Form API vs straight php

If I remember correctly it can be found at http://api.drupal.org

-Olegu
http://www.zbz5.net/

Basically what you want to do is move the form element from the existing form to a spot "lower" in the tree. In the example that follows for the page module edit form, we wrap the taxonomy fieldset in our own fieldset (not very pratical, but hopeful it will help you progress).
Word of warning, your module must either be alphabitically after the module whos fields you want to modify or have a greater weight.
To try it out make a directory called zformmodifier under the modules directory and place the example below in a file called zformmodifier.module.

<?php

function zformmodifier_form_alter($form_id, &$form) {
	// drupal_set_message("Form ID: $form_id");

	if ( $form_id == 'page_node_form' ) {
		// Useful if you want to explore the form fields
		// drupal_set_message("<code>" . print_r($form, TRUE) . '

');

// Get the part of the form we want to wrap
$taxonomy = $form['taxonomy'];

// Remove it from the form
unset($form['taxonomy']);

// Add the wrapper, here we just use a fieldset

$form['taxonomywrapper'] = array('#type' => 'fieldset',
'#title' => 'My taxonomy wrapper',
'#weight' => $taxonomy['#weight']);

// Now add the original form part back as a child of the wrapper
$form['taxonomywrapper']['taxonomy'] = $taxonomy;

}
}

Yes, if you know how to do forms in HTML with PHP already, and you want a normal enter-submit form where you catch all your content yourself, the API does seem to just get in the way

But once you want to work with validation, persistance and themes, it starts paying off.

And when (like this query) you want to modify an existing Drupal form, it's gold.
(But still a bit painful)

My methods are -

1. Create a lightweight development module.
2. Impliment hook_form_alter()

   function demo_form_alter($form_id,&$form){
     drupal_set_message("Altering '$form_id' ".htmlspecialchars(print_r($form,1))."");
   }
   
   function demo_install() {
     // ensure this always runs AFTER core.modules have done their forms;
     db_query("UPDATE {system} SET weight = 3 WHERE name = 'demo'");
   }
   

3. That little bastard will run all over your site, showing what's going on, Find the page you want, and study the structure you want to manipulate. Yeah it's huge.
4. Significantly, your new module may get called asynchronously with the other modules that act on the form. If you want to mess with functionality that something else has but there (adding categories is a form_alter action done to node-form by taxonomy.module) You have to be called after it's done its thing. Do this by setting the system weight of your new module.
   That's what the demo_install does. I listed it above because you have to have it there from the very start of testing or it gets hairy.
5. So, right. The categories fieldset is put into the form as $form['taxonomy'][1] and [2] (I've enabled two vocabs, as I think that's what you want to do)
6. It basic, although not trivial to manipulate that fieldset using normal array assignment.
7. Adding your own field additions (like the majority of modules do) is easier, and you don't have to worry (much) about load order.

   function demo_form_alter($form_id,&$form){
     drupal_set_message("Altering '$form_id' ".htmlspecialchars(print_r($form,1))."");
     if($form['#id'] == 'node-form'){
       $form['taxonomy']['whocares'] = array(
         '#type' => 'checkbox',
         '#title' => 'Do I care?',
       );
     }
   }
   

I believe your desire for 'tabs' (A major restructuring, I think) could begin to be addressed by trying to go :

function demo_form_alter($form_id,&$form){
  // Shift ALL the current form into two bags.
  if($form['#id'] == 'node-form'){
    $tab1 = array(
      '#type' => 'fieldset',
      '#title' => 'Node'
    );
    $tab2 = array(
      '#type' => 'fieldset',
      '#title' => 'Tags'
    );
    // move categories into new placeholder
    $tab2['taxonomy'] = $form['taxonomy'];
    unset($form['taxonomy']);

    // move everything else into the other tab (but not the form properties)
    foreach(element_children($form) as $id){
      $tab1[$id] = $form[$id];
      unset($form[$id]);
    }
    $form['tab1'] = $tab1;
    $form['tab2'] = $tab2;
  }
} 

... works for me, take it from there!

.dan.
How to troubleshoot Drupal | http://www.coders.co.nz/

but for the example you need to create the module myform (the example goes in a file called myform.module in the directory modules/myform). Note if you are using Drupal 5 you will also need a myform.info file (see below). Copy the sample and place in myform.module, then enable the module. Now you can use the path 'myform/sample' to access the form. If you site is at http://www.example.com the URL would be http://www.example.com/myform/sample (without clean URLS that would be http://www.example.com/index.php?q=myform/sample).

If using Drupal 5 you will also need a myform.info (also in modules/myform) that looks something like this

name = My Form
description = Playpen for form API

print drupal_get_token('poll-form');

You need to use the right value, which would be (from the top of my head): poll_node_form. However, I'm sure this approach is doomed.

