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<td><h1>Code Igniter User Guide Version 1.4.0</h1></td> | |
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Form Helper | |
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<h1>Form Helper</h1> | |
<p>The Form Helper file contains functions that assist in working with forms.</p> | |
<h2>Loading this Helper</h2> | |
<p>This helper is loaded using the following code:</p> | |
<code>$this->load->helper('form');</code> | |
<p>The following functions are available:</p> | |
<h2>form_open()</h2> | |
<p>Creates an opening form tag with a base URL <strong>built from your config preferences</strong>. It will optionally let you | |
add form attributes and hidden input fields.</p> | |
<p>The main benefit of using this tag rather than hard coding your own HTML is that it permits your site to be more portable | |
in the event your URLs ever change.</p> | |
<p>Here's a simple example:</p> | |
<code>echo form_open('email/send');</code> | |
<p>The above example would create a form that points to your base URL plus the "email/send" URI segments, like this:</p> | |
<code><form method="post" action="http:/www.your-site.com/index.php/email/send" /></code> | |
<h4>Adding Attributes</h4> | |
<p>Attributes can be added by passing an associative array to the second parameter, like this:</p> | |
<code> | |
$attributes = array('class' => 'email', 'id' => 'myform');<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_open('email/send', $attributes);</code> | |
<p>The above example would create a form similar to this:</p> | |
<code><form method="post" action="http:/www.your-site.com/index.php/email/send" class="email" id="myform" /></code> | |
<h4>Adding Hidden Input Fields</h4> | |
<p>Hidden fields can be added by passing an associative array to the third parameter, like this:</p> | |
<code> | |
$hidden = array('username' => 'Joe', 'member_id' => '234');<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_open('email/send', '', $hidden);</code> | |
<p>The above example would create a form similar to this:</p> | |
<code><form method="post" action="http:/www.your-site.com/index.php/email/send" class="email" id="myform" /><br /> | |
<input type="hidden" name="username" value="Joe" /><br /> | |
<input type="hidden" name="member_id" value="234" /></code> | |
<h2>form_open_multipart()</h2> | |
<p>This function is absolutely identical to the <dfn>form_open()</dfn> tag above except that it adds a multipart attribute, | |
which is necessary if you would like to use the form to upload files with.</p> | |
<h2>form_hidden()</h2> | |
<p>Lets you generate hidden input fields. You can either submit a name/value string to create one field:</p> | |
<code>form_hidden('username', 'johndoe');<br /> | |
<br /> | |
// Would produce:<br /><br /> | |
<input type="hidden" name="username" value="johnodoe" /></code> | |
<p>Or you can submit an associative array to create multiple fields:</p> | |
<code>$data = array(<br /> | |
'name' => 'John Doe',<br /> | |
'email' => 'john@some-site.com',<br /> | |
'url' => 'http://www.some-site.com'<br /> | |
);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_hidden($data);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
// Would produce:<br /><br /> | |
<input type="hidden" name="name" value="John Doe" /><br /> | |
<input type="hidden" name="email" value="john@some-site.com" /><br /> | |
<input type="hidden" name="url" value="http://www.some-site.com" /></code> | |
<h2>form_input()</h2> | |
<p>Lets you generate a standard text input field. You can minimally pass the field name and value in the first | |
and second parameter: | |
<code>echo form_input('username', 'johndoe');</code> | |
<p>Or you can pass an associative array containing any data you wish your form to contain:</p> | |
<code>$data = array(<br /> | |
'name' => 'username',<br /> | |
'id' => 'username',<br /> | |
'value' => 'johndoe',<br /> | |
'maxlength' => '100',<br /> | |
'size' => '50',<br /> | |
'style' => 'width:50%',<br /> | |
);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_input($data);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
// Would produce:<br /><br /> | |
<input type="text" name="username" id="username" value="johndoe" maxlength="100" size="50" style="width:50%" /></code> | |
<p>If you would like your form to contain some additional data, like JavaScript, you can pass it as a string in the | |
third parameter: | |
<code>$js = 'onClick="some_function()"';<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_input('username', 'johndoe', $js);</code> | |
<h2>form_password()</h2> | |
<p>This function is identical in all respects to the <dfn>form_input()</dfn> function above | |
except that is sets it as a "password" type.</p> | |
<h2>form_upload()</h2> | |
<p>This function is identical in all respects to the <dfn>form_input()</dfn> function above | |
