# Model Form Select Values **URL:** \ **Category:** Forms & APIs\ **Created:** [June 23, 2023, 11:03am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/model-form-select-values/21799 "2023-06-23T11:03:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adi2scoops](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/adi2scoops/32/12439_2.png) [@adi2scoops](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/adi2scoops)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 11:03am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/model-form-select-values/21799/1 "2023-06-23T11:03:09Z")
Hello! I seem to be stuck on what seems like it should be a relatively easy task! I have a Model form for creating an Asset, which displays the relevant FK in the select options (Take the ‘Facility’ field as an example from the Model below: ```auto class AssetData(models.Model): Description = models.CharField(blank=True, null=True,max_length=100) UU_Project_Number = models.ForeignKey(Project, null=True, on_delete=models.CASCADE) Site_Code = models.CharField(blank=True, null=True,max_length=5) Facility = models.ForeignKey(Facility, null=True, on_delete=models.CASCADE) Facility_Number = models.IntegerField(blank= False, null= True,) Process = models.ForeignKey(Process, null=True, on_delete=models.CASCADE) Process_Number = models.IntegerField(blank= False, null= True) Arrangement = models.ForeignKey(Arrangement, null=True, on_delete=models.CASCADE ) Arrangement_Number = models.IntegerField(blank= False, null= True) Asset_Group = models.ForeignKey(AssetGroup, null=True, on_delete=models.CASCADE ) Asset_Group_Number = models.IntegerField(blank= False, null= True) Equipment_Group_Identifier = models.ForeignKey(EGI, null = True, on_delete=models.CASCADE) Engineering_Design_Identifier = models.ForeignKey(EDI, null = True, on_delete=models.CASCADE) PID_Tag = models.ForeignKey(PID_Tag, blank=False, null=False,max_length=50, on_delete=models.CASCADE) PID_Tag_NUmber = models.CharField (blank=True, null=True, max_length = 7) Asset_Number = models.CharField(blank=False, null=False,max_length=50) Drawing = models.ForeignKey(Drawing, null = True, blank = False, on_delete=models.CASCADE) @property def friendly_display(self): values = "{}- {}".format(self.Asset_Number, self.Description) return values def __str__ (self): return self.Asset_Number def save(self, *args, **kwargs): super(AssetData, self).save(*args, **kwargs) #Create the Unique Asset Number based on other Fields self.Asset_Number = f'{self.UU_Project_Number}-{self.Site_Code}-{self.Facility}{self.Facility_Number}-\ {self.Process}{self.Process_Number}-{self.Arrangement}{self.Arrangement_Number}-\ {self.Asset_Group}{self.Asset_Group_Number}-{self.PID_Tag}{self.PID_Tag_NUmber}' super().save(*args, **kwargs) ``` For this Model i have created this form: ```auto class AssetData_Form(forms.ModelForm): def __init__ (self,projectid, *args, **kwargs): super(AssetData_Form, self). __init__ (*args, **kwargs) self.fields['Drawing'].queryset = Drawing.objects.filter(UU_Project_Number = projectid) class Meta: model = AssetData exclude = ['UU_Project_Number', 'Site_Code','Asset_Number'] widgets = { 'Facility': forms.Select(attrs={ 'hx-get':" /process_options", 'hx-target': '#id_Process', 'hx-trigger': 'change' }), 'Process': forms.Select(attrs={ 'hx-get': "/arrangement_options" , 'hx-target': '#id_Arrangement', 'hx-trigger': 'change' }), 'Asset_Group': forms.Select(attrs={ 'hx-get': "/EGI_options" , 'hx-target': '#id_Equipment_Group_Identifier', 'hx-trigger': 'change' }), } ``` How can I change the values in the select box from the default of the **str** field of the facility Model to the ‘friendly\_display’ property of the ‘Facility’ Model? ```auto class Facility(models.Model): Facility_Code = models.CharField( blank=True, null=True,max_length=2 ) Facilty_Description = models.CharField( blank=True, null=True,max_length=1000 ) Facilty_Extended_Description = models.CharField( blank=True, null=True,max_length=5000 ) #Process = models.ManyToManyField(Process,through = 'Facility_Process_Link') @property def friendly_display(self): values = "{}- {}".format(self.Facility_Code,self.Facilty_Description) return values def __str__ (self): return self.Facility_Code class Meta: ordering = ['Facility_Code'] ``` ---
**Author:** ![KenWhitesell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/kenwhitesell/32/280_2.png) [@KenWhitesell](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/KenWhitesell)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/model-form-select-values/21799/2 "2023-06-23T13:06:07Z")
See the paragraph _under_ the [`iterator`](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.2/ref/forms/fields/#django.forms.ModelChoiceField.iterator) docs where it talks about using the ` __str__ ` method for replacing the function being used to render the “display” portion of the options. Basically, you will subclass the widget to call your custom function, and use that widget in your form. ---
**Author:** ![adi2scoops](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/adi2scoops/32/12439_2.png) [@adi2scoops](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/adi2scoops)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/model-form-select-values/21799/3 "2023-06-23T18:31:50Z")
Thanks for the advice, sometimes as a newbie to Django the hard part is finding the correct part of the docs to reference! Although i didn’t use that method, it set me on the path to finding a solution, which was overriding the **init** method of the form and initialising the form field as such: ```auto self.fields['Facility'].label_from_instance = lambda obj: "%s" % obj.friendly_display ```