I am trying to filter a model’s objects dynamically depending on what the user selects in a form. The form allows selecting from two dropdown lists. Selecting from either dropdown is optional. If the user does not select anything and clicks Submit, there will be an empty search results page. I believe I didn’t do some things correctly. When I extract data from form.cleaned_data, when field_1 is only selected by the user, its value is assigned to field_2 and field_1 ends up being assigned the string “field_1”. Same for when only field_2 is selected. Why is it switching the value assignment and assigning the string name of each to itself?
Output

self.kwargs = {"field_1": field_2_value, "field_2": "field_2"}
self.kwargs = {"field_1": "field_1", "field_2": field_1_value}

However, when the user selects a value from each dropdown list, the values are properly assigned.

Here is my code:

views.py

class MyDataView(generic.ListView):
    template_name = "my_data/my_data.html"
    context_object_name = "my_data_list"

    def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
        context = super(MyDataView, self).get_context_data(**kwargs)
        context["form"] = SearchForm
        return context

    def get_queryset(self):
        # Update and create data in the MyData model
        populate_my_data()

        return MyData.objects.all()


class MyDataSearcher(FormView):
    form_class = SearchForm

    def form_valid(self, form):
        field_1 = form.cleaned_data.get("field_1 ", "")
        field_2 = form.cleaned_data.get("field_2 ", "")

        kwargs = {}

        if field_1 :
            kwargs["field_1 "] = field_1 

        if field_2 :
            kwargs["field_2 "] = field_2 
    
        # Redirect to the search results page
        return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse("my_data:search_results_view", kwargs=kwargs))


class SearchResultsView(generic.ListView):
    model = MyData
    template_name = "my_data/search_results.html"

    def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
        context = super(SearchResultsView, self).get_context_data(**kwargs)

        my_data_list = []
        field_1= self.kwargs.get("field_1", "")
        field_2 = self.kwargs.get("field_2 ", "")
        context["no_result"] = ""

        filters = {}

        if filters:
            try:
                my_data_list = MyData.objects.filter(**filters)
            except (KeyError, MyData.DoesNotExist):
                return render(
                    self.request,
                    "my_data/table_viewer.html",
                    {
                        "error_message": "No data filters selected"
                    }
                )
        else:
            context["no_result"] = "Please select from the lists"

        context["my_data_list"] = my_data_list
        context["field_1"] = field_1
        context["field_2"] = field_2

        # NOTE: For debugging
        context["kwargs"] = self.kwargs

        return context

forms.py

from django import forms

from .populate_data import PopulateChoices


POPULATED_CHOICES = PopulateChoices()


class SearchForm(forms.Form):
    field_1 = forms.ChoiceField(
        choices=POPULATED_CHOICES.field_1_choices,
        label="Field 1",
        required=False
    )

    field_2 = forms.ChoiceField(
        choices=POPULATED_CHOICES.field_2_choices,
        label="Field 2",
        required=False
    )

urls.py

urlpatterns = [
    path("table_viewer/", views.MyDataView.as_view(), name="my_data_view"),
    path("table_viewer/search/", views.MyDataSearcher.as_view(), name="my_data_searcher"),
    path("search_results/<str:field_1>/<str:field_2>/", views.SearchResultsView.as_view(), name="search_results_view"),
    path("search_results/field_1/<str:field_1>/", views.SearchResultsView.as_view(), name="search_results_view"),
    path("search_results/<str:field_2>/field_2/", views.SearchResultsView.as_view(), name="search_results_view"),
    path("search_results/", views.SearchResultsView.as_view(), name="search_results_view")
]

forms.py

<form action={% url "my_data:my_data_searcher" %} method="post">
  {% csrf_token %}
  {{ form }}
  <input name="submitted" type="submit" value="Search">
</form>

I’m expecting that field_1 would only be in the self.kwargs when only field_1 is selected.

self.kwargs = {"field_2": field_2_value}

And when field_2 is only selected, it should only be in self.kwargs.

self.kwargs = {"field_1": field_1_value}