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In some previous posts, I demonstrated a simple proof-of-concept CRUD “application” for PW using jTable. I really wanted to use DataTables since it is older, wiser and with a huge fan base. One thing I wanted was for the CRUD system to be as simple as possible and possibly be Excel-like (more below). With DataTables plugins, you can perform stuff like inline-editing and Auto-fill. The latter works just like in Excel and allows you to quickly populate cells (quick copy). But that’s as far as it goes. Google led me to other Table management systems. Some of the front runners include jqGrid and SlickGrid. SlickGrid is nice and using virtual rendering can display millions of rows with ease. Its support for displaying data delivered on demand (Ajax/server) is minimal; it requires you to download all your data before it starts manipulating it. Someone has created an Excel-like extension for it allowing copy-pasting between SlickGrid and Excel. Awesome! But, it still didn't rock my boat completely, especially the Ajax content issue. Then I stumbled upon Handsontable, a new kid on the block that describes itself as “a minimalistic Excel-like data grid editor for HTML, JavaScript & jQuery”. Though relatively new, it is as Excel-like as you can get. You can copy-paste from/to Excel [single to multiple cells and multiple to multiple cells], use the usual shortcuts (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, Ctrl-Y, Ctrl-Z - i.e., undo/redo, etc., and tab navigation, etc.), use Auto-fill (vertically and horizontally), freeze cells/columns, make cells/columns read only, Right-click context menus, insert/delete rows and columns, perform inline-editing, etc. Double awesome! Handsontable (HoT) is minimalistic but comes with a rich API. However, most of the implementation is down to you (sounds familiar?). It will render the Table and provide you with Methods/Events/Options to manipulate it. You just have to provide the data as an Array or JSON defining your columns and containing your data. Soma has a DataTable module that is currently read only; you cannot edit the displayed data directly in the table. It is also in lazy development . So, I started toying with the idea of using HoT as an Excel-like CRUD system (module) for PW. I wanted something that could quickly and easily do mass editing (Batcher-like). Imagine quickly creating basic pages/records by copy-pasting from Excel. Or quickly changing records by dragging (Auto-fill) or pasting new values over old ones. Well, the result can be seen in the screencast below. I’d like to hear your thoughts whether this is something that I should consider developing into a module; something that could be used by Superusers. Depending on implementation, it could be used by other users as well. All HoT needs is data. What you do with that data is up to you (the developer) and your code! This can be very dangerous if not implemented correctly, of course! You could easily delete important records! However, HoT does not touch your database! Deletions, insertions, etc., will not alter your database unless you specifically write the PHP code to do that. All it does is send data to the server via a method your specify (post, get, Ajax, etc.), and even that is your implementation. You do not need to implement deletions or additions. You can use it for updating content only or as read only, but where’s the fun in that ? In the screencast , apart from the table itself, all the other implementations are custom - the buttons, selects, auto-save (can be tricky? can DDOS your server?). The current implementation is not perfect; it is a demo after all. Certain stuff would need to be implemented differently . I didn't want to spend too much time on something that would not be useful in the end. All CRUD operations are via PW API and/or vanilla PHP. Deleted pages are Trashed and not permanently deleted. If there is interest for a module of this kind, I would request all the help I can get to develop it please. I would put it up on Github of course. In the demo, this is running off Diogo’s ACP module. Let me hear your thoughts please. Should a module like this see the light of day? Thanks Wasn't sure in which forum to post this...

Hello everyone, I need to rewrite entire application and I want to choose PW for speed reason and logic. I love the roles/permissions system and relationships in db, but now the question.. My app is based on users roles, foreach user role I need to write a big form (around 30fields)->store in database->edit and show the form. Simple crud system in frontend. I can not find a guide to do this, I would use as much as possible the PW's API can you give me some advice? edit: this module works fine! http://modules.processwire.com/modules/form-template-processor/ @ryan with the upload fields the page say "The page must be saved" my code in my template is: $form = $modules->get('FormTemplateProcessor'); $form->template = $templates->get('my_template'); $form->requiredFields = array('field1', 'field2', 'field3'); $form->parent = $page; echo $form->render(); Thank you all guys!

Hello everyone, I'm a PW newbie. Overwhelmed from all I've seen and tried out the last few days. My CMS of choice the last couple of years has been MODX. Other than that, I am working as a frontend and backend developer since over 10 years. Having so much freedom to work directly with PHP inside a CMS / CMF is a relief. No new pseudo scripting language one has to learn (as in Typo3), no unnecessary restrictions or bloat. So, my first general question: If I have an existing dataset in mySQL, that I would like to manage with PW (i.e. inside the admin area of PW) - how would I most likely do that? I know I could export the database tables to PW pages. But what if I wanted a database CRUD system inside the PW area? In MODX "Evo" you could build a custom module for such things. You know - phpMyAdmin is over the top for most clients, and an admin section with a different login and URL is clutter. How can I extend the PW backend? Is it possible to include an off-the shelf CRUD script somewhere? Is that not possible with PW? Or frowned upon? I'm just trying to see what the "best practises" are for these kinds of scenarios. Thanks for explanations, tips and pointers.