How do I submit a form for a model that contains a list of other models with Salat & Play framework?

Question

I have a model. It contains a list of another model:

case class Account(
  _id: ObjectId = new ObjectId,
  name: String,
  campaigns: List[Campaign]
)

case class Campaign(
  _id: ObjectId = new ObjectId,
  name: String
)

I have a form and action for display and creating new Accounts:

  val accountForm = Form(
    mapping(
      "id" -> ignored(new ObjectId),
      "name" -> nonEmptyText,
      "campaigns" -> list(
        mapping(
          "id" -> ignored(new ObjectId),
          "name" -> nonEmptyText
        )(Campaign.apply)(Campaign.unapply)
      )
    )(Account.apply)(Account.unapply)
  )

  def accounts = Action {
    Ok(views.html.accounts(AccountObject.all(), accountForm, CampaignObject.all()))
  }

  def newAccount = Action {
    implicit request =>    
    accountForm.bindFromRequest.fold(
      formWithErrors => BadRequest(views.html.accounts(AccountObject.all(), formWithErrors, CampaignObject.all())),
      account => {
        AccountObject.create(account)
        Redirect(routes.AccountController.accounts)
      }
    )
  }

Finally, here is my view for Accounts:

@(accounts: List[models.mongodb.Account], account_form: Form[models.mongodb.Account], campaign_list: List[models.mongodb.Campaign])

@import helper._
@args(args: (Symbol, Any)*) = @{
    args
}
@main("Account List") {
    <h1>@accounts.size Account(s)</h1>
    <ul>
    @accounts.map { account =>
        <li>
            @account.name
        </li>
    }
    </ul>
    <h2>Add a New Account</h2>
    @form(routes.AccountController.newAccount()) {
        <fieldset>
            @inputText(account_form("name"), '_label -> "Account Name")
            @select(
                account_form("campaigns"),
                options(campaign_list.map(x => x.name):List[String]),
                args(
                    'class -> "chosen-select",
                    'multiple -> "multiple",
                    Symbol("data-placeholder") -> "Add campaigns",
                    'style -> "width:350px;"
                ): _*
            )
            <input type="submit" value="Create">
        </fieldset>
    }
}

The problem is when I submit this form, it submits it with a list of strings for the campaigns field. This gives me a 400 error when I post the form submission.

I would like to either submit submit the form with a list of campaigns instead of strings or have the form submit with a list of strings, then process the strings into a list of campaigns in my controller. Which way would be better and how would I do it? Thanks!

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 20 '14 at 13:59

I ended up making a temp form to hold the strings of the nested model. Then I converted those strings to model objects in my controller:

  val accountTempForm = Form(
    tuple(
      "id" -> ignored(new ObjectId),
      "name" -> nonEmptyText,
      "campaigns" -> list(text)
    )
  )

  def newAccount = Action {
    implicit request =>
      accountTempForm.bindFromRequest.fold(
        formWithErrors => {
          println("error")
          Redirect(routes.AccountController.accounts)
          //BadRequest(views.html.account.accounts(AccountObject.all(), formWithErrors, CampaignObject.all()))
        },
        account => {
          val campaign_string_list = account._3
          val campaign_list = campaign_string_list.map(x => CampaignObject.getOrCreateByName(x))
          val new_account = Account.apply(account._1, account._2, campaign_list)
          AccountObject.create(new_account)
          Redirect(routes.AccountController.accounts)
        }
      )
  }

How do I submit a form for a model that contains a list of other models with Salat & Play framework?

1 Answers1