Question

I have a static html form layout where i add extjs form fields using the “renderTo” config. In order to have form validation and simple submit methods i want to add the fields to a form panel. As the layout is managed by the html frame i don’t want the form to be rendered by the panel (panel has html frame as contentEl and this should be used as is).

In extjs3 i could achieve this by adding the field not to the panel but to the BasicForm (formpanel.getForm().add(…)) but in extjs4 this method seems to be gone.

How can i do this using extjs4?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Since you already have a Panel that uses the contentEl to render HTML into its body, I recommend to stick with this approach:
Replace the panel with an Ext.form.Panel instance – the configuration, particularly the contentEl config – can remain unchanged.

The code provided here will override a standard Ext class (Ext.layout.Layout) and introduce support for a ‘renderItemTo’ config property on child items of any Ext container or panel instance (including Ext.form.Panel).
The value of the config property should be the ID of an already rendered DOM node, e.g. a DIV element that is part of the HTML fragment used in as the contentEl of the parent container’s body.

Ext.require(['Ext.layout.Layout'], function() {
    Ext.override(Ext.layout.Layout, {
        renderItem: function (item, target, position) {
            if(item.renderItemTo) {
                // render 'renderItemTo' components into the specified DOM element
                item.render(item.renderItemTo, 1);
                // don't allow container layout to seize the component
                item.layoutManagedHeight = 2;
                item.layoutManagedWidth = 2;
            } else {
                // just use standard Ext code for non-renderItemTo components
                this.callOverridden(arguments);
            }
        },
        isValidParent: function(item, target, position) {
            // signal Ext that we are OK with were our 'renderItemTo' component is right now
            // otherwise it would get moved during the layout process
            return item.renderItemTo ? true : this.callOverridden(arguments);
        }
    });
});

Usage:

var panel = Ext.create('Ext.form.Panel', {
    contentEl: 'form', // the DOM element ID that holds the HTML fragment for the body
    title: 'My FormPanel with special FX',
    items: [
        {
            xtype: 'textfield',
            renderItemTo: 'text1', // the ID of a DOM element inside the HTML fragment
            fieldLabel: 'Label 1',
        },
        {
            xtype: 'textfield',
            renderItemTo: 'text2', // the ID of a DOM element inside the HTML fragment
            fieldLabel: 'Label 2'
        }
    ]
});

I uploaded a working example to JSFiddle (note: resize the window if you experience a render problem – this is related to JSFiddle, not my override).