(models.Model):
# …
status = models.CharField(
max_length=200,
null=True,
choices=STATUS,
default='pending',
editable=False
)
def __str__(self):
return self.process_name