except that is sets it as a "file" type, allowing it to be used to upload files.</p> | |
<h2>form_textarea()</h2> | |
<p>This function is identical in all respects to the <dfn>form_input()</dfn> function above | |
except that it generates a "textarea" type. Note: Instead of the "maxlength" and "size" attributes in the above | |
example, you will instead specify "rows" and "cols".</p> | |
<h2>form_dropdown()</h2> | |
<p>Lets you create a standard drop-down field. The first parameter will contain the name of the field, | |
the second parameter will contain an associative array of options, and the third parameter will contain the | |
value you wish to be selected. Example: | |
<code>$options = array(<br /> | |
'small' => 'Small Shirt',<br /> | |
'med' => 'Medium Shirt',<br /> | |
large' => 'Large Shirt',<br /> | |
'xlarge' => 'Extra Large Shirt',<br /> | |
);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_dropdown('shirts', $options, 'large');<br /> | |
<br /> | |
// Would produce:<br /><br /> | |
<select name="shirts"><br /> | |
<option value="small">Small Shirt</option><br /> | |
<option value="med">Medium Shirt</option><br /> | |
<option value="large" selected>Large Shirt</option><br /> | |
<option value="xlarge">Extra Large Shirt</option><br /> | |
</select></code> | |
<p>If you would like the opening <select> to contain additional data, like JavaScript, you can pass it as a string in the | |
fourth parameter: | |
<code>$js = 'onChange="some_function()"';<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_dropdown('shirts', $options, 'large', $js);</code> | |
<h2>form_checkbox()</h2> | |
<p>Lets you generate a checkbox field. Simple example: | |
<code>echo form_checkbox('newsletter', 'accept', TRUE);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
// Would produce:<br /> | |
<br /> | |
<input type="checkbox" name="newsletter" value="accept" checked="checked" /></code> | |
<p>The third parameter contains a boolean TRUE/FALSE to determine whether the box should be checked or not.</p> | |
<p>Similar to the other form functions in this helper, you can also pass an array of attributes to the function:</p> | |
<code>$data = array(<br /> | |
'name' => 'newsletter',<br /> | |
'id' => 'newsletter',<br /> | |
'value' => 'accept',<br /> | |
'checked' => TRUE,<br /> | |
'style' => 'margin:10px',<br /> | |
);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_checkbox($data);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
// Would produce:<br /><br /> | |
<input type="checkbox" name="newsletter" id="newsletter" value="accept" checked="checked" style="margin:10px" /></code> | |
<p>As with other functions, if you would like the tag to contain additional data, like JavaScript, you can pass it as a string in the | |
fourth parameter: | |
<code>$js = 'onClick="some_function()"';<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo echo form_checkbox('newsletter', 'accept', TRUE, $js)</code> | |
<h2>form_radio()</h2> | |
<p>This function is identical in all respects to the <dfn>form_checkbox()</dfn> function above except that is sets it as a "radio" type.</p> | |
<h2>form_submit()</h2> | |
<p>Lets you generate a standard submit button. Simple example:</p> | |
<code>echo form_submit('mysubmit', 'Submit Post!');<br /> | |
<br /> | |
// Would produce:<br /> | |
<br /> | |
<input type="submit" name="mysubmit" value="Submit Post!" /></code> | |
<p>Similar to other functions, you can submit an associative array in the first parameter if you prefer to set your own attributes. | |
The third parameter lets you add extra data to your form, like JavaScript.</p> | |
<h2>form_close()</h2> | |
<p>Produces a closing </form> tag. The only advantage to using this function is it permits you to pass data to it | |
which will be added below the tag. For example:</p> | |
<code>$string = "</div></div>";<br /> | |
<br /> | |
echo form_close($string);<br /> | |
<br /> | |
// Would produce:<br /> | |
<br /> | |
</form><br /> | |
</div></div></code> | |
<h2>form_prep()</h2> | |
<p>Allows you to safely use HTML and characters such as quotes within form elements without breaking out of the form. Consider this example:</p> | |
<code>$string = 'Here is a string containing <strong>"quoted"</strong> text.';<br /> | |
<br /> | |
<input type="text" name="myform" value="<var>$string</var>" /></code> | |
<p>Since the above string contains a set of quotes it will cause the form to break. | |
The form_prep function converts HTML so that it can be used safely:</p> | |
<code><input type="text" name="myform" value="<var><?php echo form_prep($string); ?></var>" /></code> | |
<p class="important"><strong>Note:</strong> If you use any of the form helper functions listed in this page the form | |
values will be prepped automatically, so there is no need to call this function. Use it only if you are | |
creating your own form elements.</p> | |
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