blitzform
v1.0.1
Published
A lightweight and extensible framework for building dynamic forms in React
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Blitzform
A powerful and extensible React form management framework focused on dynamic behavior. With diff-based change tracking and baked in zod validation. Blitzform handles form state, behavior, and validation, while you retain full control over the markup. Implement features like displaying the "Save" button only when the form is modified and valid, or showing error messages contextually based on user interaction. See live
Installation
# npm
npm i --save blitzform
# yarn
yarn add blitzform
# pnpm
pnpm add blitzform
The Gist
import * as React from 'react'
import { useForm } from 'blitzform'
import { z, ZodError } from 'zod'
// create our schema with validation included
const Z_RegisterInput = z.object({
name: z.string().optional(),
email: z.string().email(),
// we can also pass custom messages as a second parameter
password: z
.string()
.min(8, { message: 'Your password next to have at least 8 characters.' }),
})
type T_RegisterInput = z.infer<typeof Z_RegisterInput>
function Form() {
// we create a form by passing the schema
const { useFormField, handleSubmit, formProps, reset, touchAll } = useForm(
Z_RegisterInput,
// pass an upstream/initial value, the hook will only store modified (dirty) values
{
name: '',
email: '',
password: '',
}
)
// now we can create our fields for each property
// the field controls the state and validation per property
const name = useFormField('name')
const email = useFormField('email')
const password = useFormField('password')
function onSuccess(data: T_RegisterInput) {
// do something with the safely parsed data
console.log(data)
// reset the form to the upstream/initial state
reset()
}
function onFailure(error: ZodError) {
touchAll()
console.error(error)
}
return (
<form
{...formProps}
onSubmit={(e) => {
e.preventDefault()
handleSubmit(onSuccess, onFailure)
}}>
<label htmlFor="name">Full Name</label>
<input id="name" {...name.inputProps} />
<label htmlFor="email">E-Mail</label>
<input id="email" type="email" {...email.inputProps} />
<p style={{ color: 'red' }}>{email.errorMessage}</p>
<label htmlFor="password">Password</label>
<input id="password" type="password" {...password.inputProps} />
<p style={{ color: 'red' }}>{password.errorMessage}</p>
<button type="submit">Login</button>
</form>
)
}
Note: This is a simple example. You can easily modify behaviors and integrate custom components.
Advanced Example
This section demonstrates a more sophisticated form setup using blitzform
.
- Dynamic form behavior is controlled through
formDirty
andformValid
, ensuring the submit button only enables when the form has changes and passes validation. - Show error messages only after inputs lose focus, and hide them when focused again.
- By using BlitzformProvider, we decouple state management from form components. This allows you to create a library of self-managed components.
- We create reusable
BlitzTextField
andBlitzSelect
components that can be dropped into any form using the library.
import React from 'react'
import {
Container,
TextField,
Button,
MenuItem,
FormControl,
FormHelperText,
Select,
InputLabel,
Stack,
} from '@mui/material'
import { useForm, useField, BlitzformProvider } from 'blitzform'
import { z } from 'zod'
const userFormSchema = z.object({
firstName: z.string().min(1, { message: 'First name is required' }),
lastName: z.string().min(1, { message: 'Last name is required' }),
email: z.string().email({ message: 'Invalid email address' }),
permissions: z
.array(z.string())
.min(1, { message: 'Please select at least one permission' }),
})
export type UserType = z.infer<typeof userFormSchema>
const permissionsOptions = ['Read', 'Write', 'Delete', 'Admin']
export default function EditUser({
data,
setData,
}: {
data: UserType
setData: (data: UserType) => void
}) {
const {
ctx,
handleSubmit,
touchAll,
formProps,
reset,
formDirty,
formValid,
} = useForm(
userFormSchema,
// pass the upstream/initial value, the hook will only store modified (dirty) values
data,
{
defaultUntouchOn: 'focus', // untouch fields on focus
initTouched: true, // mark all fields as touched initially
}
)
function handleSubmitSuccess(data: UserType) {
setData(data) // update upstream data
reset() // this will clear the useForm diff and the form will show the upstream data
}
function handleSubmitError(error: z.ZodError) {
touchAll() // mark all fields as touched to display validation errors
console.log('Error:', error)
}
function onSubmit(e: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) {
e.preventDefault()
handleSubmit(handleSubmitSuccess, handleSubmitError)
}
return (
<Container maxWidth="sm">
<h2>Edit User</h2>
{/* BlitzformProvider passes the form context to child components */}
<BlitzformProvider ctx={ctx}>
<form {...formProps} onSubmit={onSubmit}>
<Stack spacing={2.5}>
