h1. Formtastic

Formtastic is a Rails FormBuilder DSL (with some other goodies) to make it far easier to create beautiful, semantically rich, syntactically awesome, readily stylable and wonderfully accessible HTML forms in your Rails applications.

h2. The Story

One day, I finally had enough, so I opened up my text editor, and wrote a DSL for how I'd like to author forms:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @article do |form| %>

    <% form.inputs :name => "Basic" do %>
      <%= form.input :title %>
      <%= form.input :body %>
      <%= form.input :section %>
      <%= form.input :publication_state, :as => :radio %>
      <%= form.input :category %>
      <%= form.input :allow_comments, :label => "Allow commenting on this article" %>
    <% end %>

    <% form.inputs :name => "Advanced" do %>
      <%= form.input :keywords, :required => false, :hint => "Example: ruby, rails, forms" %>
      <%= form.input :extract, :required => false %>
      <%= form.input :description, :required => false %>
      <%= form.input :url_title, :required => false %>
    <% end %>

    <% form.inputs :name => "Author", :for => :author do |author_form| %>
      <%= author_form.input :first_name %>
      <%= author_form.input :last_name %>
    <% end %>

    <% form.buttons do %>
      <%= form.commit_button %>
    <% end %>

  <% end %>
</pre>

I also wrote the accompanying HTML output I expected, favoring something very similar to the fieldsets, lists and other semantic elements Aaron Gustafson presented in "Learning to Love Forms":http://www.slideshare.net/AaronGustafson/learning-to-love-forms-web-directions-south-07, hacking together enough Ruby to prove it could be done.


h2. It's better than _SomeOtherFormBuilder_ because...

* it can handle @belongs_to@ associations (like Post belongs_to :author), rendering a select or set of radio inputs with choices from the parent model.
* it can handle @has_many@ and @has_and_belongs_to_many@ associations (like: Post has_many :tags), rendering a multi-select with choices from the child models.
* it's Rails 2.3-ready (including nested forms).
* it has internationalization (I18n)!
* it's _really_ quick to get started with a basic form in place (4 lines), then go back to add in more detail if you need it.
* there's heaps of elements, id and class attributes for you to hook in your CSS and JS.
* it handles real world stuff like inline hints, inline error messages & help text.
* it doesn't hijack or change any of the standard Rails form inputs, so you can still use them as expected (even mix and match).
* it's got absolutely awesome spec coverage.
* there's a bunch of people using and working on it (it's not just one developer building half a solution).


h2. Why?

* web apps = lots of forms.
* forms are so friggin' boring to code.
* semantically rich & accessible forms really are possible.
* the "V" is way behind the "M" and "C" in Rails' MVC – it's the ugly sibling.
* best practices and common patterns have to start somewhere.
* i need a challenge.


h2. Opinions

* it should be easier to do things the right way than the wrong way.
* sometimes _more mark-up_ is better.
* elements and attribute hooks are _gold_ for stylesheet authors.
* make the common things we do easy, yet still ensure uncommon things are still possible.


h2. Documentation

RDoc documentation _should_ be automatically generated after each commit and made available on the "rdoc.info website":http://rdoc.info/projects/justinfrench/formtastic.


h2. Installation

The gem is hosted on gemcutter, so *if you haven't already*, add it as a gem source:

<pre>
  sudo gem sources -a http://gemcutter.org/
</pre>

Then install the Formtastic gem:

<pre>
  sudo gem install formtastic
</pre>

Optionally, run @./script/generate formtastic@ to copy the following files into your app:

* @config/initializers/formtastic.rb@ - a commented out Formtastic config initializer
* @public/stylesheets/formtastic.css@
* @public/stylesheets/formtastic_changes.css@

A proof-of-concept stylesheet is provided which you can include in your layout. Customization is best achieved by overriding these styles in an additional stylesheet so that the Formtastic styles can be updated without clobbering your changes. If you want to use these stylesheets, add both to your layout:

<pre>
  <%= stylesheet_link_tag "formtastic" %>
  <%= stylesheet_link_tag "formtastic_changes" %>
</pre>


h2. Usage

Forms are really boring to code... you want to get onto the good stuff as fast as possible.

