Odoo, a powerful open-source business management platform, continually evolves to provide developers with innovative tools for building feature-rich applications. One such feature in Odoo 16 is Owl Input Bindings, which enhance the user experience by enabling developers to create dynamic and interactive forms. In this blog post, we will explore the concept of Owl Input Bindings, and their benefits and showcase examples of code to demonstrate their functionality.
Owl Input Bindings is a feature in
Odoo 16 that leverages the Owl framework to simplify the creation of interactive forms. It allows developers to bind data and events directly to the user interface elements, such as input fields, buttons, and dropdowns. This approach enables developers to build dynamic forms that respond in real-time to user input, providing end-users with a seamless and engaging experience.
The requirement to be able to read the value from an HTML input (or textarea, or select) in order to use it is extremely typical (note: it is not required to be in a form!). Handwork is a potential approach here:
class Form extends owl.Component {
state = useState({ text: "" });
_updateInputValue(event) {
this.state.text = event.target.value;
}
}
<div>
<input t-on-input="_updateInputValue" />
<span t-esc="state.text" />
</div>That works. However, some plumbing code is needed for this. In addition, the plumbing code differs slightly if you have to use a checkbox, radio button, or select tags.
Owl includes a built-in directive called t-model that can be used to help in this circumstance; its value should be an observed value in the component (often state.someValue). We may create shorter code that is identical to the above example using the t-model directive:
class Form extends owl.Component {
state = { text: "" };
}
<div>
<input t-model="state.text" />
<span t-esc="state.text" />
</div>The t-model directive works with <input>, <input type="checkbox">, <input type="radio">,<textarea> and <select>:
<div>
<div>Text in an input: <input t-model="state.someVal"/></div>
<div>Textarea: <textarea t-model="state.otherVal"/></div>
<div>Boolean value: <input type="checkbox" t-model="state.someFlag"/></div>
<div>Selection:
<select t-model="state.color">
<option value="">Select a color</option>
<option value="red">Red</option>
<option value="blue">Blue</option>
</select>
</div>
<div>
Selection with radio buttons:
<span>
<input type="radio" name="color" id="red" value="red" t-model="state.color"/>
<label for="red">Red</label>
</span>
<span>
<input type="radio" name="color" id="blue" value="blue" t-model="state.color" />
<label for="blue">Blue</label>
</span>
</div>
</div>
Like event handling, the t-model directive accepts the following modifiers:
| Modifier | Description |
| .lazy | Update the value on the change event (default is on input event) |
| . number | Try to parse the value to a number(using parseFloat) |
| .trim | Trim the resulting value |
For Example:
<input t-model.lazy="state.someVal" />
The modifiers can be combined. For instance, t-model.lazy.number will only update a number whenever the change is done.
Owl Input Bindings in Odoo 16 revolutionize the way developers create dynamic forms, enhancing the user experience and improving data integrity. By leveraging this feature, developers can create interactive forms with real-time updates, automatic validation, and error handling. This not only streamlines the development process but also provides end-users with a seamless and engaging experience. Embrace the power of Owl Input Bindings in Odoo 16 and unlock the full potential of your application's forms.
To read more about using Owl slots in Odoo 16, refer to our blog How to Use Owl Slots in Odoo 16