React Material UI Form Builder

An easy-to-use and quick form builder with validation using the following React Material UI input components:

• TextField
• Select
• DatePicker
• DateTimePicker
• TimePicker
• Autocomplete
• Chip
• Checkbox
• Radio
• Switch
• ImageList
• Rating

Validation is done using yup.

This project aims to make building standard forms a breeze while leveraging Material UI components to create a more familiar UI. See below for usage examples.

Installation

npm install --save @jeremyling/react-material-ui-form-builder

The following packages are peer dependencies and must be installed for this package to be fully functional. To reduce redundant packages, you need not install the peer dependencies of the components listed if not used.

// Required
@emotion/react
@emotion/styled
@mui/material
lodash
react-hook-forms

// Required if using yup resolver for validation
yup

// Date/Time Pickers
@date-io/date-fns
date-fns
@mui/icons-material
@mui/lab

// Rating
@mui/icons-material

// Autocomplete
react-beautiful-dnd

// Rich Text
slate
slate-react
react-mui-color
@jeremyling/react-material-ui-rich-text-editor
@jeremyling/react-material-ui-rich-text-editor/dist/editor.css

Usage Example

The example below is replicated in this CodeSandbox.

Suppose you need to submit a form with the following structure:

// Employee
{
  name: "First Last",
  email: "[email protected]",
  jobId: 1,
  status: "Active",
  skills: ["People Management"],
  subordinates: [2, 3],
  details: {
    joinDate: "2021-01-01",
  },
  profilePicFile: "",
}

Subordinates are other employees with the same data structure as above. Other data you have include:

const employees = [
  {
    id: 1,
    name: "First Employee"
    ...
  },
  {
    id: 2,
    name: "Second Employee"
    ...
  },
  {
    id: 3,
    name: "Third Employee"
    ...
  },
];

const jobs = [
  {
    id: 1,
    title: "Manager",
  },
  {
    id: 2,
    title: "Entry Level Staff",
  },
];

const skills = [
  'Data Entry',
  'People Management',
];

const statuses = ["Inactive", "Active"];

With the predefined data above, the following functional component illustrates how FormBuilder is used.

import React from "react";
import { yupResolver } from "@hookform/resolvers/yup";
import {
  FieldProp,
  FormBuilder,
  validationUtils,
} from "@jeremyling/react-material-ui-form-builder";
import { useForm, UseFormReturn } from "react-hook-form";
import { parseISO, isAfter } from "date-fns";
import { Button } from "@mui/material";

const employees = [
  {
    id: 1,
    name: "First Employee",
  },
  {
    id: 2,
    name: "Second Employee",
  },
  {
    id: 3,
    name: "Third Employee",
  },
];

const jobs = [
  {
    id: 1,
    title: "Manager",
  },
  {
    id: 2,
    title: "Entry Level Staff",
  },
];

const skills = ["Data Entry", "People Management"];

const statuses: [string, string] = ["Inactive", "Active"];

interface Props {
  defaultValue: {
    status: "Active";
  };
}

interface Employee {
  name: string;
  email: string;
  jobId: number;
  status: "Active" | "Inactive";
  skills: string[];
  subordinates: number[];
  details: {
    joinDate: string;
  };
  profilePicFile: string;
}

export default function EmployeeForm(props: Props) {
  const { defaultValue } = props;

