JavaScript/jQuery Form Methods

The component's default device properties.

Object structure:

Name	Type	Description
device	Device \| Array<Device> \| Function	Device parameters. When specifying a function, get information about the current device from the argument. Return true if the properties should be applied to the device.
options	Object	Propertiesto be applied.

Name

Type

Description

device

Device

|

Array<Device>

|

Device parameters.
When specifying a function, get information about the current device from the argument. Return true if the properties should be applied to the device.

options

Propertiesto be applied.

defaultOptions is a static method that the UI component class supports. The following code demonstrates how to specify default properties for all instances of the Form UI component in an application executed on the desktop.

jQuery

JavaScript

DevExpress.ui.dxForm.defaultOptions({ 
    device: { deviceType: "desktop" },
    options: {
        // Here go the Form options
    }
});

Angular

TypeScript

import Form from "devextreme/ui/form";
// ...
export class AppComponent {
    constructor () {
        Form.defaultOptions({
            device: { deviceType: "desktop" },
            options: {
                // Here go the Form options
            }
        });
    }
}

Vue

<template>
    <div>
        <DxForm id="form1" />
        <DxForm id="form2" />
    </div>
</template>
<script>
import DxForm from "devextreme-vue/form";
import Form from "devextreme/ui/form";

Form.defaultOptions({
    device: { deviceType: "desktop" },
    options: {
        // Here go the Form options
    }
});

export default {
    components: {
        DxForm
    }
}
</script>

React

import React from "react";
import dxForm from "devextreme/ui/form";
import Form from "devextreme-react/form";

class App extends React.Component {
    render () {
        dxForm.defaultOptions({
            device: { deviceType: "desktop" },
            options: {
                // Here go the Form options
            }
        })
        return (
            <div>
                <Form id="form1" />
                <Form id="form2" />
            </div>
        )
    }
}

export default App;

dispose()

Disposes of all the resources allocated to the Form instance.

After calling this method, remove the DOM element associated with the UI component:

JavaScript

$("#myForm").dxForm("dispose");
$("#myForm").remove();

Use this method only if the UI component was created with jQuery or pure JavaScript. In Angular, Vue, and React, use conditional rendering:

Angular

app.component.html

<dx-form ...
    *ngIf="condition">
</dx-form>

Vue

App.vue

<template>
    <DxForm ...
        v-if="condition">
    </DxForm>
</template>

<script>
import DxForm from 'devextreme-vue/form';

export default {
    components: {
        DxForm
    }
}
</script>

React

App.js

import React from 'react';

import Form from 'devextreme-react/form';

function DxForm(props) {
    if (!props.shouldRender) {
        return null;
    }

    return (
        <Form ... >    
        </Form>
    );
}

class App extends React.Component {
    render() {
        return (
            <DxForm shouldRender="condition" />
        );
    }
}
export default App;

element()

Gets the root UI component element.

Return Value:

HTMLElement | jQuery

An HTML element or a jQuery element when you use jQuery.

endUpdate()

Refreshes the UI component after a call of the beginUpdate() method.

Main article: beginUpdate()

focus()

Sets focus on the UI component.

getButton(name)

Gets a button's instance.

Parameters:

name:

A button item's name.

Return Value:

Button

| undefined

The button's instance.

getEditor(dataField)

Gets an editor instance. Takes effect only if the form item is visible.

Parameters:

dataField:

The item's name or dataField.

Return Value: Editor | undefined

The editor instance.

The following code shows how to get an editor of an item in a group:

JavaScript

var form = $(function () {
    $("#formContainer").dxForm({
        formData: {
            firstName: "John",
            lastName: "Heart",
            phone: "+1(213) 555-9392",
            email: "jheart@dx-email.com"
        },
        items: ["firstName", "lastName", {
            itemType: "group",
            caption: "Contacts",
            items: ["phone", "email"]
        }]
    }).dxForm("instance");
    $("#buttonContainer").dxButton({
        text: "Customize Phone Editor",
        onClick: function (e) {
            var editor = form.getEditor("phone");
            // Customizations go here
        }
    });
});

NOTE

This method works only for predefined editors, and is unavailable when using a custom template.

getInstance(element)

Gets the instance of a UI component found using its DOM node.

Parameters:

element:

Element

|

jQuery

The UI component's container.

