How to write an HTML file that displays an HttpResponse object passed to it using Django

Question

I am new to Django and HTML and I am trying to display a list of data derived from a form on the HttpResponseRedirect page. I have been reading Django APIs but I am still unsure of how to use HttpResponse() and HttpResponseRedirect().

As of now I understand that response = HttpResponse() makes an HttpResponse object of and HttpResponseRedirect('results') redirects the browser to a new html template page. What I dont know is how to write results.html to display on my browser.

I need help on how to write the HTML page.

I also need help on how to pass a list of data to that html page.

I would also be ok with displaying the list on the same html page the form is in instead of loading a new page.

Current code: def contact(request):

if request.method == 'POST': # If the form has been submitted...
    form = ContactForm(request.POST) # A form bound to the POST data
    chosen = []
    if form.is_valid():
        strt = time.time()
        form = form.cleaned_data
        parameters = organize(form)
        print 'input organized'
        chosen, companies = multiple(parameters)
        end = time.time()
        pp.pprint(companies)
        print 'companies matching search filters: ' , len(companies)

        print 'total time: ' , str(end-strt)



    response = HttpResponse(chosen)
    return HttpResponseRedirect('results') # Redirect after POST

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:49

I think what you want is Django's render_to_response shortcut. The first argument is an html template to use, and the second is a dictionary of values to pass to that template.

At the top of your views.py file, include:

from django.shortcuts import render_to_response

and modify your code to read:

if request.method == 'POST': # If the form has been submitted...
    form = ContactForm(request.POST) # A form bound to the POST data
    chosen = []
    if form.is_valid():
        strt = time.time()
        form = form.cleaned_data
        parameters = organize(form)
        print 'input organized'
        chosen, companies = multiple(parameters)
        end = time.time()
        pp.pprint(companies)
        print 'companies matching search filters: ' , len(companies)
        print 'total time: ' , str(end-strt)
    return render_to_response('results.html', {'chosen':chosen,'companies':companies,'start':start,'end':end}) # Redirect after POST

Note that the second argument is a dictionary of values you'd like to pass to your template. The way I've written it, you're passing 4 values (chosen, companies, start, end) but you can include as many as you'd like.

Then create a file named results.html in your Templates directory (which is specified in the TEMPLATE_DIRS variable in your settings.py file). It could look something like this:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<body>
<h1>Results</h1>
<p>Chosen: {{chosen}}</p>
<p>Companies: {{companies}}</p>
<p>Start: {{start}}</p>
<p>End: {{end}}</p>
</body>

Django template syntax uses double curly braces {{}} to display variables passed to the template.

Note that this approach will not change the URL. If you need to do this, try looking at this.

How to write an HTML file that displays an HttpResponse object passed to it using Django

1 Answers1