<BlitzTextField name="firstName" label="First Name" />
<BlitzTextField name="lastName" label="Last Name" />
<BlitzTextField name="email" label="Email" type="email" />
<BlitzSelect name="permissions" label="Permissions" multiple>
{permissionsOptions.map((permission) => (
<MenuItem key={permission} value={permission}>
{permission}
</MenuItem>
))}
</BlitzSelect>
<Button
type="submit"
variant="contained"
color="primary"
disabled={!formDirty || !formValid} // button disabled if the form is not modified or invalid
>
Save
</Button>
</Stack>
</form>
</BlitzformProvider>
</Container>
)
}
// reusable input field for use inside the BlitzformProvider
function BlitzTextField({
name,
label,
type = 'text',
}: {
name: string
label: string
type?: string
}) {
// connect the input to the form state
const field = useField(name)
return (
<FormControl fullWidth>
<TextField
{...field.inputProps}
type={type}
label={label}
error={!!field.errorMessage}
helperText={field.errorMessage}
/>
</FormControl>
)
}
// Reusable Select component integrated with Blitzform
function BlitzSelect({
name,
label,
multiple,
children,
}: {
name: string
label: string
multiple?: boolean
children: React.ReactNode
}) {
const field = useField(name, {
// custom parseValue function since default is (e) => e.target.value
parseValue: (v) => v,
// custom isEqual function to compare new value to upstream value
isEqual: (a, b) => {
if (Array.isArray(a) && Array.isArray(b)) {
return [...a].sort().join(',') === [...b].sort().join(',')
}
return a === b
},
})
const labelId = `blitz-select-${name}`
return (
<FormControl fullWidth error={!!field.errorMessage}>
<InputLabel id={labelId}>{label}</InputLabel>
<Select
{...field.inputProps}
labelId={labelId}
label={label}
multiple={multiple}
value={field.inputProps.value}
onChange={(e) => {
const value = e.target.value as string | string[]
field.inputProps.onChange(value)
}}>
{children}
</Select>
{field.errorMessage && (
<FormHelperText>{field.errorMessage}</FormHelperText>
)}
</FormControl>
)
}
API Reference
useForm
The core API that connects the form with a zod schema and returns a set of helpers to manage the state and render the actual markup.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description | | ------------ | ----------------------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | schema | ZodObject | | A valid zod object schema | | upstreamData | Partial<z.infer<ZodObject>> | | The upstream value, useForm only stores diffs from this value | | config | Config | See Config | Additional config options |
import { z } from 'zod'
const Z_Input = z.object({
name: z.string().optional(),
email: z.string().email(),
// we can also pass custom messages as a second parameter
password: z
.string()
.min(8, { message: 'Your password next to have at least 8 characters.' }),
})
type T_Input = z.infer<typeof Z_Input>
// usage inside react components
const const { useFormField, handleSubmit, formProps, reset, touchAll } = useForm(Z_Input, {})
Config
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| formatErrorMessage | (error: ZodIssue, name: string) => string
| (error) => error.errors?.[0]?.message ?? error.message
| Customizes error messages. This formatter processes the raw zod issue to create a more localized or user friendly message. |
| isEqual | <Record<keyof TSchema, (a: any, b: any) => boolean>>
| {}
| Allows deep equality checks for specific fields. Useful when working with arrays, objects, or custom data structures where the default ===
comparison may not be sufficient. Example: Compare sorted arrays for equality. |
| initTouched | boolean
| Record<keyof TSchema, boolean>
| false
| Specifies the initial touched state of fields. Set to true
to touch all fields by default, or provide an object to touch specific fields. This is beneficial for pre-filled forms where validation should be immediately visible. |
| defaultShowValidationOn | touched
| always
| touched
| Determines when to display validation errors. Choose between showing errors when a field is touched or always showing them. |
| defaultUntouchOn | focus
| change
| never
| focus
| Controls when a field should be marked as untouched, allowing you to reset validation states on focus, change, or never. |
formatErrorMessage
The preferred way to handle custom error messages would be to add them to the schema directly. In some cases e.g. when receiving the schema from an API or when having to localise the error, we can leverage this helper.
isEqual
An object where deep equal checks can be defined for specific fields. This can be used when the default (a, b) => a === b
check is not sufficient, such as when handling arrays or objects.
const form = useForm(schema, upstreamData, {
isEqual: {
permissions: (a, b) => [...a].sort().join(',') === [...b].sort().join(','),
},
})
handleSubmit
It validates form data using the zod schema. You will likely want to prevent the default form behavior by calling e.preventDefault()
as shown below.
| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| onSuccess | (data: z.infer<typeof schema>)
| Callback on successful safe parse of the form data |
| onFailure | (error: ZodError)
| Callback on failed safe parse |
import { ZodError } from 'zod'
function onSuccess(data: TInput) {
console.log(data)
}
function onFailure(error: ZodError) {
console.error(error)
}
// <form> onSubmit handler
const onSubmit = (e) => {
e.preventDefault()
handleSubmit(onSuccess, onFailure)
}
formDirty
Whether the form is dirty, meaning that any of the fields was altered compared to the upstream state. Useful e.g. when conditionally showing a save button or when you want to inform a user that they're closing a modal with unsaved changes.
formValid
If all fields are valid according to the schema.
formProps
An object that contains props that are passed to the native <form>
element.
Currently only consists of a single prop:
const formProps = {
noValidate: true,
}
useFormField
The useFormField
hook acts like the useField
but does but shares the form context and schema types with the useForm
hook and therefore does not need to be inside a BlitzformProvider
.
Usage
const { useFormField } = useForm(schema, upstreamData)
const { inputProps, errorMessage, dirty, valid, touched, disabled } =
useFormField('email')
useField
The useField
hook manages the state, validation, and interaction of individual form fields. It returns a set of HTML attributes and properties to connect the field to form elements while handling error management, touch state, and dynamic behavior. Can be used only inside a BlitzformProvider
.
import { TextField } from '@mui/material'
import { useBlitzField } from 'blitzform'
function BlitzTextField({
name,
label,
type = 'text',
}: {
name: string
label: string
type?: string
}) {
const field = useField(name)
return (
<TextField
{...field.inputProps}
type={type}
label={label}
error={!!field.errorMessage}
helperText={field.errorMessage}
/>
)
}
useField can be used to create custom reusable form components that can be dropped into any form using the
blitzform
library.
useField API Reference
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
| --------- | ------------------------------ | --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| name | keyof z.infer<typeof schema>
| | The name of the schema property that this field connects to |
| config | Config | See Config | Initial field data and additional config options |
Config
| Property | Type | Default | Description |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| disabled | boolean
| false
| Disables the field when true. |
| disabledIf | (formState: TSchema) => boolean
| undefined
| Dynamically disables the field based on the current form state. |
| showValidationOn | "touched"
| "always"
| "touched"
| Specifies when validation errors are displayed—either after the field is touched or continuously. |
| unTouchOn | "focus"
| "change"
| "never"
| "focus"
| Configures when the field should be marked as untouched. This option can reset validation states based on focus, change, or be disabled entirely (never
). |
| parseValue | (Event) => any
| (e) => e.target.value
| Parses the value from the event before storing it in the field state. Useful for custom inputs like checkboxes or non-string values. |
| isEqual | (a: unknown, b: unknown) => boolean
| (a, b) => a === b
| Provides a custom comparison function to determine whether the field value has changed from its upstream value, crucial for complex data structures. |
disabledIf
The disabledIf
option allows you to dynamically disable a field based on the current form state. This is particularly useful for conditional fields that depend on other form values.
const field = useField('permissions', {
disabledIf: (formState) => formState.role === 'admin',
})
Usage
const { inputProps, errorMessage, dirty, valid, touched, disabled } =
useField('email')
inputProps
Pass these to native HTML input
, select
and textarea
elements.
Use data-valid
to style the element based on the validation state.
export type FieldInputProps<TChangeFn> = {
value: any
disabled: boolean
required: boolean
name: string
'data-valid': boolean
onChange: TChangeFn // Default: (e: ChangeEvent<HTMLElement>) => string overridden by config.parseValue
onBlur: () => void
onFocus: () => void
}
errorMessage
A string containing the validation message. Returns undefined according to if the field is valid, touched and the showValidationOn
setting.
BlitzformProvider
The BlitzformProvider
component allows you to decouple the form state management from the parent component. This context can be used by the useBlitzField
hook to connect to the form state.
The component takes a single prop ctx
which carries the form context.
function Form() {
const { ctx } = useForm(schema, {})
return (
<BlitzformProvider ctx={ctx}>
<BlitzTextField name="firstName" label="First Name" />
</BlitzformProvider>
)
}
About This Fork
This package was forked from react-controlled-form by @robinweser. Adapted and maintained by Jacob Rosenthal.
License
Blitzform is licensed under the MIT License. Documentation is licensed under Creative Common License.