Return Value:

The UI component's instance.

getInstance is a static method that the UI component class supports. The following code demonstrates how to get the Form instance found in an element with the myForm ID:

// Modular approach
import Form from "devextreme/ui/form";
...
let element = document.getElementById("myForm");
let instance = Form.getInstance(element) as Form;

// Non-modular approach
let element = document.getElementById("myForm");
let instance = DevExpress.ui.dxForm.getInstance(element);

instance()

Gets the UI component's instance. Use it to access other methods of the UI component.

Return Value:

This UI component's instance.

itemOption(id)

Gets a form item's configuration.

Parameters:

id:

An item's name or path without spaces if the item is in a group or a tab.
The path may include the group's name or caption or the tab's title.

Return Value: any

The form item's configuration.

itemOption(id, option, value)

Updates the value of a single item property.

Parameters:

id:

An item's name or path without spaces if the item is in a group or a tab.
The path may include the group's name or caption or the tab's title.

option:

The property's name.

value: any

The new property value.

The following code shows how to call this method for an item organized in a group:

JavaScript

$(function () {
    const form = $("#formContainer").dxForm({
        formData: {
            firstName: "John",
            lastName: "Heart",
            phone: "+1(213) 555-9392",
            email: "jheart@dx-email.com"
        },
        items: ["firstName", "lastName", {
            itemType: "group",
            caption: "Contacts",
            name: "groupName",
            items: ["phone", "email"]
        }]
    }).dxForm("instance");
});

JavaScript

form.itemOption("groupName.phone", "visible", false);
// ==== or ====
form.itemOption("Contacts.phone", "visible", false);

When you modify an item, the Form also refreshes all other items in its group. If an item is not in a group, the whole Form is refreshed. To update only your chosen items, wrap them into a separate group.

itemOption(id, options)

Updates the values of several item properties.

Parameters:

id:

An item's name or path without spaces if the item is in a group or a tab.
The path may include the group's name or caption or the tab's title.

options:

Propertiesand their new values.

When you modify an item, the Form also refreshes all other items in its group. If an item is not in a group, the whole Form is refreshed. To update only your chosen items, wrap them into a separate group.

off(eventName)

Detaches all event handlers from a single event.

Parameters:

eventName:

The event's name.

Return Value:

The object for which this method is called.

off(eventName, eventHandler)

Detaches a particular event handler from a single event.

Parameters:

eventName:

The event's name.

eventHandler:

The event's handler.

Return Value:

The object for which this method is called.

on(eventName, eventHandler)

Subscribes to an event.

Parameters:

eventName:

The event's name.

eventHandler:

The event's handler.

Return Value:

The object for which this method is called.

Use this method to subscribe to one of the events listed in the Events section.

on(events)

Subscribes to events.

Parameters:

events:

Events with their handlers: { "eventName1": handler1, "eventName2": handler2, ...}

Return Value:

The object for which this method is called.

Use this method to subscribe to several events with one method call. Available events are listed in the Events section.

option()

Gets all UI component properties.

Return Value:

The UI component's properties.

option(optionName)

Gets the value of a single property.

Parameters:

optionName:

The property's name or full path.

Return Value: any

This property's value.

option(optionName, optionValue)

Updates the value of a single property.

Parameters:

optionName:

The property's name or full path.

optionValue: any

This property's new value.

option(options)

Updates the values of several properties.

Parameters:

options:

Propertieswith their new values.

registerKeyHandler(key, handler)

Registers a handler to be executed when a user presses a specific key.

Parameters:

key:

A key.

handler:

A handler. Accepts the keydown event as the argument. It is a dxEvent or a jQuery.Event when you use jQuery.

The key argument accepts one of the following values:

"backspace"
"tab"
"enter"
"escape"
"pageUp"
"pageDown"
"end"
"home"
"leftArrow"
"upArrow"
"rightArrow"
"downArrow"
"del"
"space"
"F"
"A"
"asterisk"
"minus"

A custom handler for a key cancels the default handler for this key.

repaint()

Repaints the UI component without reloading data. Call it to update the UI component's markup.

resetOption(optionName)

Resets an property to its default value.

Parameters:

optionName:

An property's name.

resetValues()

Resets the editor's value to undefined.

updateData(data)

Merges the passed data object with formData. Matching properties in formData are overwritten and new properties added.

Parameters:

data:

Data fields with their new values.

NOTE

This method does not replace the formData object. To replace it, use the option(optionName, optionValue) method as shown below:

JavaScript

formInstance.option("formData", newFormData);

updateData(dataField, value)

Updates a formData field and the corresponding editor.

Parameters:

dataField:

A path to the formData field.

value: