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Intershop Progressive Web App
Guide - Intershop Progressive Web App - Formly

Overview

Formly is a dynamic form library.
In Formly, forms are defined as an array of field configurations and a corresponding model which is two-way bound and contains the form values.

Formly-Form Component

To render a form using Formly, the <formly-form> component is used.
Simply insert it into your template and pass the following inputs:

  • fields: An array of type FormlyFieldConfig[]
  • model: An object containing key-value-pairs for each form field
  • form: An optional FormGroup or FormArray that Formly will automatically populate according to the provided configuration
  • options: An optional parameter with some special, useful properties

Your template should look something like this:

<formly-form [form]="form" [fields]="fields" [model]="model"> </formly-form>

FormlyFieldConfig

The FormlyFieldConfig class allows you to define a number of parameters that change the way a Formly field behaves.
For a comprehensive overview of properties, refer to the official documentation.
A configuration for a form containing only a basic input field could be defined like this:

const fields: FormlyFieldConfig[] = [
  {
    type: 'ish-input-field',
    key: 'example-input',
    props: {
      required: true,
      label: 'Input Field Label',
    },
  },
];

Customizing Form Logic

There are many ways to change the behavior of a form and its fields.
Custom field types, wrappers, extensions and extras are registered in formly.module.ts using the forChild() function.
For more information about what can be done in the forChild() function, refer to the official documentation and ConfigOption type definition.
Note that we use the forChild method here instead of the normal forRoot approach.
This is because the only difference between the two approaches is that forRoot additionally provides the FormlyConfig service which is provided in root anyways.
Using forChild allows us to solve some injection issues in lazy loaded modules.

If you need to - for some reason - completely override the Formly configuration in a module lower in the injection tree, feel free to use the forRoot method and thus provide a fresh instance of the FormlyConfig service.

Custom Field Types

To define a custom field type, create a component that extends FieldType.
Hook up the form element with the formControl and formlyAttributes inputs.
An example field type could look like this:

// example-input-field.component.ts
@Component({
  selector: 'example-input-field',
  templateUrl: './example-input-field.component.html',
  changeDetection: ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush,
})
export class ExampleInputFieldComponent extends FieldType {
  formControl: FormControl;
}
<!--  example-input-field.component.html -->
<input [type]="props.type" [formControl]="formControl" [formlyAttributes]="field" />

Register the custom type in the formly.module.ts forChild() function:

FormlyModule.forChild({
  types: [{ name: 'example-input-field', component: ExampleInputFieldComponent }],
  // ...
});

Custom Wrappers

Formly allows fields to be wrapped in any number of wrapper components.
These wrappers are components that extend FieldWrapper and contain a <ng-template #fieldComponent></ng-template> tag where the field (or further, nested wrappers) will be inserted.
A simple example wrapper that adds a label to the field could look like this:

@Component({
  selector: 'example-label-wrapper',
  template: `
    <label [attr.for]="id">
      {{ props.label | translate }}
    </label>
    <ng-template #fieldComponent></ng-template>
  `,
  changeDetection: ChangeDetectionStrategy.Default,
})
export class ExampleLabelWrapperComponent extends FieldWrapper {}

Register the custom wrapper in the forChild() function.
It is possible to supply field types with default wrappers that will always be applied, even if the corresponding FormlyFieldConfig does not contain any wrappers:

FormlyModule.forChild({
  wrappers: [{ name: 'example-label-wrapper', component: ExampleLabelWrapperComponent }],
  types: [
    {
      name: 'example-input-field',
      component: ExampleInputFieldComponent,
      wrappers: ['example-label-wrapper'],
    },
  ],
  // ...
});

Custom Extensions

Formly extensions is an experimental feature to implement cross-cutting logic in your forms.
A Formly extension is an object of type FormlyExtension that contains one or multiple functions that will automatically be called during the construction of the Formly form, once for each field.
This way, you can implement certain behaviors that are shared by all fields without repeating yourself.
A simple extension that ensures a label attribute is always set could look like this:

export const labelDefaultValueExtension: FormlyExtension = {
  prePopulate(field: FormlyFieldConfig): void {
    field.props = {
      ...field.props,
      label: field.props.label ?? 'Default Label',
    };
  },
};

Register the custom extension in the forChild() function:

FormlyModule.forChild({
  extensions: [{ name: 'labelDefaultValueExtension', extension: labelDefaultValueExtension }],
  // ...
});

Validation

There are many options when it comes to adding custom validation to formly forms.

