Django form fails to display - django

Question

I have a simple Django form being passed through a view to a template where it should display, but, for a reason that I -- after 5 hours -- have failed to deduce, it does not. Any and all ideas welcome, I'm dying to solve this irksome problem.
I have the following Django form:
class BandAddToCartForm(forms.Form):
LENGTH_CHOICES = ( ('XS', 'XS'),
('S', 'S'),
('M', 'M') )
length = forms.Select(choices=LENGTH_CHOICES)
quantity = forms.IntegerField(widget=forms.HiddenInput())
band_sku = forms.CharField(widget=forms.HiddenInput())
# override the default __init__ so we can set the request
def __init__(self, request=None, *args, **kwargs):
self.request = request
super(BandAddToCartForm, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
# custom validation to check for cookies
def clean(self):
if self.request:
if not self.request.session.test_cookie_worked():
raise forms.ValidationError("Cookies must be enabled.")
return self.cleaned_data
It is passed to the template through the following view:
def show_custom_watches(request,
template_name="catalog/custom_watches.html"):
bands = Band.objects.all()
page_title = "Custom Watches"
meta_keywords = "custom, watches, beaded"
meta_description = "Custom beaded watches for every occassion."
return render_to_response(template_name,
locals(),
context_instance=RequestContext(request))
# need to evaluate the HTTP method
if request.method == 'POST':
#add to cart, create bound form
postdata = request.POST.copy()
form = BandAddToCartForm(request, postdata)
#check if posted data is valid
if form.is_valid():
#add to cart and redirect to cart page
cart.add_band_to_cart(request)
# if test cookie worked, get rid of it
if request.session.test_cookie_worked():
request.session.delete_test_cookie()
url = urlresolvers.reverse('show_cart')
return HttpResponseRedirect(url)
else:
# it's a GET, create the unbound form. Note request as a kwarg
band_form = BandAddToCartForm(request=request, label_suffix=':')
# set the test cookie on our first GET request
request.session.set_test_cookie()
return render_to_response("catalog/custom_watches.html",
locals(),
context_instance=RequestContext(request))
Lastly, here is the relevant bit of template where the form is failing to display:
{% for b in bands %}
<div class="watch_list_item">
<img class="" src="{{ MEDIA_URL }}images/bands/thumbnails/{{ b.image }}" alt="{{ b.name }}" />
<div class="watch_form_area">
<p>{{ b.name }}</p>
<form method="post" action="." class="cart">{% csrf_token %}
{{ band_form.as_p }}
<input type="submit" value="Add To Cart" name="add_product" alt="Add To Cart" class="add_to_cart_button" id="add_only_product" />
</form>
</div>
</div>
{% endfor %}
The Add to cart button appears as it should, but the length selector completely fails to display. Any ideas?

Answer 1

The first
return render_to_response(template_name,
locals(),
context_instance=RequestContext(request))
always happens before you initialise the form, remove it and it should work.