This renders a set of inputs (one for _most_ columns in the database table, and one for each ActiveRecord @belongs_to@-association), followed by a submit button:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @user do |form| %>
    <%= form.inputs %>
    <%= form.buttons %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

If you want to specify the order of the fields, skip some of the fields or even add in fields that Formtastic couldn't detect, you can pass in a list of field names to @inputs@ and list of button names to @buttons@:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @user do |form| %>
    <%= form.inputs :title, :body, :section, :categories, :created_at %>
    <%= form.buttons :commit %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

If you want control over the input type Formtastic uses for each field, you can expand the @inputs@ and @buttons@ blocks. This specifies the @:section@ input should be a set of radio buttons (rather than the default select box), and that the @:created_at@ field should be a string (rather than the default datetime selects):

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <% form.inputs do %>
      <%= form.input :title %>
      <%= form.input :body %>
      <%= form.input :section, :as => :radio %>
      <%= form.input :categories %>
      <%= form.input :created_at, :as => :string %>
    <% end %>
    <% form.buttons do %>
      <%= form.commit_button %>
    <% end %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

If you want to customize the label text, or render some hint text below the field, specify which fields are required/optional, or break the form into two fieldsets, the DSL is pretty comprehensive:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <% form.inputs :name => "Basic", :id => "basic" do %>
      <%= form.input :title %>
      <%= form.input :body %>
    <% end %>
    <% form.inputs :name => "Advanced Options", :id => "advanced" do %>
      <%= form.input :slug, :label => "URL Title", :hint => "Created automatically if left blank", :required => false %>
      <%= form.input :section, :as => :radio %>
      <%= form.input :user, :label => "Author", :label_method => :full_name,  %>
      <%= form.input :categories, :required => false %>
      <%= form.input :created_at, :as => :string, :label => "Publication Date", :required => false %>
    <% end %>
    <% form.buttons do %>
      <%= form.commit_button %>
    <% end %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

Nested forms (Rails 2.3) are also supported. You can do it in the Rails way:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <%= form.inputs :title, :body, :created_at %>
    <% form.semantic_fields_for :author do |author| %>
      <%= author.inputs :first_name, :last_name, :name => "Author" %>
    <% end %>
    <%= form.buttons %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

Or the Formtastic way with the @:for@ option:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <%= form.inputs :title, :body, :created_at %>
    <%= form.inputs :first_name, :last_name, :for => :author, :name => "Author" %>
    <%= form.buttons %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

When working in has many association, you can even supply @"%i"@ in your fieldset name that it will be properly interpolated with the child index. For example:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <%= form.inputs %>
    <%= form.inputs :name => 'Category #%i', :for => :categories %>
    <%= form.buttons %>
  <% end %>
</pre>


Customize HTML attributes for any input using the @:input_html@ option. Typically his is used to disable the input, change the size of a text field, change the rows in a textarea, or even to add a special class to an input to attach special behavior like "autogrow":http://plugins.jquery.com/project/autogrow textareas:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <%= form.input :title,      :input_html => { :size => 60 } %>
    <%= form.input :body,       :input_html => { :class => 'autogrow' } %>
    <%= form.input :created_at, :input_html => { :disabled => true } %>
    <%= form.buttons %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

The same can be done for buttons with the @:button_html@ option:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    ...
    <% form.buttons do %>
      <%= form.commit_button :button_html => { :class => "primary" } %>
    <% end %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

Customize the HTML attributes for the @<li>@ wrapper around every input with the @:wrapper_html@ option hash. There's one special key in the hash (@:class@), which will actually _append_ your string of classes to the existing classes provided by Formtastic (like @"required string error"@)

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <%= form.input :title, :wrapper_html => { :class => "important" } %>
    <%= form.input :body %>
    <%= form.input :description, :wrapper_html => { :style => "display:none;" } %>
    ...
  <% end %>
</pre>


h2. The Available Inputs

The Formtastic input types:

* @:select@ - a select menu. Default for ActiveRecord associations: @belongs_to@, @has_many@, and @has_and_belongs_to_many@.
* @:check_boxes@ - a set of check_box inputs. Alternative to @:select@ for ActiveRecord-associations: @has_many@, and @has_and_belongs_to_many@.
* @:radio@ - a set of radio inputs. Alternative to @:select@ for ActiveRecord-associations: @belongs_to@.
* @:time_zone@ - a select input. Default for column types: @:string@ with name matching @"time_zone"@.
* @:password@ - a password input. Default for column types: @:string@ with name matching @"password"@.
* @:text@ - a textarea. Default for column types: @:text@.
* @:date@ - a date select. Default for column types: @:date@.
* @:datetime@ - a date and time select. Default for column types: @:datetime@ and @:timestamp@.
* @:time@ - a time select. Default for column types: @:time@.
* @:boolean@ - a checkbox. Default for column types: @:boolean@.
* @:string@ - a text field. Default for column types: @:string@.
* @:numeric@ - a text field (just like string). Default for  column types: @:integer@, @:float@, and @:decimal@.
* @:file@ - a file field. Default for file-attachment attributes matching: "paperclip":http://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip or "attachment_fu":http://github.com/technoweenie/attachment_fu.
* @:country@ - a select menu of country names. Default for column types: :string with name @"country"@ - requires a *country_select* plugin to be installed.
* @:hidden@ - a hidden field. Creates a hidden field (added for compatibility).

