Iterate over model instance field names and values in template

Asked 2010-01-31T01:48:11.080

209

I'm trying to create a basic template to display the selected instance's field values, along with their names. Think of it as just a standard output of the values of that instance in table format, with the field name (verbose_name specifically if specified on the field) in the first column and the value of that field in the second column.

For example, let's say we have the following model definition:

class Client(Model):
    name = CharField(max_length=150)
    email = EmailField(max_length=100, verbose_name="E-mail")

I would want it to be output in the template like so (assume an instance with the given values):

Field Name      Field Value
----------      -----------
Name            Wayne Koorts
E-mail          waynes@email.com

What I'm trying to achieve is being able to pass an instance of the model to a template and be able to iterate over it dynamically in the template, something like this:

<table>
    {% for field in fields %}
        <tr>
            <td>{{ field.name }}</td>
            <td>{{ field.value }}</td>
        </tr>
    {% endfor %}
</table>

Is there a neat, "Django-approved" way to do this? It seems like a very common task, and I will need to do it often for this particular project.

python django django-templates

Edit Report

3 Answers

Here's another approach using a model method. This version resolves picklist/choice fields, skips empty fields, and lets you exclude specific fields.

def get_all_fields(self):
    """Returns a list of all field names on the instance."""
    fields = []
    for f in self._meta.fields:

        fname = f.name        
        # resolve picklists/choices, with get_xyz_display() function
        get_choice = 'get_'+fname+'_display'
        if hasattr(self, get_choice):
            value = getattr(self, get_choice)()
        else:
            try:
                value = getattr(self, fname)
            except AttributeError:
                value = None

        # only display fields with values and skip some fields entirely
        if f.editable and value and f.name not in ('id', 'status', 'workshop', 'user', 'complete') :

            fields.append(
              {
               'label':f.verbose_name, 
               'name':f.name, 
               'value':value,
              }
            )
    return fields

Then in your template:

{% for f in app.get_all_fields %}
  <dt>{{f.label|capfirst}}</dt>
    <dd>
      {{f.value|escape|urlize|linebreaks}}
    </dd>
{% endfor %}

answered 2010-02-09T01:29:03.387

There should really be a built-in way to do this. I wrote this utility build_pretty_data_view that takes a model object and form instance (a form based on your model) and returns a SortedDict.

Benefits to this solution include:

It preserves order using Django's built-in SortedDict.
When tries to get the label/verbose_name, but falls back to the field name if one is not defined.
It will also optionally take an exclude() list of field names to exclude certain fields.
If your form class includes a Meta: exclude(), but you still want to return the values, then add those fields to the optional append() list.

To use this solution, first add this file/function somewhere, then import it into your views.py.

utils.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# vim: ai ts=4 sts=4 et sw=4
from django.utils.datastructures import SortedDict


def build_pretty_data_view(form_instance, model_object, exclude=(), append=()):
    i=0
    sd=SortedDict()

    for j in append:
        try:
            sdvalue={'label':j.capitalize(),
                     'fieldvalue':model_object.__getattribute__(j)}
            sd.insert(i, j, sdvalue)
            i+=1
        except(AttributeError):
            pass

    for k,v in form_instance.fields.items():
        sdvalue={'label':"", 'fieldvalue':""}
        if not exclude.__contains__(k):
            if v.label is not None:
                sdvalue = {'label':v.label,
                           'fieldvalue': model_object.__getattribute__(k)}
            else:
                sdvalue = {'label':k,
                           'fieldvalue': model_object.__getattribute__(k)}
            sd.insert(i, k, sdvalue)
            i+=1
    return sd

So now in your views.py you might do something like this

from d


                        
                        
                            answered 2011-10-14T15:29:09.603


            
            
                
                    
                        
                            
                            
                        
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                        I'm using this, https://github.com/miracle2k/django-tables.

<table>
<tr>
    {% for column in table.columns %}
    <th><a href="?sort={{ column.name_toggled }}">{{ column }}</a></th>
    {% endfor %}
</tr>
{% for row in table.rows %}
    <tr>
    {% for value in row %}
        <td>{{ value }}</td>
    {% endfor %}
    </tr>
{% endfor %}
</table>


                        
                        
                            answered 2011-04-14T04:49:13.770



        
        
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