Vue Described-Data Form

A fresh way to create simple or complex forms – without programming!

vue-dd-form aims to reduce the of time creating forms, while keeping the flexibility and data-model persistence. This project is a first implementation of the Described-Data approach.

What is Descibed-Data?

Described-Data is a concept inspired by the JSON Schema. Basically, each node in the data set is assigned a view (input), which it then represents on the UI. In practise, vue-dd-form only needs your data and descriptions to render itself!

"I use a JSON Schema, what is the difference?"

clarity: data is described by a dotted-notation, which makes the whole set much more readable
view-oriented: each node as assigned a specific view (eg. image-upload), not a general type (eg. string)

?️ Getting started

Install the package

npm install --save vue-dd-form

Import the component

import ddForm from 'vue-dd-form';

components: {
  ddForm,
}

And use it!

<dd-form
    :data="exampleDataSet"
    :descriptions="exampleDescriptions"
    @submit="submit">
</dd-form>

...inside your data() tag

  exampleDataSet: {},
  exampleDescriptions: {
	  "name": { view: 'text', label: 'Full name'}
  }

Output of this simple example looks like this:

⬇️ More about all params & events below.

? Usage

Descriptions

Your JS Data is described by another JS Object targeting all nodes which should be rendered on the screen. Imagine a data model of a IMDB movie:

{
   author: {
      name: "J. Cameron",
      birth: "2020-09-08T12:11:03.332Z",
      active: true
    }
    title: "Titanic",
    description: "Lorem ipsum ...",
    language: "English",
    genres: ["Action", "Drama"]
}

...the descriptions could look something like this:

{
  author: { view: "group", label: "Author" },
  author.name: { view: "text", label: "Name of author" },
  author.birth: { view: "datetime", label: "Date of birth" },
  author.active: { view: "tick", label: "Is the author still active?" },
  title: { view: "text", label: "Movie title" },
  description: { view: "area", "label": "Description" },
  genres: { view: "checkbox", "label: "Genres", options: ["Action", "Comedy", "Drama"] },
  language: { view: "select", label: "Original language", "options: ["English", "Spanish", "Korean"] }
}

Description paths

So as you can see nodes are targeted by a dotted notation. Each description object has a required value of view, which specifies, to which UI element should the node be rendered. Currently there is 11 basic view types, though you can specify your own (see Custom views).

Wildcard paths

If you want to describe every array's child, you can use the wildcard path. Look closely at this data set:

{
    programme: [
	    // Day 1
          {
            header: 'Friday',
            subheader: '25th September 2020',
            items: [
            // Item 1
              {
                title: 'Arrival',
                subtitle: 'please be on time',
                time: '9AM'
              },
            // Item 2
			 {
                title: 'Workshop 1',
                subtitle: 'hosted by John Doe',
                time: '11AM'
             }
             // Item 3 ...
          },
	    // Day 2 ...
        ],
}

The wildcard paths can be leveraged like this:

programme: { view: 'collection' },
programme[*]: { view: 'group', label: 'Day no. {_index}' }, // more about the {_index} at Dynamic values
programme[*].header: { type: 'text', label: 'Title' },
programme[*].subheader: { type: 'text', label: 'Short description' },
programme[*].items: { type: 'collection', label: 'Sessions' },
programme[*].items[*]: { type: 'group' },
programme[*].items[*].title: { type: 'text', label: 'Session name' },
programme[*].items[*].subtitle: { type: 'area', label: 'About' },
programme[*].items[*].time: { type: 'text', label: 'Time of start' },

Dynamic values

Any view type can have a String in description value. If the string is found in provided functions set, given function gets executed. The function also receives the child's path and value as a parameter.

{
   view: 'group'
   hidden: '_groupHidden'
}

...while in JS code

<dd-form
  ...
  :functions="myFunctions"
>
</dd-form>

data() {
  return {
      myFunctions: {
        '_groupHidden': this.groupHidden,
        '_groupIndex': this.groupIndex,
      },
    };
},

methods: {
  groupHidden({path, value}) {
    return value.item < 0;
  },
  groupIndex({path}) {
    return this.getIndex(path);
   }
},

Methods can be also put inline to the string. For these cases, the dynamic value needs to be wrapped inside the brackets.

