Angular Reactive Forms

By Arvind Rai, July 09, 2019

Angular reactive form is a model-driven form that handles form inputs whose values change over time. Each change to the form state returns new state that maintains the integrity of model between changes. There are two types of Angular form i.e. reactive form and template-driven form. Reactive forms are more scalable, reusable and testable than template-driven form. If forms are playing major role in our application, we should use reactive form. Template-driven form can be used for basic form requirements such as login form. Reactive forms are created in component class whereas template-driven form is created using directive. Reactive forms can be validated using functions whereas template-driven forms are validated using directives. Reactive forms are immutable whereas template-driven forms are mutable. Reactive forms are more predictable with synchronous access whereas the predictability of template-driven form is lesser and asynchronous. To create a reactive form, Angular provides classes such as FormControl, FormGroup, FormArray and FormBuilder etc.
Here on this page we will create a reactive form with validations. Find the complete example step-by-step.

Technologies Used
1. Import ReactiveFormsModule
2. Create Reactive Form
3. Create Reactive Form with Validations
4. Reactive Form: Submit and Get Value
5. Reactive Form: Set and Patch Value
6. Reactive Form Reset
7. Complete Example
8. Run Application
References
Download Source Code

Technologies Used

Find the technologies being used in our example.
1. Angular 8.0.3
2. TypeScript 3.4.3
3. Node.js 12.5.0
4. Angular CLI 8.0.6

1. Import ReactiveFormsModule

ReactiveFormsModule provides the required classes and directive to create reactive form.

import { ReactiveFormsModule } from '@angular/forms';

@NgModule({
      imports: [
            ------
            ReactiveFormsModule
      ],
      ------
})
export class AppModule { }

2. Create Reactive Form

Find some Angular classes that are used in creating reactive form.
FormControl: Tracks the value and validation state of a form control.
FormGroup: Tracks the value and validity state of a group of FormControl.
FormArray: Tracks the value and validity state of array of FormControl, FormGroup and FormArray.
FormBuilder: Creates a big reactive form with minimum code in Angular. FormBuilder has methods as group(), control() and array() that returns FormGroup, FormControl and FormArray respectively.

Let us understand how to use them.

2.1 FormControl

FormControl tracks the value and validation state of a form control. For every form control such as text, checkbox, radio button we need to create an instance of FormControl in our class.

city = new FormControl();

In our HTML template it will be used as

<input [formControl]="city">

Here [formControl] is FormControlDirective.
To set a default value to our form control, we can pass a default value while instantiating a FormControl in our class.

city = new FormControl('Noida');
married = new FormControl(true);

To fetch the value of a form control, we have to use value property on the instance of FormControl in our class.

console.log(this.city.value);

If the user has entered new value in UI, our FormControl instance will be updated with new value. Now to set a value to a form control at run time, we need to call setValue() method on the instance of FormControl in our class.

setCityValue() {
  this.city.setValue('Varanasi'); 
}

2.2 FormGroup

FormGroup tracks the value and validity state of a group of FormControl. To use it, create an instance of FormGroup with the instances of FormControl.

userForm = new FormGroup({
     name: new FormControl(),
     age: new FormControl('20')
});

In the above code age form control will be pre-populated with the value 20.
Now we create a <form> element in our HTML template. The selector of FormGroupDirective is [formGroup]. We will bind FormGroup instance userForm with the selector [formGroup] and FormControl instances are bound to form control using FormControlName directive i.e. formControlName. Find the HTML code.

