FormGroup with async initialization

Question

I want to build a form in Ionic 2 in which I want to display a list of toggle (each toggle represents a sport).

The sport list being retrieved from DB I was trying to initialize my form within the subscribe() function but it looks like the view is throwing an error because at the time the [formGroup] attribute is parsed, the form doesn't exist yet...

In my view

<form [formGroup]="accountForm">

    <ion-list>

      <!-- Personal info -->
      <ion-list-header padding-top>
        Informations personnelles
      </ion-list-header>
      <ion-item>
        <ion-label stacked>Prénom</ion-label>
        <ion-input formControlName="firstname" [value]="(user | async)?.info.firstname" type="text"></ion-input>
      </ion-item>

      <!-- Sport info -->
      <ion-list-header padding-top>
        Mes préférences sportives
      </ion-list-header>
      <ion-list formArrayName="sports">

        <ion-item *ngFor="let sport of accountForm.controls.sports.controls; let i = index" [formGroupName]="i">
          <ion-label>{{sport.name | hashtag}}</ion-label>
          <ion-toggle formControlName="{{sport.name}}"></ion-toggle>
        </ion-item>

      </ion-list>

    </ion-list>


  </form>

In my controller

ionViewDidLoad() {
    console.log('MyAccountPage#ionViewDidLoad');

    // Retrieve the whole sport list
    this.sportList$ = this.dbService.getSportList();
    this.sportList$.subscribe(list => {

      // Build form
      let sportFormArr: FormArray = new FormArray([]);

      for (let i=0; i < list.length; i++) {
        let fg = new FormGroup({});
        fg.addControl(list[i].id, new FormControl(false));
        sportFormArr.push(fg);
      }

      this.accountForm = this.formBuilder.group({
        firstname: ['', Validators.compose([Validators.maxLength(30), Validators.pattern('[a-zA-Z ]*'), Validators.required])],
        company: [''],
        sports: sportFormArr
      });

      console.log('form ', this.accountForm);
    })
    // Toggled sports already registered to by user

  }

I tried to create the form within the constructor() and use addControl() to add the sport FormArray afterward. This solves the [formGroup] error (of course) but generates a new error regarding the "sports" control not being instantiated (not yet I guess).

Any idea?

Answer 1

Use an *ngIf condition to do a boolean check and load the view accordingly.

<form *ngIf="accountForm" [formGroup]="accountForm">

    <ion-list>

      <!-- Personal info -->
      <ion-list-header padding-top>
        Informations personnelles
      </ion-list-header>
      <ion-item>
        <ion-label stacked>Prénom</ion-label>
        <ion-input formControlName="firstname" [value]="(user | async)?.info.firstname" type="text"></ion-input>
      </ion-item>

      <!-- Sport info -->
      <ion-list-header padding-top>
        Mes préférences sportives
      </ion-list-header>
      <ion-list formArrayName="sports">

        <ion-item *ngFor="let sport of accountForm.controls.sports.controls; let i = index" [formGroupName]="i">
          <ion-label>{{sport.name | hashtag}}</ion-label>
          <ion-toggle formControlName="{{sport.name}}"></ion-toggle>
        </ion-item>

      </ion-list>

    </ion-list>


  </form>