Introduction

Flask and HTML forms allow you to capture user input in web applications. In this guide, we'll explore how to create HTML forms, submit user data, and handle it using Flask. You'll learn how to build interactive web applications that respond to user input.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Flask Application

Before working with HTML forms, make sure you have a Flask application. If not, you can create a basic Flask app like this:

from flask import Flask, request, render_template
app = Flask(__name)
        

Ensure you have Flask installed and templates set up in a "templates" folder.

Step 2: Creating an HTML Form

Create an HTML form to capture user input. Here's a simple example:

<form method="POST" action="/submit">
    <label for="name">Name:</label>
    <input type="text" id="name" name="name" required>
    <br>
    <label for="email">Email:</label>
    <input type="email" id="email" name="email" required>
    <br>
    <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
        

This form includes fields for name and email. The method="POST" attribute specifies that the form data will be sent to the server for processing.

Step 3: Handling Form Data in Flask

In your Flask application, create a route to handle the form submission. Here's a Flask route that processes the submitted data:

@app.route('/submit', methods=['POST'])
def submit():
    name = request.form['name']
    email = request.form['email']
    return f"Name: {name}, Email: {email}"
        

This route uses request.form to access the form data and returns a response with the received data.

Step 4: Running Your Application

As usual, run your Flask application with the following code at the end of your script:

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run()
        

Now, you can run your application with the command python your_app.py and access the form to submit data.

Conclusion

Flask and HTML forms are powerful tools for capturing and processing user input in web applications. By creating HTML forms, defining routes to handle form data, and processing the user input in your Flask application, you can build interactive web applications that engage users.