CActiveForm
Package | system.web.widgets |
---|---|
Inheritance | class CActiveForm » CWidget » CBaseController » CComponent |
Subclasses | CCodeForm |
Since | 1.1.1 |
Version | $Id: CActiveForm.php 2104 2010-05-06 20:52:29Z qiang.xue $ |
CActiveForm implements a set of wrapper methods that call the corresponding 'active' methods in CHtml. For example, the textField method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeTextField.
The 'beginWidget' and 'endWidget' call of CActiveForm widget will render the open and close form tags. Anything in between are rendered as form content (such as input fields, labels). We can call the wrapper methods of CActiveForm to generate these form contents. For example, calling CActiveForm::textField, which is a wrapper of CHtml::activeTextField, would generate an input field for a specified model attribute.
Besides the wrapper methods, CActiveForm also implements an important feature known as AJAX validation. This feature may be turned on setting enableAjaxValidation to be true. When the user enters some value in an input field, the AJAX validation feature would trigger an AJAX request to the server to call for validating the model with the current user inputs. If there are any validation errors, the corresponding error messages will show up next to the input fields immediately.
The AJAX validation feature may greatly improve the user experience at entering data into a form. Because the validation is done on the server side using the rules defined in the data model, no extra javascript code needs to be written. More importantly, and the validation result is consistent with the server-side validation. And in case when the user turns off javascript in his browser, it automatically falls back to traditional validation via whole page submission.
To use CActiveForm with AJAX validation, one needs to write both the view code and the controller action code.
The following is a piece of sample view code:
<?php $form = $this->beginWidget('CActiveForm', array( 'id'=>'user-form', 'enableAjaxValidation'=>true, )); ?> <?php echo $form->errorSummary($model); ?> <div class="row"> <?php echo $form->labelEx($model,'firstName'); ?> <?php echo $form->textField($model,'firstName'); ?> <?php echo $form->error($model,'firstName'); ?> </div> <div class="row"> <?php echo $form->labelEx($model,'lastName'); ?> <?php echo $form->textField($model,'lastName'); ?> <?php echo $form->error($model,'lastName'); ?> </div> <?php $this->endWidget(); ?>
To respond to the AJAX validation requests, we need the following class code:
public function actionCreate() { $model=new User; $this->performAjaxValidation($model); if(isset($_POST['User'])) { $model->attributes=$_POST['User']; if($model->save()) $this->redirect('index'); } $this->render('create',array('model'=>$model)); } protected function performAjaxValidation($model) { if(isset($_POST['ajax']) && $_POST['ajax']==='user-form') { echo CActiveForm::validate($model); Yii::app()->end(); } }The method
performAjaxValidation
is the main extra code we add to our
traditional model creation action code. In this method, we check if the request
is submitted via AJAX by the 'user-form'. If so, we validate the model and return
the validation results. We may call the same method in model update action.
On the client side, an input field may be in one of the four states: initial (not validated), validating, error and success. To differentiate these states, CActiveForm automatically assigns different CSS classes for the last three states to the HTML element containing the input field. By default, these CSS classes are named as 'validating', 'error' and 'success', respectively. They may be changed by configuring the options property or specifying in the error method.
Sometimes, we may want to limit the AJAX validation to certain model attributes only. This can be achieved by setting the model with a scenario that is specific for AJAX validation. Then only list those attributes that need AJAX validation in the scenario in CModel::rules() declaration.
There are some limitations of CActiveForm regarding to its AJAX validation support. First, it does not validate with file upload fields. Second, it should not be used to perform validations that may cause server-side state change. For example, it is not suitable to perform CAPTCHA validation done by CCaptchAction because each validation request will increase the number of tests by one. Third, it is not designed to work with tabular data input for the moment.
Because CActiveForm relies on submitting the whole form in AJAX mode to perform the validation, if the form has a lot of data to submit, the performance may not be good. In this case, you should design your own lightweight AJAX validation.
