Yota: Flexible forms with asynchronous validation

Yota is a Python form generation library with the following unique features:

  • Easy integration of realtime validation. Trigger a server side form validation with any JavaScript event on your input fields. (Client side in planning)
  • Dynamic form structures allow for complex forms with on the fly changes. Inject different input fields or validation methods into a specific instance of your Form where needed.
  • Default themed with Bootstrap, allowing you to quickly throw together useful forms that look nice.

In addition to these features, Yota also includes most of the features that you would see with other form libraries.

  • Simple declarative syntax for defining form validation and layout
  • Customizable template driven schemas
  • Ability to operate with almost any framework and use any rendering engine. (Default is jinja2)

Philosophically Yota aims to have a ton of flexibility, since designing powerful webforms is infrequently a cookie cutter operation. This was the main problem the designers had with other libraries is that they ended up getting in the way if they wanted to do anything abnormal. At the same time however it is important that sensible default be easy to use and implement, making the creation of common forms trivial and lowering the inital learning curve.

Overall Architecture

Yota allows you to create Forms quickly by declaring a class that is made up of Nodes and Checks. Nodes drive the rendering of your form while Checks drive validation of user input. Yotas power is derived from its integration of server side and client side components, and a growing set of quality default Nodes and Validators.

The primary method of interaction with Yota, the Form class acts as a structure to contain all of the information about your Forms structure and configuration. Forms are usually just a collection of Nodes and Checks with some configuration data. Most method calls will be made on Form objects.
Nodes are the actual bits that make up your forms output. Nodes link together rendering templates and neccessary context information. Nodes are very abstract, and could be used to render anything, although most render form elements. The Forms attempts to make a minimum of assumptions about the Nodes attributes.
Checks form the bridge between your Nodes and your validators. Validators are supplied with the names of Nodes that are used in the actual Validation callable. At validation time these names are resolved to the actual Node reference.
Renderers provide a pluggable interface through which you can render your form. This allows interchange of different templating engines, etc.

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