The PWA comes with some predefined custom validators which can be found in special-validators.ts.
These can be added directly to the validators.validation property of a FormlyFieldConfig.
Don't forget to also add the corresponding error message to the validation property.

Alternatively, validation can be defined as a key-value pair directly in the validation property.
However, adding validators here requires a different format:

(control: AbstractControl, field: FormlyFieldConfig) => boolean) |
  {
    expression: (control: AbstractControl, field: FormlyFieldConfig) => boolean,
    message: ValidationMessageOption['message'],
  };

To automatically convert the special validators to this format, you can import and use the formlyValidation helper function.
It is a higher order function that takes an error name and a validator function and returns a formly-usable function.

Extras

The extras argument is passed to the forChild() function to customize additional Formly behavior.
Refer to the type definition for more information.

Formly Config Service

You can inject the FormlyConfigService to change different Formly configurations on the fly as well as get information about the current configuration.

Testing Formly

Since Formly types and wrappers do not function independently, they have to be tested in conjunction with the Formly library.
To facilitate this, the formly/dev/testing folder contains a FormlyTestingComponents module with multiple components to be imported in tests.

  • FormlyTestingContainerComponent contains a <formly-form> component and a setter method that enables easy configuration of the test configuration.
  • FormlyTestingExampleComponent is a type that contains an empty input field and can be used as an example field type.
  • FormlyTestingFieldgroupExampleComponent is a type that renders all configs in the fieldGroup attribute of the field.

In addition, to test components or pages that use Formly, import the FormlyTestingModule.
It defines and exports a FormlyModule with pre-configured dummy field types and wrappers that match the FormlyModule.

Testing Custom Types

To test a custom type, you need to create a FormlyTestingContainerComponent, configure FormlyModule for testing and set an appropriate testing configuration.
You can find a simple example of a custom type test in text-input.field.component.spec.ts.

Testing Wrappers

To test custom wrappers, create a FormlyTestingContainerComponent component, configure the FormlyModule with an example type (for example FormlyTestingExampleComponent) and the wrapper and set an appropriate testing configuration.

You can find a simple example of a wrapper test in maxlength-description-wrapper.component.spec.ts.

How to Configure Formly

There are multiple ways to adapt Formly for projects or development on the main repository.

If you implement widely used functionality that can be used in multiple components and different pages, add your field types, wrappers or extensions to src/app/shared/formly and register them in the formly.module.ts.

If you need specific fields or behavior that is not used everywhere, it would not be a good idea to pollute formly.module.ts.
Instead, register your logic in the relevant module using FormlyModule.forChild().
This will first configure Formly according to the standard module and then add your local configuration.
This way, it is easy to wrap locally used components in field types and program specific behaviors that are not required anywhere else.
Refer to the registration.page.module for an example of a local Formly configuration.

Intershop's Custom Formly Parts

A lot of functionality is already implemented in the Intershop PWA's FormlyModule.
Refer to the tables below for an overview of these parts.