Public Properties
Property | Type | Description | Defined By |
---|---|---|---|
action | mixed | the form action URL (see normalizeUrl for details about this parameter. | CActiveForm |
actionPrefix | string | the prefix to the IDs of the actions. | CWidget |
clientOptions | array | the options to be passed to the javascript validation plugin. | CActiveForm |
controller | CController | the controller that this widget belongs to. | CWidget |
enableAjaxValidation | boolean | whether to enable data validation via AJAX. | CActiveForm |
errorMessageCssClass | string | the CSS class name for error messages. | CActiveForm |
htmlOptions | array | additional HTML attributes that should be rendered for the form tag. | CActiveForm |
id | string | id of the widget. | CWidget |
method | string | the form submission method. | CActiveForm |
owner | CBaseController | owner/creator of this widget. | CWidget |
skin | mixed | the name of the skin to be used by this widget. | CWidget |
stateful | boolean | whether to generate a stateful form (See CHtml::statefulForm). | CActiveForm |
viewPath | string | Returns the directory containing the view files for this widget. | CWidget |
Public Methods
Method | Description | Defined By |
---|---|---|
__call() | Calls the named method which is not a class method. | CComponent |
__construct() | Constructor. | CWidget |
__get() | Returns a property value, an event handler list or a behavior based on its name. | CComponent |
__isset() | Checks if a property value is null. | CComponent |
__set() | Sets value of a component property. | CComponent |
__unset() | Sets a component property to be null. | CComponent |
actions() | Returns a list of actions that are used by this widget. | CWidget |
asa() | Returns the named behavior object. | CComponent |
attachBehavior() | Attaches a behavior to this component. | CComponent |
attachBehaviors() | Attaches a list of behaviors to the component. | CComponent |
attachEventHandler() | Attaches an event handler to an event. | CComponent |
beginCache() | Begins fragment caching. | CBaseController |
beginClip() | Begins recording a clip. | CBaseController |
beginContent() | Begins the rendering of content that is to be decorated by the specified view. | CBaseController |
beginWidget() | Creates a widget and executes it. | CBaseController |
canGetProperty() | Determines whether a property can be read. | CComponent |
canSetProperty() | Determines whether a property can be set. | CComponent |
checkBox() | Renders a checkbox for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
checkBoxList() | Renders a checkbox list for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
createWidget() | Creates a widget and initializes it. | CBaseController |
detachBehavior() | Detaches a behavior from the component. | CComponent |
detachBehaviors() | Detaches all behaviors from the component. | CComponent |
detachEventHandler() | Detaches an existing event handler. | CComponent |
disableBehavior() | Disables an attached behavior. | CComponent |
disableBehaviors() | Disables all behaviors attached to this component. | CComponent |
dropDownList() | Renders a dropdown list for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
enableBehavior() | Enables an attached behavior. | CComponent |
enableBehaviors() | Enables all behaviors attached to this component. | CComponent |
endCache() | Ends fragment caching. | CBaseController |
endClip() | Ends recording a clip. | CBaseController |
endContent() | Ends the rendering of content. | CBaseController |
endWidget() | Ends the execution of the named widget. | CBaseController |
error() | Displays the first validation error for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
errorSummary() | Displays a summary of validation errors for one or several models. | CActiveForm |
evaluateExpression() | Evaluates a PHP expression or callback under the context of this component. | CComponent |
fileField() | Renders a file field for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
getController() | CWidget | |
getEventHandlers() | Returns the list of attached event handlers for an event. | CComponent |
getId() | CWidget | |
getOwner() | CWidget | |
getViewFile() | Looks for the view script file according to the view name. | CWidget |
getViewPath() | Returns the directory containing the view files for this widget. | CWidget |
hasEvent() | Determines whether an event is defined. | CComponent |
hasEventHandler() | Checks whether the named event has attached handlers. | CComponent |
hasProperty() | Determines whether a property is defined. | CComponent |
init() | Initializes the widget. | CActiveForm |
label() | Renders an HTML label for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
labelEx() | Renders an HTML label for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
listBox() | Renders a list box for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
passwordField() | Renders a password field for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
radioButton() | Renders a radio button for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
radioButtonList() | Renders a radio button list for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
raiseEvent() | Raises an event. | CComponent |
render() | Renders a view. | CWidget |
renderFile() | Renders a view file. | CBaseController |
renderInternal() | Renders a view file. | CBaseController |
run() | Runs the widget. | CActiveForm |
setId() | CWidget | |
textArea() | Renders a text area for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
textField() | Renders a text field for a model attribute. | CActiveForm |
validate() | Validates one or several models and returns the results in JSON format. | CActiveForm |
widget() | Creates a widget and executes it. | CBaseController |
Property Details
the form action URL (see normalizeUrl for details about this parameter.) If not set, the current page URL is used.
the options to be passed to the javascript validation plugin. The following options are supported:
- ajaxVar: string, the name of the parameter indicating the request is an AJAX request. When the AJAX validation is triggered, a parameter named as this property will be sent together with the other form data to the server. The parameter value is the form ID. The server side can then detect who triggers the AJAX validation and react accordingly. Defaults to 'ajax'.