<form [formGroup]="userForm" (ngSubmit)="onFormSubmit()">
  Name: <input formControlName="name"  placeholder="Enter Name">
  Age: <input formControlName="age"  placeholder="Enter Age">
  <button type="submit">Submit</button> 
</form>

When we click on submit button, form will be submitted and ngSubmit will call our method onFormSubmit. Now create a method that will be called when form is submitted.

onFormSubmit() {
    console.log('Name:' + this.userForm.get('name').value);
}

FormGroup provides setValue() and patchValue() and both are used to set values to FormGroup instance at run time. The difference between them is that when we use setValue(), we have to set all form controls in our FormGroup and when we use patchValue() then selected form control can be set. Find the example.
1. Using setValue()

this.userForm.setValue({name: 'Mahesh', age: '20' });

It is necessary to mention all from controls in setValue() otherwise it will throw error.
2. Using patchValue()

this.userForm.patchValue({name: 'Mahesh'});

When we use patchValue() then it is not necessary to mention all form controls.
Now to get the value of form control named as name after form submit, we need to write the code as below.

this.userForm.get('name').value

If we want to get all values of the form then we can write code as given below.

this.userForm.value

To reset the form we need to call reset() method on FormGroup instance.

resetForm() { 
    this.userForm.reset();
}

2.3 FormArray

FormArray tracks the value and validity state of array of FormControl, FormGroup and FormArray. The FormArray is used to add and remove form elements at runtime. We can use a FormArray inside a FormGroup as given below.

userForm = new FormGroup({
       name: new FormControl(),
       users: new FormArray([
          new FormControl('Mahesh'),
          new FormControl()
       ])
});

We will write code in HTML form as given below.

<form [formGroup]="userForm" (ngSubmit)="onFormSubmit()">
  <div>
	Name: <input formControlName="name"  placeholder="Enter Name">
  </div>
  <div formArrayName="users">
	<div *ngFor="let user of users.controls; index as i">
	  <input [formControlName]="i" placeholder="Enter User Name">
	  <button type="button" (click)="deleteUserField(idx)">Delete</button>
	</div>
  </div>
  <button type="button" (click)="addUserField()">Add More User</button>  
  <button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

FormArrayName is a directive that syncs a nested FormArray to a DOM element. To add form controls in FormArray at runtime, the instance of FormArray will call push() method that accepts new instance of FormControl and to remove form control we use removeAt() method that accepts index of form control to be removed. Find the code for add and remove methods.

addUserField() { 
     this.users.push(new FormControl()); 
}
deleteUserField(index: number) {
     this.users.removeAt(index);
}

On the form submit, we can access the values of individual form control of FormArray as given below.

for(let i = 0; i < this.users.length; i++) {
   console.log(this.users.at(i).value);
}

To get the value and validity state of FormArray, we can write code as given below.

this.userForm.value 
this.userForm.valid

2.4 FormBuilder

FormBuilder creates reactive form with minimum code using FormGroup, FormControl and FormArray. The FormBuilder has following methods.
group(): Creates FormGroup.
control(): Creates FormControl.
array(): Creates FormArray.

Find the sample example to create a form with FormBuilder using its group() method.

userForm: FormGroup; 
constructor(private formBuilder: FormBuilder) { }

this.userForm = this.formBuilder.group({
	userName: '',
	age: '',		
	isMarried: false
});

Find the code in HTML template.

<form [formGroup]="userForm" (ngSubmit)="onFormSubmit()">
 <div>  <input formControlName="userName"> </div>
 <div> <input formControlName="age" type="number"> </div>
 <div>  <input type="checkbox" formControlName="isMarried"> </div>
 <div>  <button>Submit</button> </div>
</form>

3. Create Reactive Form with Validations

The constructor of FormControl accepts initial control state, sync validators and async validators. A FormControl can be instantiated as following.

new FormControl(state, validator?, asyncValidator?)

First argument is for control state, we can pass any initial value here. Second argument is for synchronous validators which is optional. Third argument is for asynchronous validator which is also optional. In our example we will use only synchronous validators. Now find the reactive form with sync validators using FormBuilder.

userForm: FormGroup; 
constructor(private formBuilder: FormBuilder) { }

this.userForm = this.formBuilder.group({
	userName: ['', [Validators.required, Validators.maxLength(15)]],
	age: ['', [Validators.required, Validators.min(18)]],			
	profile: [null, [Validators.required]],
	technologies: [null, [Validators.required]],
	teamMates: this.formBuilder.array([new FormControl()]),
	gender: ['', Validators.required],
	isMarried: false,
	tc: ['', Validators.requiredTrue]
});

In HTML template we will create a <form> tag and bind our FormGroup instance i.e. userForm using FormGroupDirective with selector formGroup as following.

