Codeigniter - re-filling the form when validation fails after submitting

Question

I have a form that requires the user to enter some information. If they cannot fill in the required fields, they will be re-submitted by the form; at the top of the page, notifying which fields are needed, and I included sticky forms (set_value ()) so that their input was not lost.

I use flashdata to display messages to the user (i.e. if what they entered already exists in the database).

My form is specified in the index method of my controller. When they click the submit button from my view, it calls the add () method in my controller. The add () method performs a check and, depending on the results, either sends to the database or returns the user to the user to get more data.

I have a few problems with how I did this. 1. If validation fails, I use $ this-> index () to return to my form and display validation errors. If I try to use redirection, I will lose my validation errors and my $ _POST [] data, so my sticky forms end up empty. 2. Using $ this-> index () adds 'add' to the end of my url 3. Using $ this-> index () causes problems with flashdata. Random results.

Any ideas?

<?php class Restaurant extends Controller { function Restaurant() { parent::Controller(); } function index() { // Load libraries and models $this->load->model('/restaurant/mRestaurantTypes'); $this->load->model('/restaurant/mRestaurant'); $this->load->model('/utilities/mUtilities'); // Get states $stateSelect = array(); $getStates = $this->mUtilities->getStates(); if($getStates->num_rows() > 0) { foreach($getStates->result() as $row) { $stateSelect[$row->abbr] = $row->name; } } // Get restaurant types $restaurantTypes = array(); $getRestaurantTypes = $this->mRestaurantTypes->getRestaurantTypes(); if($getRestaurantTypes->num_rows() > 0) { foreach($getRestaurantTypes->result() as $row) { $restaurantTypes[$row->restaurant_types_id] = $row->type; } } // Create form elements $data['name'] = array( 'name' => 'name', 'id' => 'name', 'value' => set_value('name'), 'maxlength' => '200', 'size' => '50' ); $data['address'] = array( 'name' => 'address', 'id' => 'address', 'value' => set_value('address'), 'maxlength' => '200', 'size' => '50' ); $data['city'] = array( 'name' => 'city', 'id' => 'city', 'value' => set_value('city'), 'maxlength' => '50', 'size' => '25' ); $data['state'] = $stateSelect; $data['zip'] = array( 'name' => 'zip', 'id' => 'zip', 'value' => set_value('zip'), 'maxlength' => '10', 'size' => '10' ); $data['phone'] = array( 'name' => 'phone', 'id' => 'phone', 'value' => set_value('phone'), 'maxlength' => '15', 'size' => '15' ); $data['url'] = array( 'name' => 'url', 'id' => 'url', 'value' => set_value('url'), 'maxlength' => '255', 'size' => '50' ); $data['type'] = $restaurantTypes; $data['tags'] = array( 'name' => 'tags', 'id' => 'tags', 'value' => set_value('tags'), 'maxlength' => '255', 'size' => '50' ); $data['active'] = array( 'name' => 'active', 'id' => 'active', 'value' => 'Y', 'maxlength' => '1', 'size' => '2' ); // Set page variables $data_h['title'] = "Add new restaurant"; // Load views $this->load->view('/template/header', $data_h); $this->load->view('/restaurant/index', $data); $this->load->view('/template/footer'); } /** * Add the the new restaurant to the database. */ function add() { // Load libraries and models $this->load->library('form_validation'); $this->load->model('/restaurant/mRestaurant'); // Define validation rules $this->form_validation->set_rules('name', 'Name', 'trim|required|max_length[255]|xss_clean'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('address', 'Address', 'trim|required|max_length[100]|xss_clean'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('city', 'City', 'trim|required|max_length[128]|xss_clean'); //$this->form_validation->set_rules('state', 'State', 'trim|required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('zip', 'Zip', 'trim|required|max_length[128]|xss_clean'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('phone', 'Phone', 'trim|required|max_length[10]|xss_clean'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('url', 'URL', 'trim|required|max_length[255]|xss_clean'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('tags', 'Tags', 'trim|xss_clean'); // Form validation if ($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) { // On failure $this->index(); } else { // On success, prepare the data $data = array( 'name' => $_POST['name'], 'address' => $_POST['address'], 'city' => $_POST['city'], 'state' => $_POST['state'], 'zip' => $_POST['zip'], 'phone' => $_POST['phone'], 'url' => $_POST['url'], 'type' => $_POST['type'], 'tags' => $_POST['tags'], 'active' => $_POST['active'], ); // Check if the restaurant already exists $check = $this->mRestaurant->getRestaurant($data['name'], $data['zip']); // If no records were returned add the new restaurant if($check->num_rows() == 0) { $query = $this->mRestaurant->addRestaurant($data); if ($query) { // On success $this->session->set_flashdata('status', '<div class="success">Added New Restaurant!</div>'); } else { // On failure $this->session->set_flashdata('status', '<div class="error">Could not add a new restaurant.</div>'); } redirect('restaurant/confirm', 'refresh'); } else { // Notify the user that the restaurant already exists in the database $this->session->set_flashdata('status', '<div class="notice">This restaurant already exists in the database.</div>'); redirect('restaurant/index'); } } } function confirm() { $data['title'] = "Confirm"; $this->load->view('/template/header'); $this->load->view('/restaurant/confirm', $data); $this->load->view('/template/footer'); } } ?> 

