Trouble creating a model and it's children from an inlineformset_factory

Question

I have a model for file uploads defined like this:

class UploadedFile(models.Model):
   fpath = models.FileField(...)
   sig   = models.CharField(max_length=32) # for md5 of data, computed with post_save

and I have another model, named MTest, that has this:

class MTest(models.Model):
  file1 = models.ForeignKey("UploadedFile",related_name="first_file")
  file2 = models.ForeignKey("UploadedFile",related_name="second_file")
  ... # other fields here

I want to show a form for MTest , and I want to allow the user to perform the upload of the files in 1 step. From what I read here and here , I have this:

def x_attachment_t(request):
    c = {}

    MTestFormset = inlineformset_factory(UploadedFile, MTest, fk_name="file1",extra=1)

    c.update({"formset":MTestFormset})
    return render_to_response("form.html",c,context_instance=RequestContext(request))

The problem is, I still get the data prepopulated for the file upload fields, and I only have a select box for the second file. Here's the code from the template:

    {% for form in formset.forms %}
        <div class="span-21 last">
            {% for field in form %}
                <font color="red">{{ field.errors }}</font>
                <div class="span-4">{{ field.label_tag }}</div>
                <div class="span-17">{{ field }}</div>
            {% endfor %}
        </div>
    {% endfor %}

For now, I'm blocked, and I don't know how to continue. I would appreciate any help :)

Answer 1

Your approach here isn't quite right. The inline formset is a pattern to "edit multiple MTest s linked to the same UploadedFile ".

I would create a model forms for UploadedFile and Mtest . Exclude the file1 and file2 fields from the MtestModelForm . Put two uploaded file forms and the MtestModelForm in the same html <form> tag using the prefix argument.

Then in your view, if all three forms are valid, use save the MtestModelForm with commit=False , and update file1 and file2 before saving to the db.

Here's a skeleton of the view

def my_view(request):
    if request.method == "POST"
        file1_form = UploadedFileForm(request.POST, request.FILES, prefix="file1")
        file2_form = UploadedFileForm(request.POST, request.FILES, prefix="file2")
        mtest_form = MTestForm(data=request.POST, prefix="mtest")
        if mtest_form.is_valid() and file1_form.is_valid and file2_form.is_valid():
            file1 = file1_form.save()
            file2 = file2_form.save()
            mtest = mtest_form.save(commit=False)
            mtest.file1 = file1
            mtest.file2 = file2
            mtest.save()
            return HttpResponseRedirect("/success-url/")
        # case for invalid form data or GET request omitted