# Form

## Specification

Component that wraps the set of fields and controls their data flow.

The key focus of a form design is getting rid of obscure configurations and achieving a clear and predictable layout. Although depending on the use case, form shares a lot of functionalities and behaviors. Unifying the latter, depriving the developer from configuring it over and over, is a primary goal of React Advanced Form.

## Props

### General

| Prop name                                                                                 | Type                                                                                         | Description                                 |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `ref`                                                                                     | `Function`                                                                                   | Getter function for the `<Form>` component. |
| [`innerRef`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/props/inner-ref) | `Function`                                                                                   | Getter function for the `form` element.     |
| [`action`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/props/action)      | `Function<Promise>`                                                                          | Submit action handler.                      |
| [`rules`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/props/rules)        | [`ValidationRules`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/broken-reference) | Form-specific validation rules.             |
| [`messages`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/props/messages)  | [`ValidationMessages`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/validation/messages)      | Form-specific validation messages.          |

### Callbacks

| Callback name    | Descripton                                                  |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| `onFirstChange`  | Called when the form becomes dirty.                         |
| `onReset`        | Called after the form has been reset.                       |
| `onSubmitStart`  | Called when the submit has started (form is valid).         |
| `onSubmitted`    | Called after successful submit.                             |
| `onSubmitFailed` | Called on failed submit.                                    |
| `onSubmitEnd`    | Called when the submit has ended, regardless of its status. |
| `onInvalid`      | Called when the submit failed due to form being invalid.    |

{% hint style="info" %}
Read more about each prop and callback under [Form callbacks](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/callbacks).
{% endhint %}

## Methods

Form methods are available under its [reference](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/architecture/referencing#component-reference) object.

| Method name                                                                                  | Type                | Descripton                                 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| [`validate`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/methods/validate)   | `Function<Promise>` | Validates form manually.                   |
| [`serialize`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/methods/serialize) | `Function<Object>`  | Serializes form manually.                  |
| [`reset`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/methods/reset)         | `Function`          | Resets the fields to their initial values. |
| [`submit`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/methods/submit)       | `Function<Promise>` | Submits the form manually.                 |

{% hint style="info" %}
Learn more about each method under [Form methods](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/methods).
{% endhint %}

## Example

Let's create a simple form that has a single input and an action handler.

> React Advanced Form is field-centric. That means that you may want to configure a set of [composite field components](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/getting-started/creating-fields) as the first step of integrating this solution into your application.

```jsx
import React from 'react'
import { Form } from 'react-advanced-form'
import { Input } from 'react-advanced-form-addons'

export default class Example extends React.Component {
  registerUser = ({ serialized, fields, form }) => {
    console.log(serialized) // { "firstName": "John" }
  }
  
  render() {
    return (
      <Form action={this.registerUser}>
        <Input
          name="firstName"
          label="First name"
          rule={/[a-zA-Z]/}
          initialValue="John"
          required />
      </Form>
    )
  }
}
```

{% hint style="info" %}
You can use [`FormProvider`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form-provider) to specify application-wide validation rules and messages, or you can pass them to a specific Form using [`rules`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/props/rules) and [`messages`](https://redd.gitbook.io/react-advanced-form/components/form/props/messages) props respectively.
{% endhint %}


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