  function fields(
    methods?: UseFormReturn<Employee>,
    watch?: [number]
  ): Array<FieldProp> {
    return [
      {
        component: "display-text",
        titleProps: {
          variant: "h6",
        },
        title: "Create Employee",
      },
      {
        component: "display-image",
        src: "https://via.placeholder.com/800x450?text=Create+Employee",
        alt: "Create Employee",
        props: {
          style: {
            height: 225,
            width: 400,
            objectFit: "cover",
          },
        },
      },
      {
        component: "text-field",
        attribute: "name",
        label: "Name",
        col: {
          // Here you can specify how many Grid columns the field should take for the corresponding breakpoints
          sm: 6,
        },
        validationType: "string",
        validations: [
          ["required", true],
          ["max", 50],
        ],
      },
      {
        component: "text-field",
        attribute: "email",
        label: "Email",
        col: {
          sm: 6,
        },
        props: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's TextField component
        },
        validationType: "string",
        validations: [
          ["required", true],
          ["email", true],
        ],
      },
      {
        component: "select",
        attribute: "jobId",
        label: "Job",
        col: {
          sm: 6,
        },
        options: jobs,
        // If options is an array of objects, optionConfig is required
        optionConfig: {
          key: "id", // The attribute to use for the key required for each option
          value: "id", // The attribute to use to determine the value that should be passed to the form field
          label: "title", // The attribute to use to determine the label for the select option
        },
      },
      {
        component: "date-picker",
        attribute: "details.joinDate",
        label: "Join Date",
        col: {
          sm: 6,
        },
        props: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's DatePicker component
          clearable: true,
          inputFormat: "dd MMM yyyy",
          disableFuture: true,
          openTo: "year",
          views: ["year", "month", "day"],
        },
        validationType: "string",
        validations: [
          [
            "test",
            [
              "notAfterToday",
              "Date of Birth must be in the past",
              (value: string) => {
                const parsed = parseISO(value);
                return !isAfter(parsed, new Date());
              },
            ],
          ],
        ],
      },
      {
        component: "switch",
        attribute: "status",
        label: "Status",
        col: {
          sm: 6,
        },
        options: statuses, // options in the form [offValue, onValue]
        props: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's Switch component
        },
        idPrefix: "switch",
      },
      {
        component: "checkbox-group",
        attribute: "status",
        title: "Status", // You can omit this if you do not want a title for the field
        col: {
          sm: 6,
        },
        options: ["Active"], // Single option for a single checkbox
        props: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's Checkbox component
          onChange: (event) => {
            if (event.target.checked) {
              methods?.setValue("status", "Active");
            } else {
              methods?.setValue("status", "Inactive");
            }
          },
        },
        labelProps: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's FormControlLabel component
        },
        groupContainerProps: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's FormControl component
        },
        idPrefix: "checkbox",
      },
      {
        attribute: "status",
        title: "Status", // You can omit this if you do not want a title for the field
        col: {
          sm: 6,
        },
        component: "radio-group",
        options: statuses,
        props: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's Radio component
          color: "secondary",
        },
        groupContainerProps: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's FormControl component
          sx: {
            flexDirection: "row",
          },
        },
        labelProps: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's FormControlLabel component
          sx: {
            padding: "8px 16px",
          },
        },
        idPrefix: "radio",
      },
      {
        attribute: "skills",
        title: "Skills",
        col: {
          sm: 12,
        },
        component: "chip-group",
        options: skills, // optionConfig not required as options is an array of strings
        multiple: true, // Allow multiple selections
        props: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's Chip component
        },
        groupContainerProps: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's FormControl component
          sx: {
            flexDirection: "row",
          },
        },
        labelProps: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by the span component
          style: {
            padding: "8px 16px",
          },
        },
      },
      {
        attribute: "subordinates",
        label: "Subordinates",
        component: "autocomplete",
        options: employees,
        optionConfig: {
          value: "id",
          label: "name",
        },
        props: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by Material UI's Autocomplete component
          autoHighlight: true,
          multiple: true,
        },
        hideCondition:
          // This will hide the form field if the condition is true
          jobs.find((j) => j.id === Number(watch?.[0]))?.title ===
          "Entry Level Staff",
      },
      {
        attribute: "profilePicFile",
        label: "Select Image",
        component: "file-upload",
        acceptTypes: "image/*",
        maxSizeMb: 1,
        props: {
          // Here you can pass any props that are accepted by the input component
        },
      },
    ];
  }

  const schema = validationUtils.getFormSchema(fields());
  const methods =
    useForm <
    Employee >
    {
      mode: "onTouched",
      resolver: yupResolver(schema),
    };

