Editing saved Multiple Checkbox selections in Django - sql

Question

Whats the best way of performing the save because at the moment. When it comes to editing, I'm not getting the saved responses to populate the form. Other fields such as drop downs are fine. Is there somehthing I should do in the view to make this work? Here is my view:
def populateaboutme(request):
extractlinkedindata(request)
if request.method == "POST":
form = AboutMeForm(request.POST)
if form.is_valid():
today = datetime.date.today()
currentYYMMDD = today.strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
model_instance = form.save(commit=False)
model_instance.save()
request.session["AboutMe_id"] = model_instance.pk
StoreImage(settings.STATIC_ROOT, str(request.session["fotoloc"]), '.jpg', str(request.session["AboutMe_id"]))
return redirect('/dashboard/')
else:
myid = request.session["AboutMe_id"]
if not myid:
form = AboutMeForm()
else:
aboutme = AboutMe.objects.get(pk=int(myid))
form = AboutMeForm(instance=aboutme)
return render(request, "aboutme.html", {'form': form})
Here are the models:
class AboutMe(models.Model):
MyRelationshipIntent = models.CharField(max_length=50)
and the forms:
class AboutMeForm(ModelForm):
class Meta:
model = AboutMe
exclude = ()
MyRelationshipIntent = forms.MultipleChoiceField(choices=RELATIONSHIPINTENT_CHOICES,widget=forms.CheckboxSelectMultiple())
RELATIONSHIPINTENT_CHOICES = (
('JL', 'Just Looking'),
('FL', 'Looking for friendship'),
('FN', 'Looking for fun'),
('FL', 'Looking for a relationship'),
)

Answer 1

You want to use the initial option on the form:
form = AboutMeForm(initial={'name': aboutme.name})
The instance= you are using is what you need to use when saving to tell django this isn't a new object:
if request.method == 'POST':
form = AboutMeForm(request.POST, instance=aboutme)
Now using instance can give the initial values as well, but only when using a modelform, and you still need it for the saving part.
Edit
It took me a while to notice it because I was focusing on the form, but the problem you are having stems, essentially, from the fact that you are using a CharField where you should be using a ManyToManyField. I mean - how would four checked boxes be translated into one CharField and vice-versa? Django can't just guess it. It makes no sense.
You can use a CharField if you somehow add a method to translate it to the checkboxes. But it's also a wrong approach so don't. Instead, I'll give you two solutions, and you'll choose the one you see fit.
The most natural thing to do would be to use a ManyToMany field here, and then tell the django form to use the checkbox field for it (the default would be a multiselect, and if you want you can use a client side plugin to make that look nice as well). Your models would look something like this:
class Intent(models.Model):
relationship = models.CharField(max_length=50)
class AboutMe(models.Model):
intents = models.ManyToManyField(Intent)
Then you just create four Intent instances for each of the values in your RELATIONSHIPINTENT_CHOICES:
rels = ('Just Looking',
'Looking for friendship',
'Looking for fun',
'Looking for a relationship')
for i in rels:
new = Intent(relationship=i)
new.save()
This is especially good if you think that you might want to add more options later on (and you can create a model on the admin site to ease that proccess instead of the script I wrote up there). If you don't like that solution and you're sure your options would remain the same, another good solution that might suit you is creating a boolean field for each option. Like this:
class AboutMe(models.Model)
jl = models.BooleanField(verbose_name='Just Looking')
fl = models.BooleanField(verbose_name='Looking for friendship')
fn = models.BooleanField(verbose_name='Looking for fun')
fl = models.BooleanField(verbose_name='Looking for a relationship')
Then you don't even need the widget, because checkbox is the default for boolean fields. After doing this, using form(instance=aboutme) and form(initial={'jl': aboutme.jl}) would both work. I know those might look a little scary and more complex than your simple CharField, but this is the right way to go.
p.s.
Other python tips to keep in mind:
Don't name your class "AboutMe". That should be the view, not the model. It makes more sense (to me at least) to make it an extension of the built-in User, name it User or give it a similar fitting name (Profile or Account or the sort)
Field names should not look like class names (check out PEP8 for more conventions). So it should be my_relationship_intent. However, that's also a long and wearying name. relationship_intent or simply intents is a lot better.