Set entity parameter before form validation - php

Question

[SETTINGS]
Symfony 3
BoxEntity: [id, name]
CandyEntity: [id, name]
[PROBLEM]
Currently, when creating a new candy, I must choose a box as parent entity.
The thing is, I would like this choice to be automated.
The box is already registered in the database, and the session is holding the current box parameters to find it back easily.
But I can't figure out how to apply it to the candy entity once the data have been posted.
[FILES]
AppBundle/Controller/CandyController.php
public function newAction(Request $request) {
$$candy= new Candy();
$form = $this->createForm('AppBundle\Form\CandyType', $conference);
$form->handleRequest($request);
if ($form->isSubmitted() && $form->isValid()) {
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$em->persist($candy);
$em->flush();
return $this->redirectToRoute('candy_show', array('id' => $candy->getId()));
}
return $this->render('candy/new.html.twig', array(
'candy' => $candy,
'form' => $form->createView(),
));
}
AppBundle/Form/CandyType.php
public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
{
$builder->add('nom')
->add('box'); //Remove from form, and set manually
}
I did read this page, but can't figure out how to do it properly.
If someone would be so kind as to give me a full example to solve my problem, it would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

You have multiple options to perform what you want. You could set the value after your form submits:
public function newAction(Request $request)
{
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$candy = new Candy();
$box = $em->find('AppBundle\Entity\Box', $this->get('session')->get('boxId'));
$form = $this->createForm('AppBundle\Form\CandyType', $candy);
$form->handleRequest($request);
if ($form->isSubmitted() && $form->isValid()) {
// add the box entity to the candy
$candy->setBox($box);
$em->persist($candy);
$em->flush();
return $this->redirectToRoute('candy_show', array('id' => $candy->getId()));
}
return $this->render('candy/new.html.twig', array(
'candy' => $candy,
'form' => $form->createView(),
));
}
You could set it on the Candy entity before passing it to the createForm() call, although it may not stay on the entity after doing the form handleRequest() call:
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$candy = new Candy();
$box = $em->find('AppBundle\Entity\Box', $this->get('session')->get('boxId'));
$candy->setBox($box);
$form = $this->createForm('AppBundle\Form\CandyType', $candy);
$form->handleRequest($request);
You could do it in the way that you are attempting, in a form event. What you would want to do is inject the entity manager and session into your form and treat your form as a service:
public function CandyType extends AbstractType
{
private $em;
private $session;
public function __construct(EntityManager $em, SessionInterface $session)
{
$this->session = $session;
$this->em = $em;
}
public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
{
// ... build the form
$builder->addEventListener(
FormEvents::PRE_SET_DATA,
function (FormEvent $event) {
$form = $event->getForm();
$candy = $event->getData();
$box = $this->em->find('AppBundle\Entity\Box', $this->session->get('boxId');
$candy->setBox($box);
}
);
}
}
You might need to do that on the POST_SET_DATA or POST_SUBMIT event instead, but I'm not sure. Also I used $this->get('session') in the Controller, but depending on your Symfony version (> 3.3) you could inject that into your controller as a service as well.
Either way the main concept is to use Doctrine to grab your Box entity from the session itself using the stored box id in the session, then set that on your Candy entity. You could even use a hidden field to achieve the same results. As I said before there are lots of ways to solve your issue.