  const watch = methods.watch(["jobId"]);

  const onSubmit = (data: Employee) => {
    console.log(data);
    // handle form submission
  };

  const submitButton = (
    <Button
      fullWidth
      variant="contained"
      color="primary"
      sx={{ mt: 1 }}
      onClick={methods.handleSubmit(onSubmit)}
    >
      Submit
    </Button>
  );

  return (
    <FormBuilder
      fields={fields(methods, watch)}
      defaultValue={defaultValue}
      methods={methods}
    >
      {submitButton}
    </FormBuilder>
  );
}

Props

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | ------------ | -------------------- | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | fields | array | required | Array of form fields along with props (details below) | | defaultValue | object | required | Initial value of form | | children | node | undefined | Additional content to the right of the form | | index | string or number | undefined | To uniquely identify fields if FormBuilder is used in a loop | | idPrefix | string | undefined | To uniquely identify fields if multiple fields use the same attribute | | errors | array | undefined | External errors outside of FormBuilder that you would like to pass to be rendered | | methods | object | UseFormReturn<any> | React Hook Form's UseFormReturn type for updating and syncing form | | sx | string | undefined | Material UI's sx prop to pass to Grid component wrapping form fields |

Field Props

Common

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | ------------------- | -------- | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | attribute | string | undefined | Form attribute that controls input and is modified by input | | label | string | undefined | Component label for text-field, select, autocomplete, date-picker, date-time-picker, time-picker, switch. Can be omitted if label is not required. | | title | string | undefined | Title for component. Can be used to describe input or hold a question. | | titleProps | object | undefined | Title props passed to Typography component wrapping title | | titleSuffix | string | undefined | Title suffix to append to title. Could be used to denote required fields | | titleSuffixProps | object | undefined | Title suffix props passed to span component wrapping title suffix | | titleContainerProps | object | undefined | Props passed to container wrapping the title and titleSuffix | | col | object | { xs: 12 } | Grid columns that component should take | | component | string | text-field | One of: text-field,select,date-picker,date-time-picker,time-picker,autocomplete,chip-group,checkbox-group,radio-group,switch,file-upload,image-picker,rating,counter,display-text,display-image,rich-text,custom | | props | object | undefined | Any additional props to pass to the Material UI component | | containerProps | object | undefined | Any additional props to pass to the Material UI Grid item that contains the component | | hideCondition | bool | undefined | If true, hides field | | validationType^ | string | undefined | One of: mixed, string, number, date, boolean, array. | | validations^ | object | undefined | These are validation options accepted by yup in the form of [validation, arguments]. Arguments can be a string, number, true, regex or an array of such in the order that it is accepted by the yup option. For validations that do not require any arguments, set the argument to true. | | customComponent | func | undefined | Function that accepts the props (field, methods, hookField) and returns a node |

^See below for examples

Components With Options

This includes select, autocomplete, chip-group, checkbox-group and radio-group.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | ------------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | options | array | [] | Required | | optionConfig | object | select, chip-group, checkbox-group, radio-group: { key: optionKey, value: optionKey, label: optionKey }autocomplete: { value: optionKey, label: optionKey } | Required if options is an array of objects. Leave value undefined for entire object. | | randomizeOptions | bool | undefined | If true, randomises option order on each render | | multiple | bool | undefined | Only for chip-group, checkbox-group. If true, multiple options will be selectible | | labelProps | object | undefined | Only for checkbox-group, radio-group. Any additional props to pass to Material UI's FormControlLabel that wraps the label. | | groupContainerProps | object | undefined | Only for chip-group, checkbox-group, radio-group. Any additional props to pass to Material UI's FormGroup that wraps the individual components within the group. | | sortable | bool | undefined | Only for autocomplete. If true, selected options will be sortable via drag and drop |