{
   view: 'group'
   label: 'Day no. {_groupIndex}'
}

Check the demo's source code to see it in use.

Side note to Descriptions

The order of descriptions defines the order of the views on the UI. It is also needed to describe first the Object and then it's sub-nodes.

View types

There is 11 basic view types included in this package:

group
collection
text
area
select
checkbox
counter
datetime
upload
radio
tick

collection

Serves as Array container and expects to have multiple inner children. Collection shows just an add-child button by default. It is only an abstraction and has no visual representation.

Usage

{
    view: 'collection',
}

Possible value types

(Array): Consumes only array

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
draggable (Boolean): Allows or disallows children dragging
deletable (Boolean): Allows or disallows children delete
addable (Boolean): Allows or disallows to add children

group

Serves as Object container and expects to have nested children. It is only an abstraction and has no visual representation.

Usage

{
    view: 'group',
}

Possible value types

(Object) or null: Consumes only object

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper
hidden (Boolean): Shows or hides the view
append (Object): Specifies the UI invisible appendant data to be merged with the object (triggered while adding new item to array)

text

Acts as a basic single-line text field.

Usage

{
    view: 'text',
}

Possible value types

String: Consumes only String

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper

select

Acts as a drow-down box.

Usage

{
    view: 'select',
}

Possible value types

String or null: Consumes String or null

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper
options (Array): Field option values
Plain mode
```
["Dog", "Cat"]
```

Value-text mode

[
    { text: "Dog", value: "doggo" },
	{ text: "Cat", value: "caterpillar" }
]

checkbox

Acts as a checkbox set.

Usage

{
    view: 'checkbox',
}

Possible value types

Array: Consumes Array of strings

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper
options (Array): Field option values
Plain mode
```
["Dog", "Cat"]
```

Value-text mode

[
	{ text: "Dog", value: "doggo" },
	{ text: "Cat", value: "caterpillar" }
]

counter

Acts as a counter box.

Usage

{
    view: 'counter',
}

Possible value types

Number: Consumes a Number

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper
min (Number): Minimum value to select
max (Number): Maximum value to select

datetime

Acts as a date-time selection field.

Usage

{
    view: 'datetime',
}

Possible value types

Date or String: Consumes a Date, String or Timestamp (Firebase) but always returns Date

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper
min (String)*: Minimum date value
max (String)*: Maximum date value

* String in a Date format

upload

Acts as a box for file uploads and renders into preview box, if consumable by web (image, video, ...).

Usage

{
    view: 'upload',
}

Possible value types

String: Consumes a String

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
endpoint (String): API endpoint URL*
payload (Object or String): API payload data*
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper

* Endpoint URL receives a POST call with FormData (image and payload)

⚠️ Note from author
File upload functionality is heavily domain-oriented, thus I'd advise you to clone the ViewUpload.vue, modify it by your needs and use it as a Custom view.

area

Acts as a multi-line text field with optional WYSIWYG editor.

Usage

{
  view: 'area',
}

Possible value types

String: Consumes only String

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper
html (Boolean): Whether or not to allow WYSIWYG features

radio

Acts as a radio button set.

Usage

{
  view: 'radio',
}

Possible value types

String: Consumes a String or null

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper
options (Array): Field option values
Plain mode
```
["Dog", "Cat"]
```

Value-text mode

[
	{ text: "Dog", value: "doggo" },
	{ text: "Cat", value: "caterpillar" }
]

tick

Acts as a single checkbox.

Usage

{
  view: 'tick',
}

Possible value types

Boolean: Consumes a Boolean

Arguments

label (String): Shows title on the top of the view
class (String or Array): View's assigned class
hidden (Boolean): Hides or shows the view
wrapper (String): Name of the view's wrapper

Custom views

Any custom view can be inserted via :views property. Custom views are superior to the default ones, so text can be overwritten by a custom one.

