Allow Non-Model Fields to Render on Forms Without Writers

[Paul-Bob]

Right now, if we want to add a field to a resource edit view, it only shows up if the model has a writer for it.

For model attributes, the writer is already automatically defined, but if we want to add a field with an ID that’s not a model attribute, we need to manually add a writer to that model.

For example:

class Avo::Resources::User < Avo::BaseResource
  def fields
    field :id, as: :id
    field :name, as: :text
    field :extra_info, as: :text
  end
end

# Schema
# Table name: users
#
#  id   :bigint           not null, primary key
#  name :string
class User < ApplicationRecord
  # Hacky way to force Avo to render the field on forms
  attr_writer :extra_info
end

---

Let’s add a new configuration option that allows the extra_info field to be rendered on forms without needing to add a writer to the model.

Possible configuration options

• show_on: :forms
• render_on_forms: true
• force_render_on_forms: true
• virtual_field: true
• include_in_forms: true
• expose_on_forms: true
• allow_form_render: true

---

I think show_on: :forms is the best candidate yet since we already use it for the same use-case on tools.