Forms API MultiStep w/ Checkboxes: can't set default values

Thank you! I used your workaround in revision 1.10 of the RelatedContent module. Take a look at _relatedcontent_form_add_table(). It works like a charm.

It is worth pointing out for everyone else who is strugling with this very annoying bug, that it is the use of #attributes instead of the more proper #default_value that is the trick/hack. Very clever.

I'm not sure if this relates to what you're doing but I found the following code in the api concerning checkboxes. It is an example of how they're implemented and shows how defaults are set. This is the same for D4.7->D6 as far as I can tell. I'm using D6:

<?php
$form['node_options_'. $node->type] = array(
  '#type' => 'checkboxes', 
  '#title' => t('Default options'), 
  '#default_value' => variable_get('node_options_'. $node->type, array('status', 'promote')),
  '#options' => array(
    'status' => t('Published'), 
    'moderate' => t('In moderation queue'), 
    'promote' => t('Promoted to front page'),
    'sticky' => t('Sticky at top of lists'),
    'revision' => t('Create new revision'),
  ),
  '#description' => t('Users with the <em>administer nodes</em> permission will be able to override these options.'),
);
?>

It would suggest that your code should look like this:

<?php
...
    case 2:
      $options = array('10' => t('Bobby'), '12' => t('Ralph'), '20' => t('George'));
      $defaults['test'][] = '12';

      $form['details'] = array (
        '#type' => 'fieldset',
        '#title' => t('Details'),
        '#collapsible' => TRUE,
        '#collapsed' => TRUE,
      );

      $form['details']['admin'] = array (
        '#type' => 'checkboxes',
        '#title' => t('Only admin can view'),
        //'#default_value' => $defaults['test'], // changed to the line below...
        '#default_value' => variable_get('node_options_'. $node->type, $defaults['test']),
        '#options'  => $options,
      );
...
?>

I'm using this code and it seems to work for me. I found it here. I hope this helps somebody! I was looking for this info too. I'm sorry if I'm off topic.

This has not been fixed with Drupal 5.12, it's still a BUG and it's been bugging me for a day now... so thanks to criticnc that coed works like a charm!

I tested examples from the forms_api_reference for select (#multiple => TRUE), radios and checkboxes... none of them worked in a multistep form, this is a VERY annoying bug indeed.

This is a bug in D6 FAPI as well, see http://drupal.org/node/311651.

Based on critincy's code I made a function out of it. It is used in a multistep form where the user can go forward _and_ backwards through the forms. Where going backwards, the checkbox default is set for a second time.

/**
 * Build checkboxes for multistep form.
 *
 * To work around core bug that checkbox default can only be set the first time.
 *
 * @param array $properties checkboxes properties.
 * @see drupal.org/node/187413
 */
function _mymodule_checkboxes($properties = array()) {
  $default = array(
    '#title' => 'checkboxes',
    '#options' => array(),
    '#default_value' => array(),
    '#tree' => TRUE,
    '#weight' => 0,
  );
  $properties = array_merge($default, $properties);
  $count = 1;

  // Set checkboxes form element properties.
  $form_element['#tree'] = $properties['#tree'];
  $form_element['#weight'] = $properties['#weight'];
  
  // Set array of checkboxes
  if (!empty($properties['#options'])) {
    foreach ($properties['#options'] as $key => $option) {
      $checkbox = array(
        '#type'         => 'checkbox',
        '#title'        => check_plain($option),
        '#return_value' => $key,
        '#attributes'   => isset($properties['#default_value'][$key]) ? array('checked' => 'checked') : NULL,
      );
      // Add prefix to first, suffix to last of checkboxes.
      if ($count == 1) {
        $checkbox['#prefix'] = '<div class="form-item"><label>' . $properties['#title'] . '</label><div class="form-checkboxes">';
      } elseif ($count == count($properties['#options'])) {
         $checkbox['#suffix'] = '</div></div>';
      }

      $checkbox_prefix = $properties['#tree'] ? '' : 'checkbox_';
      $form_element[$checkbox_prefix . $key] = $checkbox;
      ++$count;
    }
  }
  return $form_element;
}

Usage example:

        $form['accessories'] = _mymodule_checkboxes(
          array(
            '#title' => t('Accessories'),
            '#options' => $options,
            '#default_value' => $default,
            '#weight' => 4,
          )
        );

But, instead of making workarounds, this should be solved in core.

Sutharsan's right, of course. This bug has been around a while and strikes me as a fairly big one. Is anyone actively wortking on patching core? I unfortunately have no idea where to start.

Here's my D6 workaround for a multistep node form:

/**
 * Implementation of hook_form_alter().
 *
 * When first adding the node, put the 'Title' field on its own page in a
 * multistep node form.  We need to do this in hook_form_alter() itself
 * instead of a form_id-specific form alter so that we're likely to come after
 * everyone else's alterings, e.g. taxonomy, menu, etc.
 */
function example_form_alter(&$form, $form_state, $form_id) {
  $type = node_get_types('type', $node);
  if ($form_id == 'example_node_form') {
    if (arg(1) != 'add') {
      $node = $form['#node'];
    }
    
    if (isset($node->section)) {
      $section = $node->section;
    }
    elseif (isset($form_state['section'])) {
      $section = $form_state['section'];
    }
    elseif (isset($form_state['values']['section'])) {
      $section = $form_state['values']['section'];
    }
    
    if (empty($section)) {
      [step 1 fields here]
    }
    else {
      [step 2 fields here]
      
      // Add a submit handler to copy the version values from
      // $form_state['storage'] to $form_state['values']
      $form['#submit'][] = 'crmapi_node_form_submit';
      // For the actual submit button, add a handler to clear out
      // $form_state['storage'] entirely so that we actually submit the form.
      $form['buttons']['submit']['#submit'][] = 'crmapi_node_form_final_submit';
      
      if (arg(1) == 'add') {
        // Fix FUBAR Drupal handling of chewckboxes in multistep forms
        _example_form_checkboxes($form);
      }
    }
  }
}


/*
 * Helper function to step through form elements and fix default
 * values for checkboxes.
 */
function _example_form_checkboxes(&$form) {
  foreach (element_children($form) as $child) {
    if ($form[$child]['#type'] == 'checkbox') {
      if ($form[$child]['#default_value'] == TRUE) {
        $form[$child]['#attributes'] = array('checked' => 'checked');
      }
    }
    elseif ($form[$child]['#type'] == 'fieldset') {
      foreach (element_children($form[$child]) as $grandchild) {
        if ($form[$child][$grandchild]['#type'] == 'checkbox') {
          if ($form[$child][$grandchild]['#default_value'] == TRUE) {
            $form[$child][$grandchild]['#attributes'] = array('checked' => 'checked');
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

It's really not recursive, but it works well enough for the standard node forms (I don;t think I've seen too many node forms with nested fieldsets)

Is this still an issue in modern Drupal?

still having issues in Drupal 7.31