<form [formGroup]="userForm" (ngSubmit)="onFormSubmit()">
------
</form>

Here we have created text box, select option, multiple select option, radio button and checkbox in our user form. Now we will discuss its HTML template code.

3.1 Text Box

In our reactive form, we have two text boxes i.e. userName and age. The form control userName will be validated for required and maxLength. The form control age will be validated for required and min value.

this.userForm = this.formBuilder.group({
	userName: ['', [Validators.required, Validators.maxLength(15)]],
	age: ['', [Validators.required, Validators.min(18)]],
    ------	
});

In text box HTML code, we will specify userName and age using formControlName directive.

<input formControlName="userName">
<div *ngIf="userName.errors" class="error">
	<div *ngIf="userName.errors.required">
		Username required.
	</div>
	<div *ngIf="userName.errors.maxlength">
		Username can be max 15 characters long.
	</div>
</div>

<input formControlName="age" type="number">
<div *ngIf="age.errors" class="error">
	<div *ngIf="age.errors.required">
		Age required.
	</div>
	<div *ngIf="age.errors.min">
		Minimum age is 18.
	</div>
</div>

To fetch values of userName and age form control in HTML template, we need to create their setter methods in component class.

get userName() {
	return this.userForm.get('userName');
}
get age() {
	return this.userForm.get('age');
}

If validation fails then there will be errors and these errors can be fetched as userName.errors.required, userName.errors.maxlength for userName form control to display error messages. In the same way, validation errors of age form control can be fetched as age.errors.required and age.errors.min.

3.2 Select Option

Here we will create select option and multiple select option form control in our reactive form. profile is for single select option and technologies is for multiple select option.

this.userForm = this.formBuilder.group({
	profile: [null, [Validators.required]],
	technologies: [null, [Validators.required]],
    ------
});

In select option and multiple select option HTML code we will specify profile and technologies using formControlName directive.

<select formControlName="profile" (change)="onProfileChange()">
	<option [ngValue]="null" disabled>Choose your profile</option>
	<option *ngFor="let prf of allProfiles" [ngValue]="prf">
		{{ prf.prName }}
	</option>
</select>
<div *ngIf="profile.errors" class="error">
	<div *ngIf="profile.errors.required">
		Profile required.
	</div>
</div>

<select multiple formControlName="technologies" [compareWith]="compareTech">
	<option *ngFor="let tech of allTechnologies" [ngValue]="tech">
		{{ tech.techName }}
	</option>
</select>
<div *ngIf="technologies.errors" class="error">
	<div *ngIf="technologies.errors.required">
		Technologies required.
	</div>
</div>

To fetch values of profile and technologies form control in HTML template, we need to create their setter methods in component class.

get profile() {
	return this.userForm.get('profile');
}
get technologies() {
	return this.userForm.get('technologies');
}

Validation errors can be fetched using profile.errors.required and technologies.errors.required to display error messages.

3.3 Radio Button

Here we will create radio buttons form control in our reactive form with required validation.

this.userForm = this.formBuilder.group({
	gender: ['', Validators.required],
	------
});

In radio button HTML code, we will specify gender using formControlName directive.

<input type="radio" value="male" formControlName="gender"> Male
<input type="radio" value="female" formControlName="gender"> Female
<div *ngIf="gender.errors" class="error">
	<div *ngIf="gender.errors.required">
		Gender required.
	</div>
</div>

To fetch values of gender form control in HTML template, we need to create its setter method in component class.

get gender() {
	return this.userForm.get('gender');		
}

Validation error can be fetched using gender.errors.required to display error message.

3.4 Checkbox

Here we will create checkbox form control in our reactive form with requiredTrue validation.

this.userForm = this.formBuilder.group({
	tc: ['', Validators.requiredTrue],
	------
});

In checkbox HTML code, we will specify tc using formControlName directive.

