Zend framework - form not rendering - php

Question

I'm just starting to use Zend Framework and was following the quick start documentation for the latest version (1.11.10). Everything was going just fine, but when I placed the form code and ran the application, the form did not render. My code is exactly like http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/learning.quickstart.create-form.html
On the view, I can dump the form just fine with var_dump($this->form);
I've tried echo $this->form(), echo $this->form->render(), but nothing appeared... What could it be?

Answer 1

This problem can occur when Zend can't find the template file for an element. Look at following code:
$element->setDecorators(array(
array('ViewScript',
array(
'viewScript' => 'directory/_input.phtml'
)
)
));
The file _input.phtml must be in the right folder for this Controller. Otherwise Zend can't find the template for input and can't successfully render your element and will not show anything.

Answer 2

Make sure you pass the form to the view from the controller.
In your action handler:
$this->view->form = $my_form;
In your view:
echo $this->form;
I suspected that this was the cause of your problem because Zend Framework doesn't complain if you try to echo a parameter that doesn't exist. (i.e. echo $this->some_fake_parameter won't do anything)

Answer 3

Ok so i tried your code, and it worked for me no problem.
Here is everything:
Controller
<?php
class IndexController extends Zend_Controller_Action
{
public function myTestAction()
{
$form = new Form_Guestbook();
// ... processing logics
if($this->getRequest()->isPost())
{
if($form->isValid($this->getRequest()->getPost()))
{
var_dump($form->getValues());
}
}
$this->view->assign('form', $form);
}
}
Form
<?php
class Form_Guestbook extends Zend_Form
{
public function init()
{
// Set the method for the display form to POST
$this->setMethod('post');
// Add an email element
$this->createElement('text', 'email', array(
'label' => 'Your email address:',
'required' => true,
'filters' => array('StringTrim'),
'validators' => array(
'EmailAddress',
)
));
// Add the comment element
$this->addElement('textarea', 'comment', array(
'label' => 'Please Comment:',
'required' => true,
'validators' => array(
array('validator' => 'StringLength', 'options' => array(0, 20))
)
));
// Add a captcha
$this->addElement('captcha', 'captcha', array(
'label' => 'Please enter the 5 letters displayed below:',
'required' => true,
'captcha' => array(
'captcha' => 'Figlet',
'wordLen' => 5,
'timeout' => 300
)
));
// Add the submit button
$this->addElement('submit', 'submit', array(
'ignore' => true,
'label' => 'Sign Guestbook',
));
// And finally add some CSRF protection
$this->addElement('hash', 'csrf', array(
'ignore' => true,
));
}
}
?>
View
<?php echo $this->form->render(); ?>
can be seen on: http://yaconiello.com/index/my-test
If this isnt working for you, you may be having a configuration error.

Answer 4

I had a problem like that (exact same form, since it is eclipse example)
My problem was due to misunderstanding. Since I thought that I have to directly access to the view script. I entered in the browser something like: hostname/application/view/script/something.php
But in zend all accesses should be through public folder. You have to access to the view like this: hostname/app_name/public/guestbook
hope that would help you