Form Helper¶

Loading this Helper¶

This helper is loaded using the following code:

$this->helper('form');

Available Functions¶

The following functions are available:

form_open($action = '', $attributes = '')¶

Parameters:	$action (string) – Form action/target URI string $attributes (array) – HTML attributes
Returns:	An HTML form opening tag
Return type:	string

Here’s a simple example:

echo form_open('email/send');

The above example would create a form that points to your base URL plus the “email/send” URI segments, like this:

<form method="post" action="http://example.com/index.php/email/send">

Adding Attributes

Attributes can be added by passing an associative array to the second parameter, like this:

$attributes = array('class' => 'email', 'id' => 'myform');
echo form_open('email/send', $attributes);

Alternatively, you can specify the second parameter as a string:

echo form_open('email/send', 'class="email" id="myform"');

The above examples would create a form similar to this:

<form method="post" action="http://example.com/index.php/email/send" class="email" id="myform">

form_media($action = '', $attributes = array())¶

Parameters:	$action (string) – Form action/target URI string $attributes (array) – HTML attributes
Returns:	An HTML multipart form opening tag
Return type:	string

This function is absolutely identical to form_open() above, except that it adds a multipart attribute, which is necessary if you would like to use the form to upload files with.

form_input($data = '')¶

Parameters:	$data (array) – Field attributes data
Returns:	An HTML text input field tag
Return type:	string

Lets you generate a standard text input field. You can minimally pass the field name and value in the first and second parameter:

echo form_input('username', 'johndoe');

Or you can pass an associative array containing any data you wish your form to contain:

$data = array(
        'name'          => 'username',
        'id'            => 'username',
        'value'         => 'johndoe',
        'maxlength'     => '100',
        'size'          => '50',
        'style'         => 'width:50%'
);

echo form_input($data);

/*
        Would produce:

        <input type="text" name="username" value="johndoe" id="username" maxlength="100" size="50" style="width:50%"  />
*/

form_textarea($data = '')¶

Parameters:	$data (array) – Field attributes data
Returns:	An HTML textarea tag
Return type:	string

This function is identical in all respects to the form_input() 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.

form_select($name = '', $options = array())¶

Parameters:	$name (string) – Field name $options (array) – An associative array of options to be listed
Returns:	An HTML dropdown select field tag
Return type:	string

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.

Example:

$options = array(
        'small'         => 'Small Shirt',
        'med'           => 'Medium Shirt',
        'large'         => 'Large Shirt',
        'xlarge'        => 'Extra Large Shirt',
);

echo form_dropdown('shirts', $options);

/*
        Would produce:

        <select name="shirts">
                <option value="small">Small Shirt</option>
                <option value="med">Medium  Shirt</option>
                <option value="xlarge">Extra Large Shirt</option>
        </select>
*/
                      

form_button($data = '', $content = '', $extra = '')¶

Parameters:	$data (string) – Button name $content (string) – Button label $extra (mixed) – Extra attributes to be added to the tag either as an array or a literal string
Returns:	An HTML button tag
Return type:	string

Lets you generate a standard button element. You can minimally pass the button name and content in the first and second parameter:

echo form_button('name','content');
// Would produce: <button name="name" type="button">Content</button>

Or you can pass an associative array containing any data you wish your form to contain:

$data = array(
        'name'          => 'button',
        'id'            => 'button',
        'value'         => 'true',
        'type'          => 'reset',
        'content'       => 'Reset'
);

echo form_button($data);
// Would produce: <button name="button" id="button" value="true" type="reset">Reset</button>

form_close()¶

Returns:	An HTML form closing tag
Return type:	string

Produces a closing </form> tag. For example:

echo form_close();
// Would produce:  </form>