CodeIgniter's set_value() not re-populating - php

Question

I've checked and re-checked my code, referencing the CI docs and other posts throughout the web, but I am unsuccessful at implementing the set_value() method for re-populating form fields after failed validation.
Perhaps I am missing something very fundamental to the CI framework (I'm rather new to it), but your insight would be much appreciated.
I have the following in my controller method:
public function form_step2(){
//Form Setup
$this->load->helper('form');
$this->load->helper('url');
$this->load->library('form_validation');
$data['title'] = $this->base_title;
$data['base_url'] = base_url();
//Validation Settings - must be set per step
$this->form_validation->set_rules('request_type', 'Request Type', 'required');
*...more of the same set_rules()*
if ($this->form_validation->run() === FALSE) {
### Validation failed or New Form
// Get form element data
$data['request_types'] = $this->my_model->get_form_data('request_type');
*...more of the same get_form_data() calls for loading form elements*
//Generate Page from View Templates
$this->load->view('templates/header', $data);
$this->load->view('templates/form_step2', $data);
$this->load->view('templates/footer');
} else {
### Save to database
$this->my_model->set_data($data);
redirect('my_model/success','refresh');
}
}
And in my view, a snippet of the code that is not re-populating:
<?php echo form_open('my_model/form_step2', array('class'=>'form-inline')); ?>
<label for="fname">First Name</label>
<input type="text" id="fname" name="fname" value="<?php echo set_value('fname'); ?>" />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit" />
I can't figure this one out, so thanks in advance for your help.

Answer 1

if you want to use set_data() you need to also use set_rules for that POST/GET field.
Since you've commented out all your set_rules I can not confirm that this is the issue but most likely it is.
please check if you have this line in your code
$this->form_validation->set_rules('fname', 'First name', 'trim|required');
So if you want to re-populate field with name="fname" you need to have set_rules() // as line above for it otherwise it won't process therefore set_value('fname') is empty.

Answer 2

you surely have found a solution but, for people like me which were spending too many time for this trouble.
I found a solution:
so instead to code that
<input type="text" id="fname" name="fname" value="<?php echo set_value('fname'); ?>" />
Try this, it run very well:
<?php $data = array('id' =>fnam, 'name'=> 'fname','value'=> set_value('fname'), 'size =>'50');
echo form_input($data).'<br />'; ?>

Answer 3

Try this way. It will get both validation errors and set value
In View
<?php echo flash_message();
if($this->session->userdata('postinput') !=""){
$value = $this->session->userdata('postinput');
$this->session->unset_userdata('postinput');
}else
$value = "";
?>
<form action="<?php echo site_url('carlisting/carlist');?>" method="post" id="your_reg_form">
<div class="reg-search">
<input placeholder="YOUR REG" name="input" type="text" value="<?php echo $value; ?>">
</div>
In Controller
$this->form_validation->set_rules('input', 'Registration', 'required|min_length[2]|max_length[7]');
if ($this->form_validation->run() == false){
$this->session->set_flashdata( 'message', array('content' => validation_errors(), 'type' => 'error_message_small' ));
$this->session->set_userdata('postinput',$this->input->post('input'));
redirect('home');
}

Answer 4

Permits you to set the value of an input form or textarea. You must supply the field name via the first parameter of the function. The second (optional) parameter allows you to set a default value for the form. Example:
<input type="text" name="quantity" value="<?php echo set_value('quantity', '0'); ?>" size="50" />
The above form will show "0" when loaded for the first time.