Djang-Admin: CharField as TextArea

Question

I have

class Cab(models.Model):
    name  = models.CharField( max_length=20 )
    descr = models.CharField( max_length=2000 )

class Cab_Admin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    ordering     = ('name',)
    list_display = ('name','descr', )
    # what to write here to make descr using TextArea?

admin.site.register( Cab, Cab_Admin )

how to assign TextArea widget to 'descr' field in admin interface?

upd:
In Admin interface only!

Good idea to use ModelForm.

Answer 1

Instead of a models.CharField, use a models.TextField for descr.

Answer 2

You will have to create a forms.ModelForm that will describe how you want the descr field to be displayed, and then tell admin.ModelAdmin to use that form. For example:

from django import forms
class CabModelForm( forms.ModelForm ):
    descr = forms.CharField( widget=forms.Textarea )
    class Meta:
        model = Cab

class Cab_Admin( admin.ModelAdmin ):
    form = CabModelForm

The form attribute of admin.ModelForm is documented in the official Django documentation. Here is one place to look at.

Answer 3

You can subclass your own field with needed formfield method:

class CharFieldWithTextarea(models.CharField):
    def formfield(self, **kwargs):
         kwargs.update(
            "widget": forms.Textarea
         )
         return super(CharFieldWithTextarea, self).formfield(**kwargs)

This will take affect on all generated forms.

Answer 4

For this case, the best option is probably just to use a TextField instead of CharField in your model. You can also override formfield_for_dbfield method of ModelAdmin class:

class CabAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    def formfield_for_dbfield(self, db_field, **kwargs):
        formfield = super(CabAdmin, self).formfield_for_dbfield(db_field, **kwargs)
        if db_field.name == 'descr':
            formfield.widget = forms.Textarea()
        return formfield

Answer 5

just a note about ayaz's answer for anyone who comes across this.

this line

class Cab_Admin( admin.ModelForm ):

i believe should be

class Cab_Admin( admin.ModelAdmin ):

in django 1.0.2 at least