Answer 1

I will try to help with the controller logic that I always use:

 function index() { //set some default variables $data['error_message'] = ''; //if this is to edit existing value, load it here // from database and assign to $data //... //set form validation rules $validation = array(); $validation['field_name'] = array( 'field' => 'field_name', 'label' => 'Field label', 'rules' => 'trim|required' ); //more rules here //... $this->load->library('form_validation'); $this->form_validation->set_rules($validation); //run validation if ($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) { $data['error_message'] .= validation_errors(); } else { //do insert/update // //it better to do redirection after receiving post request //you can use flashdata for success message if ( $success ) { $this->session_set_flashdata('success_message', MESSAGE_HERE); } redirect(RESULT_PAGE); } //reaching this block can have 2 meaning, direct page access, or not have valid form validation //assign required variables, such as form dropdown option, etc //... //load view $this->load->view(VIEW_FILE, $data); } 

View file:

 ... <?php if ( $error_message ): ?> <?php echo $error_message; ?> <?php endif; ?> <?php echo form_open(current_url, array('id' => 'some_form_id')); ?> <!-- form field here --> <label for="field_name">Field label</label> <input name="field_name" value="<?php echo set_value('field_name', $DEFAULT_FIELD_NAME_IF_NEEDED); ?>" /> <!-- more form field here --> <?php echo form_close(); ?> ... 

Hope this helps you.

For $DEFAULT_FIELD_NAME_IF_NEEDED in the view file, I use this to pass the default value if this form page is intended to edit existing data from the database. You can upload data to the controller, then transfer it to view the file and display it in the form field.

Answer 2

------- controller -------

  $ data ['post'] = $ _POST;
 $ this-> load-> view ('view / view', $ data);

then in your view

<input type="text" value="><?=$post['username'];?>" name="username">

Answer 3

I had a similar problem and I ended up:

My form is to create a new user, but you should get this idea.

  if($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) { $this->data['title'] = "Add User"; $this->load->vars($this->data); $this->load->view('head'); $this->load->view('header'); $this->load->view('admin/sidebar'); $this->load->view('admin/add_user'); $this->load->view('footer'); } 

Thus, instead of calling a new function, I showed a new view from the same function. Not the nicest solution, but it works. You can also use something like this to check if a restaurant exists:

 function _check_username($str) { $this->db->where('username', $str); $query = $this->db->get('sm_users'); if($query->num_rows() == 0) { return TRUE; } else { $this->form_validation->set_message('_check_username', "User '$str' already exists!"); return FALSE; } } 

And use the callback check function:

 $this->form_validation->set_rules('userName','User Name','trim|required|min_length[3]|callback__check_username'); 

Answer 4

You can try to have a form index for indexing, and in the index method, check if the form has been submitted. Then either visualize the index (if there are errors) or add a restaurant and display a confirmation.