Django ModelForm non-required CharField giving errors

Question

I have a ModelForm for a model that has a couple of files and with every file, a type description (what kind of file it is). This description field on the model has CHOICES. I have set these file uploads and description uploads as hidden fields on my form, and not required. Now the file upload is working, but the description is giving field errors, the placeholder in the dropdown is not a valid choice, it says. That's true, but since it is not required, I would like it to just be left out of the validation and I am stuck on how.

My codes, shortened them up a bit to keep it concise.

models.py

class Dog(models.Model):
    FILE_TYPE_CHOICES = [
      ('SB', 'Stamboom'),
      ('RB', 'Registratiebewijs'),
      ('SJP', 'SJP-diploma'),
      ('CDD', 'CDD-diploma'),
      ('WT', 'Workingtestdiploma'),
      ('MISC', 'Overig'),
    ]
    dog_id = models.UUIDField(unique=True, default=uuid.uuid4)
    file_1 = models.FileField(upload_to=user_directory_path, blank=True, validators=[extension_validator])
    desc_1 = models.CharField(choices=FILE_TYPE_CHOICES, blank=True, max_length=5)

forms.py (I excluded all these fields from the model-code above to keep it more clear, but this is to demonstrate that these fields are not required. If I print the required attribute of 'desc_1' in the view, it also says false

class DogForm(ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = Dog
        fields = ('stamboomnummer', 'stamboomnaam', 'date_of_birth', 'breed',
                  'sex', 'sire', 'dam', 'microchip', 'breeder', 'owner',
                  'file_1', 'desc_1')
        required = ('stamboomnummer', 'stamboomnaam', 'date_of_birth', 'breed',
                   'sex', 'sire', 'dam', 'microchip', 'breeder', 'owner')
        widgets = {'file_1': forms.HiddenInput(),
                   'desc_1': forms.HiddenInput(),
                  }

views.py

@login_required
def newdog(request):
    file_opties = Dog.FILE_TYPE_CHOICES
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = DogForm(request.POST, request.FILES)
        if form.is_valid():
            dog = form.save(commit=False)
            if request.FILES.get('file_1'):
                dog.file_1 = request.FILES['file_1']
            dog.user = request.user
            dog.save()
            assign_perm('accounts.view_dog', request.user, dog)
            assign_perm('accounts.change_dog', request.user, dog)
            assign_perm('accounts.delete_dog', request.user, dog)
            return redirect('accounts:profile')
    else:
        form = DogForm()
    return render(request, 'accounts/add_dog.html', {'form': form,
                                                       'buttontitle': 'Opslaan',
                                                       'formtitle': 'Hond toevoegen',
                                                       'file_type': file_opties})

My form template:

{% extends 'base.html' %}
{% load crispy_forms_tags %}
{% block title %}Title{% endblock %}

{% block content %}

  {{ formtitle }}
  
    {% csrf_token %}
{% for field in form.visible_fields %}

        {{ field.errors }}
       {{ field.label }}{% if field.field.required %}*{% endif %} 
{{ field }}

{% endfor %}
{% if form.instance.file_1 %}
    {{ form.instance.get_desc_1_display }}

    {% endif %}
      
 
  


     
    
  
    
{% endblock %}

This is my form HTML, with the file input and description input right on the bottom


    


        
       Stamboomnummer* 




        
       Stamboomnaam* 




        
       Geboortedatum* 




        
       Ras* 




        
       Geslacht* 




        
       Vader* 




        
       Moeder* 




        
       Chipnummer* 




        
       Fokker* 




        
       Eigenaar*

Now, form.is_valid() is False, and the form errors are:

desc_1: Selecteer een geldige keuze. Type bestand is geen beschikbare keuze.

Which means something like: Select a valid option, Type bestand (which is the placeholder text in my form) is not a valid option.

I have tried to override the clean-function but the field is not in the cleaned_data (which is logical I guess, since it's not a valid option) and I do not know how to get in before. I think I might have to define a custom field, but I cannot seem to find how to do that on a modelform with a hidden input :/ Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

user_14376171 · Answer

Your form is submitting desc_1, so there's a an input with name="desc_1" that has a populated value of Type bestand somewhere in your template. blank=True means the value can be left empty. Since your field has choices and blank=True, the submitted value can be either empty or one of the FILE_TYPE_CHOICES.

You're saying that Type bestand is the placeholder for this field, but if you rendered this field as a hidden input ({{ form.desc_1 }} since you have a widget overridden) it would not and should not have a placeholder.

A regular form equivalent would be:

Where the value attribute is either left empty or populated with one of the existing options, nothing else.

I will also add that if you're displaying desc_1 field as a

Django ModelForm non-required CharField giving errors

1 Answers