FormBuilder

Laravel Helper module for creating forms and input fields Version 0.2 Beta

Changelog

• 0.2 beta - Rewritten from scratch, not compatible with previus versions

##Installation

1. Require with composer

composer require plokko/formbuilder

2. Add the provider and facades in the app config file /config/app.php

'providers' => [
    //...
    //FormBuilder//
    plokko\FormBuilder\FormBuilderProvider::class,
    //...
]
//...
'aliases' => [
    //...
    //FormBuilder//
    'FormBuilder'=> plokko\FormBuilder\Facades\FormBuilder::class,
    //...
]
//...

##Use

• create the FormBuilder instance First create a new instance of FormBuilder in your view with the make command and assign it to a variable

<?php
$fb=FormBuilder::make(['route'=>route('my.destination.route')]);

The make function accepts the same parameters as laravelcollective/html Form::open

• declaring the fields You can then add fields using the requested field type as method name and field name as value

$fb->text('text_field'); //Input field (type=text)
$fb->email('email_field);//Email input field (type=email)
$fb->textarea('message');//Textarea_

• Accessing the fields

To set the options to the field you can access the field when declared

$fb->text('field_required')->required()->addClass('required_field');

or you can retrieve it later by accessing it by name as a parameter or array

$fb->field_required->value('My value');
$fb['field_required']->addClass('my-other-class');

If you try to access and undeclared field the field will be automatically declared as a text field

$fb->undeclared_field->value(1);
// Equals to: //
$fb->text('undeclared_field')->value(1);

• Render the form

To render the form you should first open and close the form using the openForm() and closeForm() functions, rendering the fields with the render() function between them.

{!! $fb->openForm() !!}
    <!--render the fields/-->
    {!! $fb->render() !!}
    
    <!--Add some basic submit buttons-->
    <button type=submit>Submit</button>
    <button type=reset>Reset</button>
    
{!! $fb->closeForm() !!}

Customization

Form view

You can specify how the form will be rendered by applying a view to the FormBuilder class

<?php
$fb=FormBuilder::make(['route'=>route('my.destination.route')])
        ->view('my.custom.view');

You can specify the view like following where $fields is an array containing all the defined fields

<?php
/**@var array $fields**/
?>
@foreach($fields AS $field)
    <?/**@var \plokko\FormBuilder\FormField $field**/?>
    <div class="form-group">
        {!! $field->label->render()!!}
        @if($field->type!='checkbox'&&$field->type!='radio')
            <?$field->addClass('form-control');/*Add class except for radio or checkbox fields*/?>
        @endif
        {!! $field->render() !!}
    </div>

@endforeach

The view will be called with the render function.

Expanding functionalities

You can easly add or replace field types by changing the config file; to do so first publish the config

php artisan vendor:publish

Then edit the /config/app.php file

<?php
return [
    /** Default view for FormBuilder **/
    'view'=>'formbuilder::bootstrap.form.base',
    /** Registered FormField providers as type=>classname **/
    'fieldProviders'=>[
        'select'    => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\SelectField::class,

        'text'      => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\InputField::class,
        'email'     => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\InputField::class,
        'hidden'    => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\InputField::class,
        'number'    => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\InputField::class,
        'password'  => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\InputField::class,

        'file'      => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\FileField::class,

        'radio'     => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\CheckboxField::class,
        'checkbox'  => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\CheckboxField::class,

        'textarea'  => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\InputField::class,
        'select2'    => plokko\FormBuilder\fields\Select2Field::class,

    ],
];

You can create a new field type by expanding the plokko\FormBuilder\fields\FormField class like so:

<?php
namespace mynamespace;

use plokko\FormBuilder\fields\FormField;

class MyCustomField extends FormField
{
    //...
    function myFunction()
    {
        //...
        return $this;
    }
    //...
}

and then adding it in the config file like so

<?php
return [
    /** Default view for FormBuilder **/
    'view'=>'my.default.form.view',
    /** Registered FormField providers as type=>classname **/
    'fieldProviders'=>[
        //...
        'myfield'=>mynamespace/MyCustomField::class,
        'myfield2'=>mynamespace/MyCustomField::class,
        //...
    ],
];

You can then add the field using the declared name:

//...
$fb->myfield('field1')->myFunction();
$fb->myfield2('field2')->myFunction()->required()->value(2);