Field Types

  • Template option inputClass: These CSS class(es) will be added to all input/select/textarea/text tags.
  • Template option ariaLabel: Adds an aria-label to all input/select/textarea tags.
Name Description Relevant props
ish-text-input-field Basic input field, supports all text types type: 'text (default),'email','tel','password'. mask: input mask for a needed pattern (see ngx-mask for more information)
ish-select-field Basic select field options: { value: any; label: string}[] or Observable. placeholder: Translation key or string for the default selection
ish-textarea-field Basic textarea field cols & rows: Specifies the dimensions of the textarea
ish-checkbox-field Basic checkbox input title: Title for a checkbox
ish-email-field Email input field that automatically adds an e-mail validator and error messages ----
ish-password-field Password input field that automatically adds a password validator and error messages ----
ish-phone-field Phone number input field that automatically adds a phone number validator and error messages ----
ish-fieldset-field Wraps fields in a <fieldset> tag for styling fieldsetClass: Class that will be added to the fieldset tag. childClass: Class that will be added to the child div. legend: Legend element that will be added to the fieldset, use the value as the legend text. legendClass: Class that will be added to the legend tag.
ish-captcha-field Includes the <ish-lazy-captcha> component and adds the relevant formControls to the form topic: Topic that will be passed to the Captcha component.
ish-radio-field Basic radio input ----
ish-plain-text-field Only display the form value ----
ish-html-text-field Only display the form value as html ----
ish-date-picker-field Basic datepicker minDays: Computes the minDate by adding the minimum allowed days to today. maxDays: Computes the maxDate by adding the maximum allowed days to today. isSatExcluded: Specifies if saturdays can be disabled. isSunExcluded: Specifies if sundays can be disabled.
ish-date-range-picker-field Datepicker with range minDays: Computes the minDate by adding the minimum allowed days to today. maxDays: Computes the maxDate by adding the maximum allowed days to today. startDate: The start date. placeholder: Placeholder that displays the date format in the input field.

Wrappers

Name Functionality Relevant props
form-field-horizontal Adds a label next to the field, adds a required marker and adds red styling for invalid fields. labelClass & fieldClass: Classes that will be added to the label or field <div>. labelNoTranslate: Prevents the label from being translated (e.g. if it is not a translation key). hideRequiredMarker: Hides the required marker while still validating a required field.
form-field-checkbox-horizontal Adds a label for a checkbox or radio field, adds a required marker, adds red styling and error messages for invalid fields. Adds a title for a checkbox, if provided. Uses validators.validation and validation.messages properties. Adds a tooltip behind the label, see also tooltip-wrapper labelClass, titleClass & fieldClass: Classes that will be added to the label, title or the outer field <div>. labelNoTranslate, titleNoTranslate: Prevents the label or title from being translated. . hideRequiredMarker: Hides the required marker while still validating a required field.
validation Adds validation icons and error messages to the field. Uses validators.validation and validation.messages properties. showValidation: (field: FormlyFieldConfig) => boolean: optional, used to determine whether to show validation check marks
maxlength-description Adds a description to textarea fields, including the amount of remaining characters (added to textarea by default, can be used for other fields as well). maxLength: Specifies the maximum length to be displayed in the message (required). maxLengthDescription: Translation key for the maxlength description (default: 'textarea.max_limit' ).
description Adds a custom description to any field customDescription: string or {key: string; args: any} that will be translated
tooltip Adds a tooltip to a field. Includes <ish-field-tooltip> component. tooltip: { title?: string; text: string; link: string } that defines the different tooltip texts.
input-addon Adds a prepended or appended text to a field, e.g. a currency or unit. addonLeft?: { text: string | Observable<string>; }, addonRight?: {text: string | Observable<string>} that defines the addon texts.

Extensions

Name Functionality Relevant props
hide-if-empty Hides fields of type ish-select-field that have an empty options attribute. options: used to determine emptiness.
translate-select-options Automatically translates option labels and adds a placeholder option. options: options whose labels will be translated. placeholder: used to determine whether to set placeholder and its text.
translate-placeholder Automatically translates the placeholder value placeholder: value to be translated.
post-wrappers Appends wrappers to the default ones defined in the FormlyModule postWrappers: <string | { wrapper: string, index: number}>[] of extensions to append to the default wrappers, optional index to specify at which position the wrapper should be inserted.
Disclaimer
The information provided in the Knowledge Base may not be applicable to all systems and situations. Intershop Communications will not be liable to any party for any direct or indirect damages resulting from the use of the Customer Support section of the Intershop Corporate Web site, including, without limitation, any lost profits, business interruption, loss of programs or other data on your information handling system.
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