Allow the Value() class to take a dynamic string directly and set it on the form output?

[krowvin]

You are not able to use variables without setting the variable type to Value().

If for example a user wanted to dynamically color a cell they would need to be able to set "red" or "green" to the variables in the form.

One way around this that @DanielTOsborne showed me was to use .picture = "mystring" - and this works but in my opinion it is not intuitive.

myVar = Value("mystring")

and

myVar = "mystring"

I would recommend something like this, but I can see how the latter would be difficult given when the locals() are loaded in (before the form).

What ended up working per Daniels suggestion was

myVar = Value()
myVar.picture = "mystring"

Use Case

#FORM
<style>
.red {
    background: red;
 }
</style>
<span class="%projectStatus"></span>
#ENDFORM
#DEF
projectStatus = Value()
projectStatus.picture = "red"
#ENDDEF

[DanielTOsborne]

I'm worried about unintended side affects if we did something like this automatically.

However, what might be the better option is to allow any python type to be referenced in the FORM section.
This could be done by checking the type (or look for pop attribute) at report.py#L76, and if it's not Value, then just call str (as if it were just a scalar).

This would make it more intuitive to use, and eliminate a potential source of confusion with Value's behavior.