In symfony, how to set the value of a form field? - php

Question

I'm overriding my doSave() method to basically do the following: I have a sfWidgetFormPropelChoice field that the user can either choose from, or type a new option. How can I change the widget's value? Or maybe I am approaching this the wrong way. So here is how I overrode the doSave() method:
public function doSave($con = null)
{
// Save the manufacturer as either new or existing.
$manufacturer_obj = ManufacturerPeer::retrieveByName($this['manufacturer_id']->getValue());
if (!empty($manufacturer_obj))
{
$this->getObject()->setManufacturerId($manufacturer_obj->getId()); // NEED TO CHANGE THIS TO UPDATE WIDGET'S VALUE INSTEAD?
}
else
{
$new = new Manufacturer();
$new->setName($this['manufacturer_id']->getValue());
$new->save();
$this->getObject()->setManufacturerId($new->getId()); // NEED TO CHANGE THIS TO UPDATE WIDGET'S VALUE INSTEAD?
}
parent::doSave($con);
}

Answer 1

You should use setDefault or setDefaults and then it will autopopulate with the bound values.
(sfForm) setDefault ($name, $default)
(sfForm) setDefaults ($defaults)
usage
$form->setDefault('WidgetName', 'Value');
$form->setDefaults(array(
'WidgetName' => 'Value',
));

Answer 2

You could do it in the action :
$this->form->getObject()->setFooId($this->foo->getId()) /*Or get the manufacturer id or name from request here */
$this->form->save();
But I prefer to do the kind of work you are doing with your manufacturer directly in my Peer so my business logic is always at the same place.
What I put in my forms is mainly validation logic.
Example of what to put in the save method of the Peer :
public function save(PropelPDO $con= null)
{
if ($this->isNew() && !$this->getFooId())
{
$foo= new Foo();
$foo->setBar('bar');
$this->setFoo($foo);
}
}

Answer 3

Two assumption here: a) your form gets the name of the manufacturer and b) your model wants the ID of a manufacturer
public function doSave($con = null)
{
// retrieve the object from the DB or create it
$manufacturerName = $this->values['manufacturer_id'];
$manufacturer = ManufacturerPeer::retrieveByName($manufacturerName);
if(!$manufacturer instanceof Manufacturer)
{
$manufacturer = new Manufacturer();
$manufacturer->setName($manufacturerName);
$manufacturer->save();
}
// overwrite the field value and let the form do the real work
$this->values['manufacturer_id'] = $manufacturer->getId();
parent::doSave($con);
}