readonly_fields ignore form field label

[gabomdq@…]

class MyForm(ModelForm):
    test_field_callable = CharField(label=_('This is a test label'))

class MyAdmin(ModelAdmin)
    form = MyForm
    readonly_fields=['test_field_callable',]

class MyModel(Model)
    def test_field_callable(self):
        print 'test content'

I'm using the previous pseudo code as a guide to explain what happens, it's not a complete test case. If the field test_field_callable is not listed on readonly_fields, I get the proper label displayed on the Admin. However, with the readonly_fields listing test_field_callable, the label printed is "Test Field Callable" (a beautified version of the field name instead of the label I specified on the form).

[Aymeric Augustin]

I could reproduce the issue, I'm attaching a failing test case.

If comments is removed from readonly_fields in PizzaAdmin, the test passes.

[Julien Phalip]

This is actually the normal behaviour. If you declare a field as read-only, then that field will be excluded from the form altogether. I agree this may be confusing though, so the admin doc could be clarified.

[anonymous]

If that is so, what is the recommended way to set a custom label in this case?

[Julien Phalip]

contrib.admin.helpers.AdminReadonlyField is where you'll find the details of how the read-only fields are built. It is fairly inflexible and there's no API for controlling much about it. Yet :-)

In the meantime, a work-around is to provide a verbose_name to your model field.

[anonymous]

Thanks for the tip, I've already been down that road and gone through the code throughly before reporting here, but you'll have to agree that what you comment does not apply to this case. There's no verbose_name to be set because the field is not really part of the Model, it's just a method. That's why I don't think it's a documentation issue, if it is not considered a bug (which I believe to be the case), it's a Feature Request.

[Julien Phalip]

Yes you're right about verbose_name, I read your code sample a bit too fast. The feature you're after already exists with short_description:

class MyModel(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100, blank=True)
    
    def test_field_callable(self):
        print 'test content'
    test_field_callable.short_description = 'blah'

[Julien Phalip]

Just to synthesise, there is no bug as this is the normal behaviour, and the feature you were after already exists. The documentation about read-only fields is a bit succinct and it could be improved in a few ways, at least by emphasising that form fields are excluded from the ModelForm if declared as readon-only, and by providing a tip on modifying the label of a read-only "field" if that "field" is a callable.

[Aymeric Augustin]

Change UI/UX from NULL to False.

[Tim Graham]

Fixed in a386675a6a636b8e6b96277da8e9191e9dc710dc