Symfony 2: Multiple forms generated list of objects - php

Question

I would like to generate page with list of users names and next to every user I would like to have button which would activate/deactivate this user.
I could of course create link with user ID and GET method in controller which would perform operation when link would be clicked. As far as I know it is not recommended though to do it this way due to security concerns. So instead of links to route which would perform operation I would like to have forms and buttons to submit request to PUT route which would change user status.
QUESTION: how to generate such forms (buttons) based on list of users returned by Doctrine?
Form code used to create form/button in user profile:
/**
* Creates a form to activate/deactivate a User entity by id.
*
* #param mixed $id The entity id
*
* #return \Symfony\Component\Form\Form The form
*/
private function createActivationDeactivationForm($id)
{
return $this->createFormBuilder()
->setAction($this->generateUrl('user_activate', array('id' => $id)))
->setMethod('PUT')
->add('submit', 'submit', array('label' => 'Activate/Deactivate'))
->getForm()
;
}
Controller code used for user profile:
/**
* #Route("/user/{id}", name="user_show")
* #Method("GET")
* #Template()
*/
public function showUserAction($id)
{
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$user = $em->getRepository('TestUserBundle:User')->find($id);
if (!$user) {
throw $this->createNotFoundException('Unable to find user');
}
$deleteForm = $this->createDeleteForm($id);
$activateForm = $this->createActivationDeactivationForm($id);
return array(
'user' => $user,
'delete_form' => $deleteForm->createView(),
'activate_form' => $activateForm->createView(),
);
}
Controller PUT method to perform operation from user profile:
/**
* Activate a user.
*
* #Route("/{id}", name="user_activate")
* #Method("PUT")
*/
public function activateAction(Request $request, $id)
{
$form = $this->createActivationDeactivationForm($id);
$form->handleRequest($request);
if ($form->isValid()) {
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$user = $em->getRepository('TestUserBundle:User')->find($id);
if (!$user) {
throw $this->createNotFoundException('Unable to find user');
}
$current_user_activity_flag = $user->getActive();
$user->setActive(abs($current_user_activity_flag-1));
$em->persist($user);
$em->flush();
}
return $this->redirect($this->getRequest()->headers->get('referer'));
}
Controller code to be used for users list:
/**
* #Route("/users", name="users_list")
* #Method("GET")
* #Template()
*/
public function listUsersAction()
{
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$users = $em->getRepository('TestUserBundle:User')->findExistingUsers();
//$deleteForm = $this->createDeleteForm($id);
//$activateForm = $this->createActivationDeactivationForm($id);
return array(
'users' => $users,
//'delete_form' => $deleteForm->createView(),
//'activate_form' => $activateForm->createView(),
);
}
I can not pass ID to form like I did for operation from profile cause for every user there is different ID and more of that Symfony generates only first form and ignores rest.
Any idea how to handle it? Or maybe my approach with form/buttons is incorrect and I should just use links instead?

Answer 1

I found solution which works though I am not sure about if it's compliant with best practices.
Instead of passing one form object in controller I generated an array of them with keys based on user ID. Than when looping through array in TWIG template I use user ID to refer form object created for current user.
Mentioned in question controller for user listing should than look like this:
/**
* #Route("/users", name="users_list")
* #Method("GET")
* #Template()
*/
public function listUsersAction()
{
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$users = $em->getRepository('PSUserBundle:User')->findExistingUsers();
$activate_forms = array();
$delete_forms = array();
foreach($users as $user)
{
$activate_forms[$user->getId()] = $this->createActivationDeactivationForm($user->getId())->createView();
$delete_forms[$user->getId()] = $this->createDeleteForm($user->getId())->createView();
}
return array(
'users' => $users,
'delete_forms' => $delete_forms,
'activate_forms' => $activate_forms,
);
}
... and in TWIG form within foreach should be refered like this:
{{ form_start(activate_forms[user.id], {'attr': {'novalidate': 'novalidate'}}) }}
{% if user.active %}
{{ form_widget(activate_forms[user.id].submit, {'attr': {'class': 'btn btn-xs btn-warning btn-block'}, 'label' : 'Deactivate'}) }}
{% else %}
{{ form_widget(activate_forms[user.id].submit, {'attr': {'class': 'btn btn-xs btn-success btn-block'}, 'label' : 'Activate'}) }}
{% endif %}
{{ form_end(activate_forms[user.id]) }}