I'm trying to build a function that will produce a copy of a given FormGroup
. I started with:
function copyForm(form: FormGroup): FormGroup {
const copy = new FormGroup({});
for (let key of Object.keys(form.value)) {
const control = form.controls[key];
/* Copy the data from the control into a new control */
const copyControl = new FormControl({[key]: control.value});
copy.addControl(key, copyControl);
}
But that doesn't work if there is a FormArray
or FormGroup
. This one might work if it were recursive, but I couldn't get a good handle on it.
I also attempted to solve it with
function copyForm(form: FormGroup): FormGroup {
const copy = new FormGroup({});
for (let key of Object.keys(form.value)) {
const control = form.controls[key];
const copyControl = new FormControl({...control.value});
copy.addControl(key, copyControl);
}
return copy;
}
But that didn't work for double-nested FormGroups
, any FormArrays
or regular FormControls
...
I also tried:
function copyForm(form: FormGroup): FormGroup {
const copy = new FormGroup(Object.assign({}, form.value));
return copy;
}
But that gives me the error:
ERROR TypeError: control.setParent is not a function
I'm stumped.
This is the deep copy function I came up with which also retains the associated validator / async validator functions and disabled status of each AbstractControl.
/**
* Deep clones the given AbstractControl, preserving values, validators, async validators, and disabled status.
* @param control AbstractControl
* @returns AbstractControl
*/
export function cloneAbstractControl<T extends AbstractControl>(control: T): T {
let newControl: T;
if (control instanceof FormGroup) {
const formGroup = new FormGroup({}, control.validator, control.asyncValidator);
const controls = control.controls;
Object.keys(controls).forEach(key => {
formGroup.addControl(key, cloneAbstractControl(controls[key]));
})
newControl = formGroup as any;
}
else if (control instanceof FormArray) {
const formArray = new FormArray([], control.validator, control.asyncValidator);
control.controls.forEach(formControl => formArray.push(cloneAbstractControl(formControl)))
newControl = formArray as any;
}
else if (control instanceof FormControl) {
newControl = new FormControl(control.value, control.validator, control.asyncValidator) as any;
}
else {
throw new Error('Error: unexpected control value');
}
if (control.disabled) newControl.disable({emitEvent: false});
return newControl;
}
This is how I would do it:
copyFormControl(control: AbstractControl) {
if (control instanceof FormControl) {
return new FormControl(control.value);
} else if (control instanceof FormGroup) {
const copy = new FormGroup({});
Object.keys(control.getRawValue()).forEach(key => {
copy.addControl(key, copyFormControl(control.controls[key]));
});
return copy;
} else if (control instanceof FormArray) {
const copy = new FormArray([]);
control.controls.forEach(control => {
copy.push(copyFormControl(control));
})
return copy;
}
}
I'm using getRawValue()
instead of value
, because value
won't include controls which are disabled.
I personally use lodash cloneDeep() function found here:
https://lodash.com/docs/#cloneDeep
I use it this way:
const newFormGroup: any = _.cloneDeep(myFormGroup);
And you if you want it strongly typed, you can add as FormGroup
as @Andre Elrico suggested in the comments:
const newFormGroup = _.cloneDeep(myFormGroup) as FormGroup;
If you have simple FormGroups that contain only FormControls (i.e. not FormGroups or FormArrays), and you know their structure in advance, then this is a simple solution:
Note: by using initaliseFormGroup
for initalising the original FormGroup, you will match the validators for each control.
initaliseFormGroup(){
return new FormGroup({
x : new FormControl('', Validators.required),
y : new FormControl('', Validators.minLength(10))
});
}
cloneFormGroup(oldForm: FormGroup){
let newForm = this.initaliseFormGroup()
newForm.patchValue(oldForm.value);
return newForm;
}
If you have more complex forms (with child FormGroups), or want to clone them dynamically without knowing their structure in advance, then the other answers will better suited.