Switch

This includes switch.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | ----------------------------------- | -------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | options | array | [false, true] | Options for switch in the form of [offValue, onValue]. Values must be | | * string, number or boolean. | | labelProps | object | undefined | Any additional props to pass to Material UI's FormControlLabel that wraps the label. |

Date/Time Pickers

This includes date-picker, date-time-picker and time-picker.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | -------- | ------ | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | keyboard | bool | undefined | If true, will use the Keyboard equivalent components of the pickers |

File Upload

This includes file-upload.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | ----------- | ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | acceptTypes | string or array | [".pdf", ".doc", ".docx", ".xml", "application/msword", "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document", ".xls", ".xlsx", ".csv", "image/*", "audio/*", "video/*"] | Concatenated value will be passed as accept prop to input | | maxSizeMb | number | 2 | Max size of each uploaded file. | | fileType | string | undefined | One of: file, image, audio, video. | | imageUrls | array | undefined | If file type is image, you may specify the urls of the existing images here. | | imageSize | array | undefined | Size of image preview in the form [width, height]. imageSize supercedes aspectRatio. | | aspectRatio | array | undefined | Aspect ratio of image preview in the form [width, height]. imageSize supercedes aspectRatio. |

Display Image

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | ---- | -------- | ----------- | ------------------------- | | src | string | undefined | Source of image. | | alt | string | undefined | Alt passed to img node. |

Image Picker

This includes image-picker.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | ------------------- | -------- | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | images | array | undefined | This should contain an array of objects with attributes src, label, subLabel, and alt (defaults to label) | | imageCols | number | { xs: 2 } | Number of columns in image list. This should be an object with breakpoints xs, sm, md, lg, xl as keys. Columns for each breakpoint default to the previous breakpoint is not specified | | labelLines | number | 2 | Number of lines allowed for label | | subLabelLines | number | 2 | Number of lines allowed for sublabel | | aspectRatio | array | [1, 1] | Aspect ratio of image preview in the form [width, height]. | | multiple | bool | undefined | If true, multiple options will be selectible | | imageProps | object | undefined | Any additional props to pass to the Box component that wraps the img. | | labelProps | object | undefined | Any additional props to pass to the Typography component that wraps the label. | | subLabelProps | object | undefined | Any additional props to pass to the Typography component that wraps the sublabel. | | groupContainerProps | object | undefined | Any additional props to pass to the ImageList component that wraps the individual components within the group. |

Rating

This includes rating.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | --------- | -------- | ----------- | ----------- | | iconColor | string | undefined | Icon colour |

Counter

This includes counter.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | -------- | -------- | ----------- | --------------------- | | inputMin | number | 0 | Minimum value allowed | | inputMax | number | 1000000 | Maximum value allowed | | fontSize | number | undefined | Counter font size |

Rich Text

| Prop | Type | Default | Description | | -------------- | -------- | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | containerProps | object | undefined | Props to pass to the Material UI Paper wrapper | | editableProps | object | undefined | Props to pass to the Slate Editable component |

Validation

Validation is done using yup, which has 6 core types that inherit from the mixed type: string, number, boolean, date, array and object. For this project, it should be sufficient to use only string and number for the various components. In fact, other than the text-field component, it is unlikely you would need any validation beyond required. Here are some examples of how you might use validation.

// Example field 1
{
  attribute: ...,
  component: 'text-field',
  label: ...,
  validationType: 'string',
  validations: [
    ["required", true],
    ["length", 10],
    ["min", 5],
    ["max", 20],
    ["matches", [/[a-z]/i, "Can only contain letters"]],
    ["email", true],
    ["url", true],
    ["uuid", true],
  ]
}

// Example field 2
{
  attribute: ...,
  component: 'text-field',
  props: {
    type: 'number',
  },
  label: ...,
  validationType: 'number',
  validations: [
    ["required", true],
    ["min", 5],
    ["max", 20],
    ["lessThan", 20],
    ["moreThan", 5],
    ["positive", true],
    ["negative", true],
    ["integer", true],
  ]
}