Automatically created Preparation in a button not assigned a `PrepTypeID`

[grantfitzsimmons]

If a user on the New Mexico database does not click on the Preparations button before trying to save, they receive a 500 error.

To Recreate:

1. Create a new Collection Object record naturally on the newmexico2 database without clicking on Preparations (see that the count is 1)
2. See error

In production (v7.7.5):

In development (v7.8.7.1):

Specify 7 Crash Report - 2023-03-04T00 18 40.519Z.txt

IntegrityError at /api/specify/collectionobject/ (1048, "Column 'PrepTypeID' cannot be null") Request Method: POST Request URL: http://newmexico2-v7871-fix.test.specifysystems.org/api/specify/collectionobject/ Django Version: 3.2.15 Python Executable: /opt/specify7/ve/bin/python3.8 Python Version: 3.8.0 Python Path: ['/opt/specify7', '/opt/specify7', '/opt/specify7/ve/bin', '/usr/lib/python38.zip', '/usr/lib/python3.8', '/usr/lib/python3.8/lib-dynload', '/opt/specify7/ve/lib/python3.8/site-packages', '/opt/specify7'] S

Expected Behavior:
You should be able to create a new record without opening the Preparations button before saving. It should assign a PrepTypeID by default based on the form

newmexico2 database
Happens on v7.7.5, v7.8.5, v7.8.7.1, and edge

Form definition: (/specify/resources/view-set/1/)

<cell type="label" labelfor="" label="Preparations"/>
<cell type="subview" id="8" viewname="Preparation" name="preparations" initialize="align=left;btn=true;icon=preparation"/>

[maxpatiiuk]

This has likely been broken for a long while

This is because default value for the Prep Type pick list is not set until the form is displayed.

The solution for this is actually quite a bit more complicated. Think:
Just scanning the form for default values and applying them won't work because:

• Default value in the form definition for pick list fields often uses the pick list item title, rather than value (i.e, default="Sheet" rather than default="/api/specify/preptype/3"), so the resolver mechanism would also need to fetch pick list items - which would require copying/refactoring a lot of pick list code
• With conditional rendering, need to evaluate the condition to know which form definition to use - and let's hope the condition for the conditional rendering does not depend on the default value being set for some field.
• Likely other cases too that I haven't considered yet.

Thus, the workarround for now is to modify the form to render Preparations as a sub-view or form table, not sub view button OR to not make one preparation be added automatically on form load.

@melton-jason can you check how this problem has been set in specify 6? Does it render an invisible form definition to set default values, or does it scan the form definition to find all defaults, resolves the values and sets them?

[melton-jason]

@maxpatiiuk

https://github.com/specify/specify6/blob/945d28f00288d2d64979848fb2fb63fda34bdd1b/src/edu/ku/brc/specify/datamodel/busrules/CollectionObjectBusRules.java#L276-L302

Specify 6 just checks to see if there is a value set as default on the PrepType form. Then using the default value, it runs a query to get the PrepType ID.
(https://github.com/specify/specify6/blob/945d28f00288d2d64979848fb2fb63fda34bdd1b/src/edu/ku/brc/specify/datamodel/busrules/CollectionObjectBusRules.java#L215-L223)

If there is no default value, Specify 6 just ignores the preference and doesn't create a preparation

[maxpatiiuk]

uhh, this is horrible. They literally hard-coded a solution for this very case, without consideration for all the other cases where this could happen.

@grantfitzsimmons should we take time to fix this properly and handle all the edge cases, or just tell everyone that defaults won't work for subview buttons?

[maxpatiiuk]

Solutions for this and #1995 are likely to be one and the same. Thus, see #1995 (comment) for a potential solution that is likely better than #3094 (comment)

[grantfitzsimmons]

We should take the time to fix this for everyone.

[grantfitzsimmons]

Reported again by New Mexico today