Question

I am having the hardest time with my views and formsets saving. I have come to realize that views are my weakness in Django. I have been working on this for the past few months and writing and rewriting the code. I know this is the best way to learn. Luckily my team gave me this project to learn from. But I still don’t know where I am going wrong.

If anyone here sees where I am off or pointing me into the right direction, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’m searching for best resources to get stronger in this area.

Here is my Views:

from django.conf import settings
from django.views.generic import View
from django.views.generic import TemplateView
from django.shortcuts import render
from itertools import chain

from .models import *
from .forms import *
from .emailtemplates import OrderFormNotification


class OrderFormProcessor(object):
    def __init__(self, contact=None, contact_form_class=ContactForm,
        letterhead_form_class=LetterHeadFormSet,
        windowenv_form_class=WindowEnvFormSet,
        numbertenenv_form_class=NumberTenEnvFormSet,
        ninebytwelveenv_form_class=NineByTwelveEnvFormSet,
        tenbythirteenenv_form_class=TenByThirteenEnvFormSet,
        businesscard_form_class=BusinessCardFormSet,
        send_notification=False):
    self.contact_form_class = contact_form_class
    self.letterhead_form_class = letterhead_form_class
    self.windowenv_form_class = windowenv_form_class
    self.numbertenenv_form_class = numbertenenv_form_class
    self.ninebytwelveenv_form_class = ninebytwelveenv_form_class
    self.tenbythirteenenv_form_class = tenbythirteenenv_form_class
    self.businesscard_form_class = businesscard_form_class
    self.send_notification = send_notification
    self.contact = contact

def process(self, request, context=None):
    if not context:
        context = {}

    contact = self.contact

    data = request.POST or None

    contact_form = self.contact_form_class(data,
            instance=contact)

    forms = dict(
        contact_form=contact_form,
    )

    formsets = dict(
        letterhead_formset=self.letterhead_form_class(data,                 prefix='letterhead_'),
        windowenv_formset=self.windowenv_form_class(data, prefix='windowenv_'),
        numbertenenv_formset=self.numbertenenv_form_class(data, prefix='numbertenenv_'),
        ninebytwelveenv_formset=self.ninebytwelveenv_form_class(data, prefix='ninebytwelveenv_'),
        tenbythirteenenv_formset=self.tenbythirteenenv_form_class(data, prefix='tenbythirteenenv_'),
        businesscard_formset=self.businesscard_form_class(data, prefix='businesscard_'),
    )

    if request.method == 'POST':
        form_is_valid = all([f.is_valid() for f in forms.values() + \
                formsets.values()])
        if form_is_valid:
            contact = forms['contact_form'].save(commit=False)

            contact.letterhead_form = formsets['letterhead_formset'].save()
            contact.windowenv_form = formsets['windowenv_formset'].save()
            contact.numbertenenv_form = formsets['numbertenenv_formset'].save()
            contact.ninebytwelveenv_form = formsets['ninebytwelveenv_formset'].save()
            contact.tenbythirteenenv_form = formsets['tenbythirteenenv_formset'].save()
            contact.businesscard_form = formsets['businesscard_formset'].save()

            contact.save()

            if self.send_notification:
                email = OrderFormNotification(to=[settings.NO_REPLY_EMAIL_ADDRESS],
                extra_context=data)
                email.send()
        else:
            pass

    all_forms = chain(forms.values(), chain.from_iterable(formsets.values()))
    context = context.copy()
    context.update(forms.items() + formsets.items())
    context.update(
        error_list=list(chain.from_iterable([form.errors.values() for form in all_forms])),
    )

    return (forms, formsets), context


class OrderFormView(View):
    template_name = 'orderform.html'

    def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        processor = OrderFormProcessor(send_notification=True)

        (forms, formsets), context = processor.process(request)
        return render(request, self.template_name, context)


class ThankYou(TemplateView):
    template_name = 'thank-you.html'

Here are my Forms:

from django import forms
from django.forms import ModelForm, extras
from django.forms.models import modelformset_factory
from django.contrib.localflavor import us

from django.forms.widgets import RadioSelect, CheckboxSelectMultiple

from .models import *


class ContactForm(forms.ModelForm):
    address = forms.ChoiceField(required = True, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES,)
    class Meta:
        model = Contact


class LetterHeadForm(forms.ModelForm):
    address = forms.ChoiceField(required = False, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)
    class Meta:
        model = LetterHead
        widgets = {
            'contact': forms.HiddenInput,
            'quantity': forms.Select(choices=QUANTITY_CHOICES),
        }


class WindowEnvForm(forms.ModelForm):
    address = forms.ChoiceField(required = False, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)
    class Meta:
        model = WindowEnv
        widgets = {
            'contact': forms.HiddenInput,
            'quantity': forms.Select(choices=QUANTITY_CHOICES),
        }


class NumberTenEnvForm(forms.ModelForm):
    address = forms.ChoiceField(required = False, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)
    class Meta:
        model = NumberTenEnv
        widgets = {
            'contact': forms.HiddenInput,
            'quantity': forms.Select(choices=QUANTITY_CHOICES),
        }


class NineByTwelveEnvForm(forms.ModelForm):
    address = forms.ChoiceField(required = False, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)
    class Meta:
        model = NineByTwelveEnv
        widgets = {
            'contact': forms.HiddenInput,
            'quantity': forms.Select(choices=QUANTITY_CHOICES),
        }


class TenByThirteenEnvForm(forms.ModelForm):
    address = forms.ChoiceField(required = False, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)
    class Meta:
        model = TenByThirteenEnv
        widgets = {
            'contact': forms.HiddenInput,
            'quantity': forms.Select(choices=QUANTITY_CHOICES),
        }


class BusinessCardForm(forms.ModelForm):
    print_choices = forms.ChoiceField(required = True, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=PRINT_CHOICES)
    card_styles = forms.ChoiceField(required = True, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=CARD_CHOICES)
    card_mailing_address = forms.ChoiceField(required = True, widget=RadioSelect(), choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)
    class Meta:
        model = BusinessCard
        widgets = {
            'contact': forms.HiddenInput,
        }


class RushOrderForm(forms.ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = RushOrder
        widgets = {
            'contact': forms.HiddenInput,
            'rush_order': forms.CheckboxInput,
            'in_hand_date': forms.extras.SelectDateWidget
        }


class OrderNoteForm(forms.ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = OrderNote
        widgets = {
            'contact': forms.HiddenInput,
            'add_note': forms.CheckboxInput,
            'notes': forms.Textarea
        }