The documentation is pretty good for each of these (what it does, what the output is, what the options are, etc.) so go check it out.

h2. Internationalization (I18n)

h3. Basic Localization

Formtastic got some neat I18n-features. ActiveRecord object names and attributes are, by default, taken from calling @@object.human_name@ and @@object.human_attribute_name(attr)@ respectively. There are a few words specific to Formtastic that can be translated. See @lib/locale/en.yml@ for more information.

Basic localization (labels only, with ActiveRecord):

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <%= form.input :title %>        # => :label => I18n.t('activerecord.attributes.user.title')    or 'Title'
    <%= form.input :body %>         # => :label => I18n.t('activerecord.attributes.user.body')     or 'Body'
    <%= form.input :section %>      # => :label => I18n.t('activerecord.attributes.user.section')  or 'Section'
  <% end %>
</pre>

*Note:* This is perfectly fine if you just want your labels/attributes and/or models to be translated using *ActiveRecord I18n attribute translations*, and you don't use input hints and legends. But what if you do? And what if you don't want same labels in all forms?

h3. Enhanced Localization (Formtastic I18n API)

Formtastic supports localized *labels*, *hints*, *legends*, *actions* using the I18n API for more advanced usage. Your forms can now be DRYer and more flexible than ever, and still fully localized. This is how:

*1. Enable I18n lookups by default (@config/initializers/formtastic.rb@):*

<pre>
  Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.i18n_lookups_by_default = true
</pre>

*2. Add some cool label-translations/variants (@config/locale/en.yml@):*

<pre>
  en:
    formtastic:
      titles:
        post_details: "Post details"
      labels:
        post:
          title: "Choose a title..."
          body: "Write something..."
          edit:
            title: "Edit title"
      hints:
        post:
          title: "Choose a good title for you post."
          body: "Write something inspiring here."
      actions:
        create: "Create my {{model}}"
        update: "Save changes"
        dummie: "Launch!"
</pre>

*Note:* We are using English here still, but you get the point.

*3. ...and now you'll get:*

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for Post.new do |form| %>
    <% inputs do %>
      <%= form.input :title %>      # => :label => "Choose a title...", :hint => "Choose a good title for you post."
      <%= form.input :body %>       # => :label => "Write something...", :hint => "Write something inspiring here."
      <%= form.input :section %>    # => :label => I18n.t('activerecord.attributes.user.section')  or 'Section'
    <% end %>
    <% buttons do %>
      <%= form.commit_button %>     # => "Create my {{model}}"
    <% end %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

*4. Localized titles (a.k.a. legends):*

_Note: Slightly different because Formtastic can't guess how you group fields in a form._

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <% inputs :title => :post_details do %>   # => :title => "Post details"
      # ...
    <% end %>
    # ...
<% end %>
</pre>

*5. Override I18n settings:*

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <% inputs do %>
      <%= form.input :title %>      # => :label => "Choose a title...", :hint => "Choose a good title for you post."
      <%= form.input :body, :hint => false %>                 # => :label => "Write something..."
      <%= form.input :section, :label => 'Some section' %>    # => :label => 'Some section'
    <% end %>
    <% buttons do %>
      <%= form.commit_button :dummie %>     # => "Launch!"
    <% end %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

If I18n-lookups is disabled, i.e.:

<pre>
  Formtastic::SemanticFormBuilder.i18n_lookups_by_default = false
</pre>

...then you can enable I18n within the forms instead:

<pre>
  <% semantic_form_for @post do |form| %>
    <% inputs do %>
      <%= form.input :title, :label => true %>      # => :label => "Choose a title..."
      <%= form.input :body, :label => true %>       # => :label => "Write something..."
      <%= form.input :section, :label => true %>    # => :label => I18n.t('activerecord.attributes.user.section')  or 'Section'
    <% end %>
    % buttons do %>
      <%= form.commit_button true %>                # => "Save changes" (if we are in edit that is...)
    <% end %>
  <% end %>
</pre>

*6. Advanced I18n lookups*

For more flexible forms; Formtastic find translations using a bottom-up approach taking the following variables in account:

* @MODEL@, e.g. "post"
* @ACTION@, e.g. "edit"
* @KEY/ATTRIBUTE@, e.g. "title", :my_custom_key, ...