Usage:

pass a Object of components to :views property in dd-form
component will receive path, value and description properties

the component must emit a @change event with value and path properties

customViews: {
   'text': customTextView,
   'generator': generatorView,
}

import customTextView from 'path/to/custom-view';

...and bind the data in dd-form

<dd-form
	:views="customViews",
	...
></dd-form>

Check the demo's source code to see it in use.

Advanced: Sub-elements

Some sub-elements can be replaced too: button-add, button-remove, button-submit, headline.

    customViews: {
	   'collection.button-add': customButtonAdd,
	   'collection.headline': customHeadline,
	   'collection.button-remove': customButtonRemove,
	   'group.headline': customHeadline,
	   'group.button-submit': customButtonSubmit,
    }

Other features

Language customization

vue-dd-form provides a :lang property, which can rewrite the default language wording.

<dd-form
  :lang="customLang",
  ...
></dd-form>

...and the lang object

customLang: {
  add: 'Add item',
  remove: 'Remove item',
  save: 'Save data'
}

Wrappers (beta)

Views can be wrapped inside separate boxes (DIVs) so we can position them in any way. Look at example data:

{
    programme: [
    {
      header: 'Friday',
      subheader: '25th September 2020',
      items: [
        ...
	],
      }

If we wanted, for instance, to have header and sub-header on the left side of the screen and items on the right, the descriptions would look as follows:

programme[*].header: { type: 'text' },
programme[*].subheader: { type: 'text', wrapper: 'left' },
programme[*].items: { type: 'collection', wrapper: 'left' },

In result HTML, the views would look like this

<div class="left">
	<!-- header div -->
	<div>...</div>
	<!-- subheader div-->
	<div>...</div>
</div>
<div class="right">
	<!-- items div-->
	<div>...</div>
</div>

Afterwards, only thing to be defined are the CSS classes. Check the demo's source code to see it in use.

Events

@change fired after any value change, emits path, value changed & current data set

change({ path, value, data }) {
      // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
      console.log(path, value); // ex. => 'programme[*].header', 'Friday'
      console.log(data); // ex. => { ... }
},

@submit fired after form submit, emits data value

submit({ data }) {
  // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
  console.log(data); // ex. => { ... }
},

@add fired after a item is added to a collection, emits path, value added & current data set

add({ path, value, data }) {
      // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
      console.log(path, value); // ex. => 'programme[*].options', { header: 'Friday', ... }
      console.log(data); // ex. => { ... }
},

@remove fired after a item is added to a collection, emits path, value removed, index & current data set

remove({ path, value, data, index }) {
      // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
      console.log(path, value); //  ex. => 'programme[*].options', { header: 'Friday', ... }
      console.log(data); // ex. => { ... }
      console.log(index); // ex. => 1
},

Styling

Form can be styled in verious ways depending on the depth of the adjustment:

Any view can be assigned a class parameter. Class can be your custom one or one of the helper classes below.
Any view in a group view can be assigned a wrapper parameter (see Wrappers).
If none of above does not fulfill your needs, you can override or define your own views (see Custom views)

Helper classes

col--1-3 (sets width to 1/3 of the available space)
col--2-3 (sets width to 2/3 of the available space)
col--1-2 (sets width to one half of the available space)
col--1-1 (sets full-width)
row (makes the div's direction inline)
row--boxed (makes the div's direction inline & puts it in a shadowed box)
row-responsive (makes the div's direction inline, but wraps on mobile)

Other classes appearing in UI

view
view—root
view—branch
view—leaf
view__container
view__container—removable
view__wrapper—removable
button
button—add
button—remove
button—submit
headline

Vue Described-Data Form

What is Descibed-Data?

?️ Getting started

? Usage

Descriptions

Wildcard paths

Dynamic values

Side note to Descriptions

View types

collection

group

text

select

checkbox

counter

datetime

upload

area

radio

tick

Custom views

Advanced: Sub-elements

Other features

Language customization

Wrappers (beta)

Events

Styling

Helper classes

Other classes appearing in UI

GitHub