django ModelForm DateField initial value not working - html

Question

I want to set initial data in my ModelForm for a datefield but it is not working. Below is my code.
def get_date():
return timezone.localtime(timezone.now()).date()
ModelForm:
class TransferPacketForm(forms.ModelForm):
party = forms.ModelChoiceField(
required=True, queryset=Party.objects.all(),
widget=forms.Select(
attrs={
'class': 'form-control'
}
)
)
transferred_on = forms.DateField(
required=True, initial=get_date, input_formats=['%d-%m-%Y'],
validators=[validators.get('min_value')(date(2000, 01, 01))],
widget=forms.DateInput(
format='%d-%m-%Y',
attrs={
'autofocus': 'true', 'class': 'form-control'
}
)
)
transferred_roi = forms.DecimalField(
required=True, max_digits=3, decimal_places=2,
min_value=1.00, max_value=5.00,
widget=forms.TextInput(
attrs={
'class': 'form-control'
}
)
)
transferred_amount = forms.IntegerField(
required=True, min_value=1, widget=forms.TextInput(
attrs={
'class': 'form-control'
}
)
)
class Meta:
model = Packet
fields = (
'transferred_on', 'transferred_amount',
'transferred_remark', 'transferred_roi',
'party'
)
widgets = {
'transferred_remark': forms.Textarea(
attrs={
'class': 'form-control'
}
)
}
View:
class TransferPacketView(LoginRequiredMixin, UpdateView):
model = Packet
form_class = TransferPacketForm
http_method_names = ['get', 'post']
template_name = 'update_templates/transfer_packet.html'
def get_success_url(self):
return reverse(
'girvi:transferred_packet',
kwargs={
'pk': self.get_object()
}
)
def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
return super(TransferPacketView, self).get(request, *args, **kwargs)
def form_valid(self, form):
pkt_obj = self.get_object()
pkt_obj.is_transferred = True
pkt_obj.save()
return redirect(
self.get_success_url()
)
Form:
<tr><th><label for="id_transferred_on">Transferred on:</label></th><td><input autofocus="true" class="form-control" id="id_transferred_on" name="transferred_on" type="text" value="15-02-2015" /></td></tr>
<tr><th><label for="id_transferred_amount">Transferred amount:</label></th><td><input class="form-control" id="id_transferred_amount" name="transferred_amount" type="text" /></td></tr>
<tr><th><label for="id_transferred_remark">Transferred remark:</label></th><td><textarea class="form-control" cols="40" id="id_transferred_remark" maxlength="150" name="transferred_remark" rows="10">
</textarea></td></tr>
<tr><th><label for="id_transferred_roi">Transferred roi:</label></th><td><input class="form-control" id="id_transferred_roi" name="transferred_roi" type="text" /></td></tr>
<tr><th><label for="id_party">Party:</label></th><td><select class="form-control" id="id_party" name="party">
<option value="" selected="selected">---------</option>
<option value="2">ram pal</option>
<option value="1">shyam pal</option>
</select></td></tr>
But html form is rendered without any initial data.
Html form field:
<div class="form-group form-group-sm clearfix">
<label class="control-label col-xs-2 col-xs-offset-6" for="id_transferred_on">Dated</label>
<div class="col-xs-4 pull-right">
<div id="datepicker" class="input-group date">
<input id="id_transferred_on" class="form-control" type="text" name="transferred_on" autofocus="true">
<span class="input-group-addon">
<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-calendar"></span>
</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Can someone tell me what is wrong??? Why value is not set to initial data.
Template:
<form id="transferPacketForm" class="form form-horizontal width-500 center-block theme-font" role="form" action="." method="post">{% csrf_token %}
<!-- DIV -->
{% if form.errors %}
<div class="alert alert-danger alert-dismissible" role="alert">
<button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="alert" aria-label="Close"><span aria-hidden="true">×</span></button>
{% for field in form %}
{% if field.errors %}
<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-exclamation-sign" aria-hidden="true"></span>
<span>{{ field.label }}: {{ field.errors|striptags }}</span><br>
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}
{% for error in form.non_field_errors %}
<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-exclamation-sign" aria-hidden="true"></span>
<span>Error: {{ error|striptags }}</span>
{% endfor %}
</div>
{% endif %}
<!-- /DIV -->
<!-- DIV -->
<div class="form-group form-group-sm clearfix">
<label for="id_{{ form.transferred_on.name }}" class="control-label col-xs-2 col-xs-offset-6">Dated</label>
<div class="col-xs-4 pull-right">
<div class="input-group date" id='datepicker'>
{{ form.transferred_on }}
<span class="input-group-addon">
<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-calendar"></span>
</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!-- /DIV -->
<!-- DIV -->
<div class="form-group form-group-sm">
<label for="id_{{ form.party.name }}" class="control-label col-xs-4">{{ form.party.label }}</label>
<div class="col-xs-8">
{{ form.party }}
</div>
</div>
<!-- /DIV -->
<!-- DIV -->
<div class="form-group form-group-sm">
<label for="id_{{ form.transferred_amount.name }}" class="control-label col-xs-4">Amount</label>
<div class="col-xs-8">
{{ form.transferred_amount }}
</div>
</div>
<!-- /DIV -->
<!-- DIV -->
<div class="form-group form-group-sm">
<label for="id_{{ form.transferred_roi.name }}" class="control-label col-xs-4">Interest</label>
<div class="col-xs-8">
{{ form.transferred_roi }}
</div>
</div>
<!-- /DIV -->
<!-- DIV -->
<div class="form-group form-group-sm">
<label for="id_{{ form.transferred_remark.name }}" class="control-label col-xs-4">Remark</label>
<div class="col-xs-8">
{{ form.transferred_remark }}
</div>
</div>
<!-- /DIV -->
<!-- DIV -->
<div class="btn-toolbar" align="middle">
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary btn-color btn-bg-color">Submit</button>
<button type="button" class="btn btn-danger btn-color btn-bg-color" onclick="window.close()">Close</button>
</div>
<!-- /DIV -->
</form>

Answer 1

It will only render initial value if you have no model instance passed to the form. Try this:
p = Packet.objects.filter(transferred_on__isnull=True)[0]
# or simply
p = Packet()
f = TransferPacketForm(instance=p)
print(f['transferred_on'])
which will not have initial value for that field, but if you do:
f = TransferPacketForm()
print(f['transferred_on'])
it will. Check it out.
Edit
It doesn't apply when you pass initial dictionary to the form, it will actually check if the model's field is empty and use the value from the dictionary. So workaround for you is not to use field's initial, but forms' initial instead, namely through view's get_initial() it is.