<input type="checkbox" formControlName="tc">
<div *ngIf="tc.invalid" class="error">
		Accept T & C.
</div>

To fetch values of tc form control in HTML template, we need to create its setter method in component class.

get tc() {
	return this.userForm.get('tc');		
}

Validation error can be fetched using tc.invalid to display error message.

4. Reactive Form: Submit and Get Value

To submit the form we need to specify a method name using ngSubmit which will be executed after form submit.

<form [formGroup]="userForm" (ngSubmit)="onFormSubmit()">
------
</form>

Suppose we want to fetch value of userName. Our FormGroup instance is userForm. Now fetch value as following.

onFormSubmit() {
	   console.log(this.userForm.get('userName').value);
}

We can also create a class to populate form values. Our class fields names should be same as form control names. In our reactive form we have form controls with names userName, age, profile, technologies, teamMates, gender, isMarried and tc. Now find the class with same fields names.
user.ts

export class User { 
	userName: string;
	age: number;
	teamMates: string[];
        gender: string;
        isMarried: boolean;
        tc: boolean;	
	profile: Profile = null;
	technologies: Technology[];
}

After form submits, we can fetch their values using FormGroup instance as following.

onFormSubmit() {
	let newUser: User = this.userForm.value;
	console.log("User Name: " + user.userName);
}

5. Reactive Form: Set and Patch Value

The FormGroup methods setValue and patchValue both sets the value in form controls of FormGroup. The setValue sets the value in each and every form control of FormGroup. We cannot omit any form control in setValue but when we want to assign only few form controls of FormGroup then we need to use patchValue. We can pass the object of the class which has same field names as form controls of our FormGroup. Find the sample example of patchValue.

setDefaultValues() {
	let user = new User();
	user.userName = "Narendra Modi";
	user.age = 20;
	user.gender = 'male';

	this.userForm.patchValue(user);
}

In the same way we can use setValue.

this.userForm.setValue(user);

6. Reactive Form Reset

To reset reactive form, FormGroup provides reset() method. We can call reset() method on the instance of FormGroup. Suppose we have following form with a button that will call a component method.

<form [formGroup]="userForm" (ngSubmit)="onFormSubmit()">
------
  <button type="button" (click)="resetForm(userForm)">Reset</button>
</form>

Find the component method in which we are calling reset() method on the instance of FormGroup.

resetForm(form: FormGroup) {
   form.reset();
}

We can also reset our form using reset button.

<button type="reset">Reset</button>

7. Complete Example

Find the project structure of our demo application.

angular-demo
|
|--src
|   |
|   |--app 
|   |   |
|   |   |--domain
|   |   |    | 
|   |   |    |--profile.ts
|   |   |    |--technology.ts
|   |   |    |--user.ts
|   |   |
|   |   |--services
|   |   |    | 
|   |   |    |--user-service.ts
|   |   |
|   |   |--user-component
|   |   |    | 
|   |   |    |--user.component.ts
|   |   |    |--user.component.html
|   |   |    |--user.component.css
|   |   |
|   |   |--app.component.ts
|   |   |--app.module.ts 
|   | 
|   |--main.ts
|   |--index.html
|   |--styles.css
|
|--node_modules
|--package.json

Now find the complete code.
profile.ts

export class Profile { 
    constructor(public prId:string, public prName:string) {
    }	
}

technology.ts

export class Technology { 
    constructor(public techId:number, public techName:string) {
    }
}

user.ts

import { Profile } from './profile';
import { Technology } from './technology';

export class User { 
	userName: string;
	age: number;
	teamMates: string[];
        gender: string;
        isMarried: boolean;
        tc: boolean;	
	profile: Profile = null;
	technologies: Technology[];
}

user-service.ts

import { Injectable } from '@angular/core';

import { Profile } from '../domain/profile';
import { Technology } from '../domain/technology';
import { User } from '../domain/user';

