Django: Get LIST data from HTML without forms or models

Question

I have an HTML page with a series of list items. I would like to be able to push a button, read the data in the list, and do a sort of transformation. I thought it would be rather like this example.

However, this format uses the name attribute to get the data and neither a list or list item can have names!

My HTML:

<form action="{% url 'index' %}" method="POST">
    {% csrf_token %}
    <ul id="myList">
        <li id="myId1">First Item</li>
        <li id="myId2">Second Item</li>
    </ul>
    <button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

My python:

def index(request):
if request.method == 'POST':
    var = request.POST['myList']
    print(var)
return render(request, "test.html", {})

Is there a way to get items in a list?

Additional Information:

• Current output is just None.
• I can grab data like text boxes just fine, those are named items.
• I have tried a few other suggestions, like var = request.POST.get('myList'), and even started dealing with forms and models but I could only grab data that was IN the model that way, not a <li>.

Answer 1

You have to have input tags with name attributes inside your form for it to submit any data to the server. Just sticking some list items in there will do nothing - HTML forms require inputs.

Something like this might work for you:

<form action="{% url 'index' %}" method="POST">
    {% csrf_token %}
    <ul id="myList">
        <li id="myId1">First Item <input type="hidden" name="mylist[]" value="myid1"></li>
        <li id="myId2">Second Item <input type="hidden" name="mylist[]" value="myid2"></li>
    </ul>
    <button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

i.e, insert a hidden input into each item in your list, with name and value attributes, that should then result in something being available in request.POST.getlist('mylist').