django modelform use normal field for relation - django

Question

I am building a little message system with this model:
class Mail(models.Model):
sender = models.ForeignKey(Character, related_name="+")
to = models.ForeignKey(Character, related_name="+")
sent_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
subject = models.CharField(max_length=127)
body = models.TextField()
now i made a modelform from this:
class ComposeForm(forms.ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Mail
exclude = ["folder", "sender", "sent_at"]
however this gives my "to" field a drop down list with all possible characters.
Id like to make this in a normal charfield (later with auto completer) instead of this drop down.
Any idea how i can achieve this?

Answer 1

I've been in a similar place and I found 2 solutions, depending on the needs. The first one is suposing you're going to use something like a select2 and get the query via ajax:
class ComposeForm(forms.ModelForm):
to_char = forms.CharField(max_length=255, required=False) # use the name you want
class Meta:
model = Mail
exclude = ["folder", "sender", "sent_at","to"]
So to_char is empty, and then you manage that field as you want, and when you do the POST, you'll get the value of to_char in the view, and assign to the model where you need it.
The other option I suggest is to use a ModelChoiceField instead of Charfield like this:
class ComposeForm(forms.ModelForm):
to_char = forms.ModelMultipleChoiceField(queryset=Character.objects.all())
class Meta:
model = Mail
exclude = ["folder", "sender", "sent_at","to"]
This will make easier to use an external select tool as select2 (without AJAX)
I choose the first one when the model has thousands of possible choices, so the select hasn't to load all the choices and the page will be fast. I use a select2 in the template over this field, in this case to_char, that loads the options in an AJAX view
I use the second one when there are hundred of choices and using the autocomplete of select2 over this field has no problems, I think if you don't have too many choices this will be the best for you, the ModelChoiceField, you can attach an autocomplete without any trouble

Answer 2

I might have found even a neater solution to this problem. By overriding the default form field in this way:
class ComposeForm(forms.ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Mail
exclude = ["folder", "sender", "sent_at"]
widgets = {'to': forms.TextInput()}

Answer 3

1) If you do not want to display all the values, then all you need to do is to override to field queryset.
Like:
class ComposeForm(forms.ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = Mail
exclude = ["folder", "sender", "sent_at"]
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
super(ComposeForm, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
self.fields['to'].queryset = Character.objects.none()
2) If you want to add autocomplete then you will need view that does the filtering and returns filtered options. You also need some kind of js widget. There are many of those available. On django side you only need to update field widget parameters so your js can pick up the field.