Using several modules in the same view - php

Question

I'm developing a web application with Zend Framework 1.12, which is something new to me, and I'm not sure about the way to do something I want to.
EDIT: When I talk about Module, I mean Controller, sorry for that, I still mistake the terms ...
On my home page, the module Index, I made what I wanted to do with it, created several actions and all the stuff, but I'd like to add a search engine I'll make myself.
The problem is that I'd like to create the search engine as a separate module named Search, for example, but put the SearchForm in the home page. Hitting submit would send the datas from the form to the Search module.
I don't quite understand how to do that without having to go to /search to access my form and every associated actions.
Do I have to use a View Helper ?
Also, the searchForm in the front page would be some sort of QuicKSearch and accessing /search would show a more elaborated form for the research.
Can someone explain me how to access the searchForm from the Index module or redirect me to the part of the documentation talking about that ? My research are unsuccessful and Google doesn't help me either.
EDIT: When I talk about Module, I mean Controller, sorry for that, I still mistake the terms ...

Answer 1

First of all, build the searchform as viewHelper, then you can reuse it in several views.
The action attribute in form snippet set to searchModule/controller/action.
Additionaly make research about viewHelpers and Forms in Zend Documentation.

Answer 2

I actually prefer to do this as a an action helper and then just use a standard placeholder view helper to present the search form.
let me demonstrate:
the actual action helper just initiates a form and prepares it for display. I'll leave the form structure to you.
//the action helper
//Just fill in the args for the form to be displayed
class NameSpace_Controller_Action_Helper_Search extends Zend_Controller_Action_Helper_Abstract
{
public function direct($action, $label = null, $placeHolder = null)
{
$form = new Application_Form_Search();
//set the action
$form->setAction($action);
//set the submit button text
$form->search->setLabel($label);
//set the hint text displayed in the form window
$form->query->setAttribs(array('placeholder' => $placeHolder,
'size' => 27,
));
return $form;
}
}
I put the helper in the predispatch method of the controller so that each action in the controller can use the search form with having to build it in every page.
//to use the helper in your controller
class IndexController extends Zend_Controller_Action
{
public function preDispatch()
{
//setup action helper and assign it to a placeholder
$this->_helper->layout()->search = $this->_helper->search(
'/index/display', 'Search Collection!', 'Title');
}
//in your view script
<?php echo $this->layout()->search ?>
I like to put the placeholder in my master layout.phtml so that any time I populate the placeholder it will display. Now all you have to do is style it however you want.
Remember: As with any html form the action parameter is just a url so any valid url can be assigned to the form action. In this example I used the /controller/action parameters, but there are many other ways to pass a url to the form. The url helper comes to mind as good way to do it.
url($urlOptions, $name, $reset, $encode): Creates a URL string based
on a named route. $urlOptions should be an associative array of
key/value pairs used by the particular route.