Dynamic optional form section in web2py?

Question

I have a web2py form created via SQLFORM. There is a section of the form that is optional and therefore I want it to be hidden from display by default and only shown when the user checks a checkbox on the form.

What I am doing now is setting the various input form rows to be display none in the controller:

form.element('#mytable_myfield__row')['_style'] = 'display: none'
...

and then in my veiw:

{{extend 'layout.html'}}
<script>
jQuery(document).ready(function($){

    $('#mytable_is_something').change(function() {
        $('#mytable_myfield__row').toggle();
            ...
    });       

});
</script>
<h1>Create Something</h1>
{{=form}}

(where #mytable_is_something is the id of my checkbox)

1. Is this the best way to do this?
2. Since I have several fields whose visibility I want to toggle, is there a way to group them into a DIV and then just toggle the visibility of that div?

Answer 1

1. Is this the best way to do this?

Seems reasonable, though might be cleaner if you move the CSS to a block in the view (or a separate stylesheet) rather than inline.

1. Since I have several fields whose visibility I want to toggle, is there a way to group them into a DIV and then just toggle the visibility of that div?

Probably the best way would be to create a custom form layout.