@Injectable({
    providedIn: 'root'
})
export class UserService {
    getPofiles(): Profile[] {
        let profiles = [
            new Profile('dev', 'Developer'),
            new Profile('man', 'Manager'),
            new Profile('dir', 'Director')
        ]
        return profiles;
    }
    getTechnologies(): Technology[] {
        let technologies = [
            new Technology(100, 'Java'),
            new Technology(101, 'Angular'),
            new Technology(102, 'Hibernate'),
            new Technology(103, 'Spring')
        ]
        return technologies;
    }
    createUser(user: User) {
        //Log user data in console
        console.log("User Name: " + user.userName);
        console.log("User age: " + user.age);
        console.log("Profile Id: " + user.profile.prId);
        console.log("Profile Name: " + user.profile.prName);
        for (let i = 0; i < user.technologies.length; i++) {
            console.log("Technology Id: " + user.technologies[i].techId);
            console.log("Technology Name: " + user.technologies[i].techName);
        }
        user.teamMates.forEach(element => console.log("Teammate: " + element));
        console.log("Gender: " + user.gender);
        console.log("Married: " + user.isMarried);
        console.log("T & C Accepted: " + user.tc);
    }
}

user.component.ts

import { Component, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
import { FormGroup, FormBuilder, FormControl, FormArray, Validators } from '@angular/forms';

import { UserService } from '../services/user-service';
import { Profile } from '../domain/Profile';
import { Technology } from '../domain/technology';
import { User } from '../domain/user';

@Component({
	selector: 'app-template',
	templateUrl: './user.component.html',
	styleUrls: ['./user.component.css']
})
export class UserComponent implements OnInit {
	isValidFormSubmitted = null;
	allProfiles: Profile[];
	allTechnologies: Technology[];
	userForm: FormGroup;

	constructor(private formBuilder: FormBuilder, private userService: UserService) { }
	ngOnInit(): void {
		this.userForm = this.formBuilder.group({
			userName: ['', [Validators.required, Validators.maxLength(15)]],
			age: ['', [Validators.required, Validators.min(18)]],
			profile: [null, [Validators.required]],
			technologies: [null, [Validators.required]],
			teamMates: this.formBuilder.array([new FormControl()]),
			gender: ['', Validators.required],
			isMarried: false,
			tc: ['', Validators.requiredTrue]
		});
		this.allProfiles = this.userService.getPofiles();
		this.allTechnologies = this.userService.getTechnologies();
	}
	get userName() {
		return this.userForm.get('userName');
	}
	get age() {
		return this.userForm.get('age');
	}
	get profile() {
		return this.userForm.get('profile');
	}
	get technologies() {
		return this.userForm.get('technologies');
	}
	get teamMates(): FormArray {
		return this.userForm.get('teamMates') as FormArray;
	}
	get gender() {
		return this.userForm.get('gender');
	}
	get tc() {
		return this.userForm.get('tc');
	}
	onFormSubmit() {
		this.isValidFormSubmitted = false;
		if (this.userForm.invalid) {
			return;
		}
		this.isValidFormSubmitted = true;
		let newUser: User = this.userForm.value;
		this.userService.createUser(newUser);
		this.resetForm(this.userForm);
	}
	resetForm(form: FormGroup) {
		form.reset();
	}
	setDefaultValues() {
		let user = new User();
		user.userName = "Narendra Modi";
		user.age = 20;
		user.gender = 'male';
		user.profile = this.allProfiles[2];
		user.technologies = [
			this.allTechnologies[1],
			this.allTechnologies[3]
		];
		this.userForm.patchValue(user);
	}
	onProfileChange() {
		let profile: Profile = this.profile.value;
		console.log('Profile Changed: ' + profile.prName);
	}
	compareTech(t1: Technology, t2: Technology): boolean {
		//console.log(t1.techId + '-' + t2.techId);
		return t1 && t2 ? t1.techId === t2.techId : t1 === t2;
	}
	addUserField() {
		this.teamMates.push(new FormControl());
	}
	deleteUserField(index: number) {
		this.teamMates.removeAt(index);
	}
}