As to II: how does it fail? Do you use the core poll module or another module?

Node forms can be printed elsewhere with:

$node = array('uid' => $user->uid, 'name' => $user->name, 'type' => $type);
return drupal_get_form($type .'_node_form', $node);

PS It's best to open a new thread for these kind of questions.
--
The Manual | Troubleshooting FAQ | Tips for posting | How to report a security issue.

To embed an existing form into another form or any other place try to use www.drupal.org/project/subform_element
This module allows you to build a form which consists of one subform element which embeds any of existing forms.
----------------
Regards,
Dmitry Kresin, ARDAS group - Web site development, Drupal services, Software development, IT outsourcing.

hi did u solve your problem?

i am trying to create this form and retrieve the values of the checkboxes to be processed in drupal. perhaps you can help me get started. the rest of my post is here http://drupal.org/node/777464

hi All

I am trying to get the values from a form a created in drupal 6.x. i have not used this type of code to create the form

<?php
$form['cta_miniform_name'] = array(
				'#type' => 'textfield',
				'#size' => 20,
				'#maxlength' => 40,
				'#default_value' => t('Name'),
				'#required' => TRUE,
		);
?>

because it is too cumbersome to create the form i wanted. instead i have used code like this

<?php
function cta_admin($name = NULL) {
    
    drupal_add_js($base_path . 'sites/all/modules/cta/formscript.js');
    drupal_add_css(drupal_get_path('module', 'cta') .'/cta_style.css');
    
    $x = 0;
    $y = 0;
    
    $outputtable = '<form id="cta-blueflag"><div id="tableresult" style="width:400px;"><table><tr><td>Name</td><td>Details</td><td>Address</td><td>Skill Area</td><tr>';
    
    $result = db_query('SELECT * FROM {kcfblocks_blueflag} WHERE contacted = 0');
    
    while ($data = db_fetch_object($result)){
	$x = $data->memberid;
	$y++;
	$outputtable .= '<tr>
	<td><input type="checkbox" value="' . $x . '" id="contacted' . $y . '">' . $data->name . '</td>
	<td>' . $data->email . '<br/>' . $data->company . '<br/>' . $data->telephone . '<br/>' . $data->contacttype . '</td>
	<td><a onclick="showhide(\'addresstable\',' . $x . ')">' . substr($data->address1, 0, 5) . '...</a>
	<table class="addresstable" style="display: none;" id="addresstable'. $x . '">
	<tr><td>' . $data->address1 . '</td></tr>
	<tr><td>' . $data->address2 . '</td></tr>
	<tr><td>' . $data->town . '</td></tr>
	<tr><td>' . $data->district . '</td></tr>
	<tr><td>' . $data->postcode . '</td></tr>
	<tr><td>' . $data->country . '</td></tr></table>
	<td><a onclick="showhide(\'skillstable\',' . $x . ')">' . substr($data->skillarea, 0, 5) . '...</a>
	<table class="skillstable" style="display: none;" id="skillstable'. $x . '">
	<tr><td>' . $data->skillarea . '</td></tr>
	<tr><td>Skill Description<br/>' . $data->skilldescription . '</td></tr></table>';
	$outputtable .= '</tr>';
    }
    
    $outputtable .= '</table></div><br/></form>';
    
   
  
    
  $output = '<div id="ctaadmin">CTA Admin<br/><h3>Recent Blue Flag Membership applications</h3>' . $outputtable . '</div>' . drupal_get_form('cta_adminform');
  return $output;
}

function cta_adminform(){
    $form['submit'] = array(
				'#type' => 'submit',
				'#value' => t('Submit'),
		);
		
    return $form;
}

function cta_adminform_submit(){
    
    drupal_process_form('cta-blueflag', $form, $form_state);
    
    dsm($form);
    
}
?>

as u can see im trying to get the values out of my custom HTML form but i am unable to do so...

please could somebody help me...

thanks

chris

It sounds like what you want is to set $form_state['rebuild'] = TRUE in your submit handler. That will cause the form to be rebuilt. Your form building function will get a copy of the populated form_state, and there will be no redirection. That'll give you a chance to add additional information in the form building function itself.

