Use . notation for ng-model to allow nested models

[kynan]

The model for a form currently has to be completely flat i.e. every field must be an attribute of the form's ngModel. Forms cannot "reach into" subattributes because the lookup is via a single key. Fix this limitation by using a dot notation instead.

[danhunsaker]

I opted for the key notation for security purposes. You're right that it does flatten the model, though.

That said, this PR doesn't handle the assignment of values using val properly. Cannot consider for merge until it does.

[kynan]

I've added support for this now. Is this what you had in mind?

[danhunsaker]

That should work, yeah, though it would make a bit more sense, I think, to split the model name inside the function than out. Makes the function call a little easier to read.

I'll review the code a bit more thoroughly sometime tomorrow to make sure every use of field.model is being handled according to its designed purpose.

[kynan]

Indeed, splitting inside the function makes more sense. I've noticed I haven't changed the other places where field.model is used so I'll add that too.

[danhunsaker]

I just realized I misspoke earlier. The bracket notation was selected not for security, but because I can't guarantee every model property will be valid in dot notation. Reserved words, for example, cause issues when used as object properties in some JS engines (though I suppose this may have changed recently). So if we can continue using bracket notation, and still support nested models, that would be best.

I also screwed up on the implementations of the name attribute, I think. That should use bracket notation as well, so that regular browser form submits (as opposed to AngularJS submits) can be handled properly server-side.

[kynan]

If I understand you correctly, instead of

attrs.ngModel + "." + field.model

as I have done you'd prefer something along the lines of

attrs.ngModel + "['" + field.model.split('.').join("']['") + "']"

[danhunsaker]

Yeah, that looks about right. And something similar for the name attribute, though we won't want the first item to be bracketed, so that will be a bit more tricky.

[kynan]

I think I've now addressed all remaining issues:

• properly build nested ng-model attribute for all cases
• properly build nested name attribute for all cases
• properly set val for all cases
• create parent object for nested models

I have also added examples of nested models to the demo and checked these are working.

[danhunsaker]

Awesome. I'll review your changes and probably merge them later today. Nested models will be really useful in the wild. :-)

[danhunsaker]

The rest looks good, though I was attempting to keep the demo templates consistent with each other aside from sorting. We'll have to update the README as well, but I don't mind handling that myself. Thanks!

[kynan]

Your two comments now addressed.

[kynan]

Is this now in good shape?

[danhunsaker]

Looks good! I need to fix a typo or two, cased by my own fat fingers, and update the demo/README files, but otherwise, thanks for the help, and sorry I took so long getting back to it.

[kynan]

Thanks!