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Drupal 5: Making forms that display their own results
November 22, 2006
Drupal's Form API offers advanced features for validation, processing, and (in version 5) multi-part forms that span several pages. Sometimes, though, you need to do something simple: write a form that does nothing but display some formatted information based on the data that was submitted.
Here's a short snippet of code that demonstrates how Drupal 5's new #multistep flag (used for complex, multi-page forms) can also simplify the little problems.
<?php
function multistep_example_form($form_values = NULL) {
$form = array();
// Setting #multistep to true activates some special form
// handling code for Drupal. First, the FormAPI makes sure
// that the results of the form's submission are passed back
// into the builder function when the page loads for the second
// time. That gives it a chance to build a different version of
// the form (with additional options, for example). It also
// does magickal voodoo that keeps validation working properly
// in those complex multi-page forms. For now, we won't
// worry about that.
$form['#multistep'] = TRUE;
// Setting #redirect to false means that Drupal *won't* attempt
// to reload a clean copy of the form (by redirecting to the
// current page, and reloading) when it's submitted. In a multistep
// form, we want to keep the data around so it can be displayed,
// or passed on to a subsequent step.
$form['#redirect'] = FALSE;
// Remember: in a #multistep form, Drupal makes sure that the
// $form_values array is passed into this builder function once
// you submit the form. That gives us a chance to display different
// form fields based on what was previously submitted.
if ($form_values === NULL) {
// We're entering the form for the first time. Display the form!
$form['text'] = array(
'#type' => 'textfield',
'#title' => t('Text field'),
'#required' => TRUE,
);
$form['more_text'] = array(
'#type' => 'textarea',
'#title' => t('A bigger text field'),
);
$form['submit'] = array(
'#type' => 'submit',
'#value' => t('Submit'),
);
}
else {
// $form_values is populated, which means we're coming in a second
// time. Let's display the results instead of the original form fields.
$form['results'] = array(
'#type' => 'item',
'#title' => t('The results of your form submission'),
'#value' => _multistep_example_format_values($form_values),
);
}
return $form;
}
function _multistep_example_format_values($form_values = array()) {
$header = array(t('Key'), t('Value'));
$rows = array();
foreach ($form_values as $key => $value) {
$row = array();
$row[] = $key;
$row[] = check_plain($value);
$rows[] = $row;
}
return theme('table', $header, $rows);
}
?>That's all there is to it! Obviously, most modules will need to do some more complex formatting than that when they display their results. But the skeleton is there, and should serve you well.
Comments
Thanks, Nice snippet :-)
Thanks,
Nice snippet :-)
What about form_alter?
Your example assumes your are building a node module (e.g. hook_form).
How would (or would) this need to be modified to work on a module that was extending a node via hook_form_alter?
Lets say i have a nodeapi module taht wannts to add a second stage (part 2 of a multipart form) to the original node form ONCE ITS BEEN SUBMITTED. How would your example be modified to do that?
Could you provide a skeleton?
thanks much for the good articles
I am getting following
I am getting following error
Call to undefined function _multistep_example_format_values(). What may be the reason.
Any ideas on how to integrating a pager table with results
I am trying to display the results across pages using the pager functions. how best can I do this - is it even possible?
thanks
Great post
Great post, but any suggest how to replace standart /node/add form by own form?
Thanks.
Help me please
I am getting following error too. Help me please.
Thanks
I get errors too, but it's Ok, the idea is clear :). A usefull peace of code, really.
Great post!
Great post and great job! But the same thing...getting errors.
Your suggestions are very
Your suggestions are very concrete and helpful. I’ll pass them on to writers who are maintaining their own blogs. Keep up the good work, its appreciated by the little guys..
this just doesn't work
Copy pasted this in to a module I'm developing in Drupal 5.1 and I don't get to step 2. No values are passed to the form after the first submit?
Would dearly love to know how to get this goign as I've lost a day on it.
I'm seeing this in 5.2 too
I'm seeing similar behavior; sometimes you have to submit twice before the value actually makes it into the '$form_values' array.
Check for Caching
I had this same problem. Try using the cache exclude module to exclude the url of your form and this problem will go away.
I am using this for a complex search form but just one problem
This is a really useful article. I am trying to create my own complex search form that is displayed as a tab under the search page. This solution works really well except that I am displaying a sortable table. When I click on a sortable column on my table it redisplays the original form only. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to redisplay the sortable table?
Can this work for the 'get'
Can this work for the 'get' form method? I tried it by simply adding:
$form['method'] = 'get';...but now there are no values in $form_values.
Using the 'get' method
Are we able to use the 'get' method with this technique? When I add this to the form:
$form['#method'] = 'get';... the $form_values are empty.
Can't wait to try it. I've
Can't wait to try it. I've been searching drupal.org for anything like this for countless hours. This is exactly what I wanted to do.
Finally! I've been searching
Finally! I've been searching all over trying to find out how to do this. Should have know better and came to the lullabots first!
Cheers!
Joel
thanks the post.
thanks the post.
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