--
Lullabot! | Eaton's blog | VotingAPI discussion

If you set
'#required' => TRUE

for the form element you don't need those validation options testing for empty fields

<?php
/**
* Version: Drupal 6.x
*
* A small example module of using the form api
* to display and process a form
* that is not used to extend the basic node content type
*
* In this sample the form collects two numbers
* and multiplies them together
*/


/**
* Implementation of hook_help().
*
* Throughout Drupal, hook_help() is used to display help text at the top of
* pages. Some other parts of Drupal pages get explanatory text from these hooks
* as well. We use it here to provide a description of the module on the
* module administration page.
*/
function myform_help($section) {
  switch ($section) {
    case 'admin/modules#description':
      // This description is shown in the listing at admin/modules.
      return t('The myform module multiplies two numbers together.');
  }
}

/**
* Implementation of hook_perm().
*
*/
function myform_perm() {
  return array('mutiple numbers');
}

/**
* Implementation of hook_menu().
*
*/
function myform_menu() {
  $items = array();

  // This determines the path used to show the form and also makes a menu entry
  // This first path is for the entry form
  $items['myform/sample'] = array(
    'title' => t('sample form'),
      'page callback' => 'drupal_get_form',            // drupal_get_form, registers the given form in drupal
       'page arguments' => array('myform_sample'),        // myform_sample, the name of the form to register
    'access arguments' => array('mutiple numbers'),
  );
     
  // This path is for the routine that actually does the multplication
  // It is only setup as a callback (no menu entry)
  $items['myform/multiple'] = array(
    'title' => t('Multiplication Results'),
      'page callback' => 'myform_multiple',            // myform_multiple just returns page text
       'page arguments' => array(2, 3),
    'access arguments' => array('mutiple numbers'),
    'type' => MENU_CALLBACK,
  );
   
  return $items;
}

function myform_sample($form_state) {
    $form = array();
   
    // Build up the form
    // See api.drupal.org/?q=api/file/developer/topics/forms_api.html/ (quickstart guide)
    // and api.drupal.org/api/file/developer/topics/forms_api_reference.html (forms api)
    // for more information on creating forms
   
    $form['value1'] = array(
      '#type' => 'textfield',
      '#title' => t('Value 1'),
      '#size' => 4,
      '#maxlength' => 4,
      '#description' => t('The first value to perform the multiplication with.'),
      '#required' => TRUE,
      '#default_value' => $form_state['values']['value1']
    );
   
    $form['value2'] = array(
      '#type' => 'textfield',
      '#title' => t('Value 2'),
      '#size' => 4,
      '#maxlength' => 4,
      '#description' => t('The second value to perform the multiplication with.'),
      '#required' => TRUE,
      '#default_value' => $form_state['values']['value2']
    );

    if(isset($form_state['values']['mulresult'])) {
      $form['mulresult'] = array(
        '#type' => 'item',
        '#title' => t('Result'),
        '#value' => t($form_state['values']['mulresult']),
        //'#disabled' => TRUE,
        '#size' => strlen($form_state['values']['mulresult'])
      );
    }
   
    // Make sure we have a submit button

    $form['submit'] = array(
        '#type' => 'submit',
        '#value' => t('Multiply values')
    );

   
    // The name of the form determines the
    // default validation and submit function names
    //
    // In this case
    //    Validation: myform_sample_validate()
    //    Submit: my_form_submit()
   
    return $form;
}

function myform_sample_validate($form, &$form_state) {
    //if ( !isset($form_state['values']['value1']) ) {
    //    form_set_error('value1', t('You must provide the first multiplication value.'));
    //}
    //else 
    if ( !is_numeric($form_state['values']['value1']) ) {
        form_set_error('value1', t('The first multiplication value must be a number.'));
    }   

    //if ( !isset($form_state['values']['value2']) ) {
    //    form_set_error('value2', t('You must provide the second multiplication value.'));
    //}
    //else 
    if ( !is_numeric($form_state['values']['value2']) ) {
        form_set_error('value2', t('The second multiplication value must be a number.'));
    }   
}

function myform_sample_submit($form, &$form_state) {
    // Submit routines do not directly produce any output
    // They do something with the form values
    // which is typically to store them in the database
    // then redirect to a path to determine what page is shown next
   
    // In this case the path constructe includes the two values
   
    //$form_state['redirect'] = 'myform/multiple/'
    //    . $form_state['values']['value1'] . '/'
    //    . $form_state['values']['value2'];
    $form_state['values']['mulresult'] = myform_multiple($form_state['values']['value1'],$form_state['values']['value2']);
    $form_state['rebuild'] = 'TRUE';
    //    . $form_state['values']['value1'] . '/'
    //    . $form_state['values']['value2'];
}
   

function myform_multiple($value1, $value2) {
    //$output = '<p>';
    $output = $value1. ' * ' . $value2 . ' = ' . ($value1 * $value2);
    //$output .= '</p>';
   
    return $output;
}
?>

This is my first step to making my own modules by learning about forms. I have to say I am impressed by the Drupal codebase. I am really impressed by the form functions. Very beautiful design. This is going to work nicely for my site. My favorite is the way it looks when a field is missing and is required. Very professional looking.

look at /myform instead - if you look at the navigation menu you'll see it adds a menu item for you.