user.component.html

<h3>User Information</h3>
<p *ngIf="isValidFormSubmitted" class="success">
	Form submitted successfully.
</p>
<form [formGroup]="userForm" (ngSubmit)="onFormSubmit()">
	<table>
		<tr>
			<td>Name:</td>
			<td>
				<input formControlName="userName">
				<div *ngIf="userName.errors && isValidFormSubmitted != null && !isValidFormSubmitted" class="error">
					<div *ngIf="userName.errors.required">
						Username required.
					</div>
					<div *ngIf="userName.errors.maxlength">
						Username can be max 15 characters long.
					</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Age:</td>
			<td>
				<input formControlName="age" type="number">
				<div *ngIf="age.errors && isValidFormSubmitted != null && !isValidFormSubmitted" class="error">
					<div *ngIf="age.errors.required">
						Age required.
					</div>
					<div *ngIf="age.errors.min">
						Minimum age is 18.
					</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Select Profile: </td>
			<td>
				<select formControlName="profile" (change)="onProfileChange()">
					<option [ngValue]="null" disabled>Choose your profile</option>
					<option *ngFor="let prf of allProfiles" [ngValue]="prf">
						{{ prf.prName }}
					</option>
				</select>
				<div *ngIf="profile.errors && isValidFormSubmitted != null && !isValidFormSubmitted" class="error">
					<div *ngIf="profile.errors.required">
						Profile required.
					</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Select Technologies: </td>
			<td>
				<select multiple formControlName="technologies" [compareWith]="compareTech">
					<option *ngFor="let tech of allTechnologies" [ngValue]="tech">
						{{ tech.techName }}
					</option>
				</select>
				<div *ngIf="technologies.errors && isValidFormSubmitted != null && !isValidFormSubmitted" class="error">
					<div *ngIf="technologies.errors.required">
						Technologies required.
					</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Enter Teammates: </td>
			<td>
				<div formArrayName="teamMates">
					<div *ngFor="let teamMate of teamMates.controls; index as i">
						<input [formControlName]="i" placeholder="Enter teammate name">
						<button type="button" (click)="deleteUserField(i)">Delete</button>
					</div>
				</div>
				<button type="button" (click)="addUserField()">Add More</button>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gender:</td>
			<td>
				<input type="radio" value="male" formControlName="gender"> Male
				<input type="radio" value="female" formControlName="gender"> Female
				<div *ngIf="gender.errors && isValidFormSubmitted != null && !isValidFormSubmitted" class="error">
					<div *ngIf="gender.errors.required">
						Gender required.
					</div>
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Are you married? </td>
			<td>
				<input type="checkbox" formControlName="isMarried">
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Accept T & C </td>
			<td>
				<input type="checkbox" formControlName="tc">
				<div *ngIf="tc.invalid && isValidFormSubmitted != null && !isValidFormSubmitted" class="error">
					Accept T & C.
				</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="2">
				<button>Submit</button>
				<button type="button" (click)="setDefaultValues()">Set Default</button>
				<button type="button" (click)="resetForm(userForm)">Reset</button>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</table>
</form>

user.component.css

table {
    border-collapse: collapse;
}
table, th, td {
    border: 1px solid black;
}
.error {
    color: red;
}
.success {
    color: green;
}

app.component.ts

import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
   selector: 'app-root',
   template: `
		<app-template></app-template>
             `
})
export class AppComponent { 
}

app.module.ts

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { ReactiveFormsModule } from '@angular/forms';

import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { UserComponent } from './user-component/user.component';
import { UserService } from './services/user-service';

@NgModule({
      imports: [
            BrowserModule,
            ReactiveFormsModule
      ],
      declarations: [
            AppComponent,
            UserComponent
      ],
      providers: [
      ],
      bootstrap: [
            AppComponent
      ]
})
export class AppModule { }

8. Run Application

To run the application, find the steps.
1. Download source code using download link given below on this page.
2. Use downloaded src in your Angular CLI application. To install Angular CLI, find the link.
3. Run ng serve using command prompt.
4. Access the URL http://localhost:4200
Find the print screen.