web2py CRUD.create() field representation in forms

Question

i have this field for example

Field('yourref', type='string',
          label=T('Your reference')),

which is shown as an INPUT in the HTML

<input id='table_yourref' name='yourref' value=''/>

i want to show it like this

<input id='table_yourref' name='yourref' value=''/>
<a onclick='add()'>Add</a>
<a onclick='remove()'>Remove</a>

add() and remove() are jQuery functions to add or remove a field

Answer 1

The best method is probably to create a custom widget:

def mywidget(field, value):
    return CAT(INPUT(_name=field.name,
                     _id='%s_%s' % (field._tablename, field.name),
                     _class=field.type,
                     _value=value, requires=field.requires),
               A('Add', _onclick='add()'),
               A('Remove', _onclick='remove()'))
...

Field('yourref', type='string', label=T('Your reference'),
      widget=mywidget)

You could also use the server-side DOM to insert the links into the form after it is created:

form = crud.create(db.mytable)
form.element('#mytable_myfield__row .w2p_fw').append(A('Add', _onclick='add()'))
form.element('#mytable_myfield__row .w2p_fw').append(A('Remove', _onclick='remove()'))

The advantage of the custom widget is that it will be applied to all forms created based on db.mytable, whereas the DOM method must be applied separately to each form.