LetterHeadFormSet = modelformset_factory(LetterHead,
    form=LetterHeadForm, extra=2, max_num=2)
WindowEnvFormSet = modelformset_factory(WindowEnv,
    form=WindowEnvForm, extra=2, max_num=2)
NumberTenEnvFormSet = modelformset_factory(NumberTenEnv,
    form=NumberTenEnvForm, extra=2, max_num=2)
NineByTwelveEnvFormSet = modelformset_factory(NineByTwelveEnv,
    form=NineByTwelveEnvForm, extra=2, max_num=2)
TenByThirteenEnvFormSet = modelformset_factory(TenByThirteenEnv,
    form=TenByThirteenEnvForm, extra=2, max_num=2)
BusinessCardFormSet = modelformset_factory(BusinessCard,
    form=BusinessCardForm, extra=2, max_num=2)

Here are the Models:

from django.db import models
from django.forms import ModelForm

from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
from django.contrib.localflavor.us.models import PhoneNumberField

PRINT_CHOICES = (
    ('exact reprint', 'Exact Reprint'),
    ('reprint with changes', 'Reprint With Changes'),
    ('new', 'New')
)

QUANTITY_CHOICES = (
    ('1000', '1000'),
    ('2500', '2500'),
    ('5000', '5000')
)

CARD_QUANTITY_CHOICES = (
    ('250', '250'),
    ('500', '500'),
    ('1000', '1000')
)

CARD_CHOICES = (
    ('chef/black', 'Chef/Black'),
    ('executive/red', 'Executive/Red')
)

ADDRESS_CHOICES = (
    ('eisenhower', 'Eisenhower'),
    ('wheeler', 'Wheeler'),
)


class Contact(models.Model):
    first_name = models.CharField(max_length=100, help_text="First Name")
    last_name = models.CharField(max_length=100, help_text="Last Name")
    email_address = models.EmailField(max_length=275)
    address = models.CharField(max_length=10, choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)

    def __unicode__(self):
        return "%s %s" % (self.first_name, self.last_name)


class BaseStationary(models.Model):
    contact = models.ForeignKey(Contact, related_name='%(class)s_related')
    address = models.CharField(max_length=10, choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)
    quantity = models.CharField(max_length=4, choices=QUANTITY_CHOICES)

    class Meta:
        abstract = True


class LetterHead(BaseStationary):
    pass


class WindowEnv(BaseStationary):
    pass


class NumberTenEnv(BaseStationary):
    pass


class NineByTwelveEnv(BaseStationary):
    pass


class TenByThirteenEnv(BaseStationary):
    pass


class BusinessCard(models.Model):
    contact = models.ForeignKey(Contact, related_name='businesscards')
    card_first_name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    card_last_name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    print_choices = models.CharField(max_length=19, choices=PRINT_CHOICES)
    card_styles = models.CharField(max_length=12, choices=CARD_CHOICES)
    card_email_address = models.EmailField(max_length=275)
    office_phone_number = PhoneNumberField(_('main office phone number'),
        blank=True, null=True)
    toll_free_number = PhoneNumberField(_('toll free number'),
        blank=True, null=True)
    mobile_number = PhoneNumberField(_('mobile phone number'),
        blank=True, null=True)
    fax_number = PhoneNumberField(_('main office fax'),
        blank=True, null=True)
    card_mailing_address = models.CharField(max_length=10,
        choices=ADDRESS_CHOICES)
    card_quantity = models.CharField(max_length=3,
        choices=CARD_QUANTITY_CHOICES)


class RushOrder(models.Model):
    contact = models.ForeignKey(Contact, related_name='rushorders')
    rush_order = models.BooleanField()
    in_hand_date = models.DateField(blank=True, null=True)


class OrderNote(models.Model):
    contact = models.ForeignKey(Contact, related_name='ordernotes')
    add_note = models.BooleanField()
    notes = models.TextField()

So again what I’m trying to do is get these formsets to save to the database, that way the admin will have the stationary order saved for printing purposes.

Answer 1

Since you’re here to learn, and your code is quite complex (I’d need all the code necessary to reproduce your problem, which includes models), I’m not going to answer with a code fix.

Instead, you will learn how to use a debugger, which will fix “I still don’t know where I am going wrong”.

1. Install ipdb, because it’s more convenient than just pdb, pip install ipdb.

2. Set a breakpoint, in your view, add this line import ipdb; ipdb.set_trace().

3. Run the code in the devserver, the devserve should pause at the breakpoint, and show the code it’s paused at.

4. Get to know ipdb, type “h”, it will show a list of command, try to overread the documentation of each command, you can also check this article which includes a video.

5. Step through your code, by typing “n” in the debugger, the interpreter should move to the next line of code, “d” to step in, “u” to step out, etc … You can execute Python from the prompt at any time.

You will know what Python is doing exactly, fixing “I still don’t know where I am going wrong”. Also, you’ll become an invincible programmer (or something like that hahaha)