...in the following order:

1. @formtastic.{titles,labels,hints,actions}.MODEL.ACTION.ATTRIBUTE@ - by model and action
2. @formtastic.{titles,labels,hints,actions}.MODEL.ATTRIBUTE@ - by model
3. @formtastic.{titles,labels,hints,actions}.ATTRIBUTE@ - global default

...which means that you can define translations like this:

<pre>
  en:
    formtastic:
      labels:
        title: "Title"  # Default global value
        article:
          body: "Article content"
        post:
          new:
            title: "Choose a title..."
            body: "Write something..."
          edit:
            title: "Edit title"
            body: "Edit body"
</pre>

Values for @labels@/@hints@/@actions@ are can take values: @String@ (explicit value), @Symbol@ (i18n-lookup-key relative to the current "type", e.g. actions:), @true@ (force I18n lookup), @false@ (force no I18n lookup). Titles (legends) can only take: @String@ and @Symbol@ - true/false have no meaning.


h2. ValidationReflection plugin

If you have the "ValidationReflection":http://github.com/redinger/validation_reflection plugin installed, you won't have to specify the @:required@ option (it checks the validations on the model instead).


h2. Configuration

Run @./script/generate formtastic@ to copy a commented out config file into @config/initializers/formtastic.rb@. You can "view the configuration file on GitHub":http://github.com/justinfrench/formtastic/blob/master/generators/formtastic/templates/formtastic.rb


h2. Status

Formtastic has been in active development for about a year. We've just recently jumped to an 0.9 version number, signaling that we consider this a 1.0 release candidate, and that the API won't change significantly for the 1.x series.


h2. Dependencies

There are none, but...

* if you have the "ValidationReflection":http://github.com/redinger/validation_reflection plugin is installed, you won't have to specify the :required option (it checks the validations on the model instead).
* if you want to use the @:country@ input, you'll need to install the "iso-3166-country-select plugin":http://github.com/rails/iso-3166-country-select (or any other country_select plugin with the same API).
* "rspec":http://github.com/dchelimsky/rspec/, "rspec_hpricot_matchers":http://rubyforge.org/projects/rspec-hpricot/ and "rcov":http://github.com/relevance/rcov gems (plus any of their own dependencies) are required for the test suite.


h2. Compatibility

I'm only testing Formtastic with the latest Rails 2.2.x stable release, and it should be fine under Rails 2.3 as well (including nested forms). Patches are welcome to allow backwards compatibility, but I don't have the energy!


h2. Got TextMate?

Well...there's a TextMate-bundle in town, dedicated to make usage of Formtastic in the "TextMate":http://macromates.com/ editor even more of a breeze:

"Formtastic.tmbundle":http://github.com/grimen/formtastic_tmbundle


h2. Contributors

Formtastic is maintained by "Justin French":http://justinfrench.com and "José Valim":http://github.com/josevalim, but it wouldn't be as awesome as it is today if it weren't for the wonderful contributions of these fine, fine coders.

* "Jeff Smick":http://github.com/sprsquish
* "Tien Dung":http://github.com/tiendung
* "Mark Mansour":http://stateofflux.com
* "Andy Pearson":http://github.com/andypearson
* "negonicrac":http://github.com/negonicrac
* "Xavier Shay":http://rhnh.net
* "Pat Allan":http://github.com/freelancing-god
* "Gareth Townsend":http://github.com/quamen
* "Sascha Hoellger":http://github.com/mitnal
* "Andrew Carpenter":http://github.com/andrewcarpenter
* "Jack Dempsey":http://github.com/jackdempsey/
* "Greg Fitzgerald":http://github.com/gregf/
* "Hector E. Gomez Morales":http://github.com/hectoregm
* "Ben Hamill":http://blog.benhamill.com/
* "Simon Chiu":http://github.com/tolatomeow
* "Bin Dong":http://github.com/dongbin


h2. Hey, join the Google group!

Please join the "Formtastic Google Group":http://groups.google.com.au/group/formtastic, especially if you'd like to talk about a new feature, or report a bug.


h2. Project Info

Formtastic is hosted on Github: "http://github.com/justinfrench/formtastic":http://github.com/justinfrench/formtastic, where your contributions, forkings, comments and feedback are greatly welcomed.


Copyright (c) 2007-2008 Justin French, released under the MIT license.