Formstrap

An extensive Bootstrap form library to power your Ruby On Rails application.

Installation

Add this line to your application's gemfile ./Gemfile

gem 'formstrap'

Afterwards, run:

bundle

Usage

Getting started

Use the Formstrap helpers formstrap_form_for or formstrap_form_with instead of the Ruby on Rails helpers form_for or form_with.

An example:

<%= formstrap_form_for(@user) do |f| %>
  <%= f.email :email, required: true %>
  <%= f.password :password, required: true %>
  <%= f.checkbox :remember_me, required: true %>
  <%= f.submit "Log In" %>
<% end %>

As you might have noticed, Formstrap uses different named form helpers than Ruby on Rails.

If the original Rails helper needs to be accessed, it can be accessed by:

<%= formstrap_for_for(@user) do |f| %>
  <%= f.text :name, formstrap: false %>
  <%= f.text_field :name %>
<% end %>

An overview of all the Formstrap / Ruby on Rails form helpers:

Type	Formstrap helpers	Ruby on Rails helpers
Association	association	N/A
Checkbox	checkbox	checkbox formstrap: false or check_box
Color	color	color formstrap: false or color_field
Date	date	date formstrap: false or date_field
Date range	date_range	N/A
Datetime	datetime	datetime formstrap: false or datetime_field
Datetime range	datetime_range	N/A
Email	email	email formstrap: false or email_field
File	file	file formstrap: false or file_field
Flatpickr *	flatpickr	N/A
Flatpickr range *	flatpickr_range	N/A
Hidden	hidden	hidden formstrap: false or hidden_field
Media	media	N/A
Number	number	number formstrap: false or number_field
Password	password	password formstrap: false or password_field
Redactor *	redactor	N/A
Search	search	N/A
Select	select	select formstrap: false
Switch	switch	N/A
Text	text	text formstrap: false or text_field
Textarea	textarea	textarea formstrap: false or text_area
URL	url	url formstrap: false or url_field
WYSIWYG *	wysiwyg	N/A
Repeater	repeater_for	Adds advanced features to fields_for

* Formstrap provides the implementation of these 3rd party libraries, however it is up to the user to provide the correct assets.

As you might have noticed, Formstrap provides more helpers than what is standard in Ruby on Rails, e.g. Media, Date range, Redactor ...

Altering Formstrap helpers

Because Formstrap uses html and Ruby on Rails helpers behind the scenes to render its helpers, editing the Formstrap helpers is straightforward.

As Formstrap is an engine, its views are within the gem. In order to have a copy of the views inside your application, run:

rails generate formstrap:views

This will create a directory ./views/formstrap, in which all the views (and its helpers) are copied in and can thus be inspected / altered. Because Formstrap is an engine, the application's local files take precedence over the engine's files.

Note that on new releases, one can once more run:

rails generate formstrap:views

To get new or updated versions of the helpers. This will override the files that are already present (and which might contain your personal adjustments).

Extending Formstrap helpers

Extending Formstrap helpers is straightforward.

Add your custom Formstrap (e.g. map) helper into the map ./views/formstrap. Formstrap makes it possible to access this helper is by its filename.

<%# custom Formstrap helper file: ./views/formstrap/_map.html.erb %>

<%= formstrap_form_for(@user) do |f| %>
    <%= f.map :address %>
<% end %>

Development

For development purposes it's helpful to have both the test project and Formstrap located in the same directory.

In Gemfile

gem "formstrap", path: "../formstrap"

In package.json

{
  "dependencies": {
    "formstrap": "link:../formstrap"
  }
}

To see frontend changes update live in development run

# Watches changes and builds them on-the-fly
yarn dev

Javascript

When adding new dependencies, make sure you add them to the package.json file as well as the importmap.rb file.

Testing

Run tests with

rake test

Or to run a single file

rake test TEST=path/to/test/file.rb

If you want to test a specific feature in a staging environment without releasing the gem, you can refer to the remote repo in your Gemfile and package.json.

In Gemfile

gem 'formstrap', git: 'git@github.com:frontierdotbe/formstrap.git', branch: 'feature/test'

In package.json

{
  "dependencies": {
    "formstrap": "ssh://git@github.com:frontierdotbe/formstrap.git#feature/test"
  }
}

Releasing

After integration a new feature of fixing a bug, first commit and push your changes.

Update the gem

# First bundle if new runtime dependencies were added
$ bundle

# Update the version number, push commits and tag the release
$ gem bump -v {patch,minor,major,...} --push --tag

# Release to Rubygems and create a Github release tag
$ gem release

Update the node package

# Manually update the version number in package.json
$ yarn build 
$ npm publish --access public

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/frontierdotbe/formstrap. This project is intended to be a safe, welcoming space for collaboration, and contributors are expected to adhere to the code of conduct.

License

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.

Code of Conduct

Everyone interacting in the Formstrap project's codebases, issue trackers, chat rooms and mailing lists is expected to follow the code of conduct.