Global variables and context in openerp - odoo

Question

What I need to do is access values of the columns in a certain module before it's saved.
For example, if we have a module defined like this:
_columns = {
'name': fields.char('Department Name', size=64, required=True),
'complete_name': fields.function(_dept_name_get_fnc, type="char", string='Name'),
'parent_id': fields.many2one('hr.department', 'Parent Department', select=True),
'child_ids': fields.one2many('hr.department', 'parent_id', 'Child Departments'),
'note': fields.text('Note'),
}
All those columns are represented by controls such as textbox, combobox, checkbox, etc.
When we open the form view in the create mode, a new record is being created but not saved and won't take an id in the database until we click (save).
The question is how to access the values of those fields (controls) before they are saved and before the current record takes a new id.
I know about self.browse and self.search but they need an ID which is not available because the record is not saved yet.
Also, can we assign a global variable that could be accessed from any class in the module (a session variable in web-development terms)?

Answer 1

Better override create method, and use the way you want. Try this in you object, Its an example,
def create(self, cr, uid, vals, context=None):
if vals.get('name','/')=='/':
vals['name'] = self.pool.get('ir.sequence').get(cr, uid, 'sale.order') or '/'
return super(sale_order, self).create(cr, uid, vals, context=context)
likewise you can do your changes from here itself, see the value of "vals" and "context",
this would be helpful to you.

Answer 2

If you want to access this field than you need to override the create method of orm. For Example:
def create(self, cr, uid, vals, context=None):
name = vals.get('name')
complete_name = vals.get('complete_name') # like all others field if one2many field comes than this field access using for loop.
vals.update({'your_field_name': your_value_what_you_want_to_update_before_creating})
#vals.update({'name': 'Your Good Name'})
return super(your_class_name, self).create(cr, uid, vals, context)
def write(self, cr, uid, ids, vals, context=None):
print "\n\n\nCurrent Values =>", vals
name = vals.get('name')
print "\nCurrent Name => ", name
complete_name = vals.get('complete_name') # like all others field if one2many field comes than this field access using for loop.
#do all calculation as you want and store in local variable and that variable pass as a value. for example.
name = 'Your Good Name'
vals.update({'name': name})
print "\n\nUpdated Values => ", vals
return super(your_class_name, self).write(cr, uid, ids, vals, context)
Hope this will help you.