- validationUrl: string, the URL that performs the AJAX validations. If not set, it will take the value of action.
- validationDelay: integer, the number of milliseconds that an AJAX validation should be delayed after an input is changed. A value 0 means the validation will be triggered immediately when an input is changed. A value greater than 0 means changing several inputs may only trigger a single validation if they happen fast enough, which may help reduce the server load. Defaults to 100 (0.1 second).
- validateOnSubmit: boolean, whether to perform AJAX validation when the form is being submitted. If there are any validation errors, the form submission will be stopped. Defaults to false.
- validateOnChange: boolean, whether to trigger an AJAX validation each time when an input's value is changed. You may want to turn this off if it causes too much performance impact, because each AJAX validation request will submit the data of the whole form. Defaults to true.
- validateOnType: boolean, whether to trigger an AJAX validation each time when the user presses a key. When setting this property to be true, you should tune up the 'validationDelay' option to avoid triggering too many AJAX validations. Defaults to false.
- hideErrorMessage: boolean, whether to hide the error message even if there is an error. Defaults to false, which means the error message will show up whenever the input has an error.
- inputContainer: string, the jQuery selector for the HTML element containing the input field. During the validation process, CActiveForm will set different CSS class for the container element to indicate the state change. If not set, it means the closest 'div' element that contains the input field.
- errorCssClass: string, the CSS class to be assigned to the container whose associated input has AJAX validation error. Defaults to 'error'.
- successCssClass: string, the CSS class to be assigned to the container whose associated input passes AJAX validation without any error. Defaults to 'success'.
- validatingCssClass: string, the CSS class to be assigned to the container whose associated input is currently being validated via AJAX. Defaults to 'validating'.
- errorMessageCssClass: string, the CSS class assigned to the error messages returned by AJAX validations. Defaults to 'errorMessage'.
- beforeValidate: function, the function that will be invoked before performing ajax-based validation
triggered by form submission action (available only when validateOnSubmit is set true).
The expected function signature should be
beforeValidate(form) {...}
, where 'form' is the jquery representation of the form object. If the return value of this function is NOT true, the validation will be cancelled.
Note that because this option refers to a js function, you should prefix the value with 'js:' to prevent it from being encoded as a string. This option has been available since version 1.1.3. - afterValidate: function, the function that will be invoked after performing ajax-based validation
triggered by form submission action (available only when validateOnSubmit is set true).
The expected function signature should be
afterValidate(form, data, hasError) {...}
, where 'form' is the jquery representation of the form object; 'data' is the JSON response from the server-side validation; 'hasError' is a boolean value indicating whether there is any validation error. If the return value of this function is NOT true, the normal form submission will be cancelled.
Note that because this option refers to a js function, you should prefix the value with 'js:' to prevent it from being encoded as a string. This option has been available since version 1.1.3. - beforeValidateAttribute: function, the function that will be invoked before performing ajax-based validation
triggered by a single attribute input change. The expected function signature should be
beforeValidateAttribute(form, attribute) {...}
, where 'form' is the jquery representation of the form object and 'attribute' refers to the js options for the triggering attribute (see error). If the return value of this function is NOT true, the validation will be cancelled.
Note that because this option refers to a js function, you should prefix the value with 'js:' to prevent it from being encoded as a string. This option has been available since version 1.1.3. - afterValidateAttribute: function, the function that will be invoked after performing ajax-based validation
triggered by a single attribute input change. The expected function signature should be
beforeValidateAttribute(form, attribute, data, hasError) {...}
, where 'form' is the jquery representation of the form object; 'attribute' refers to the js options for the triggering attribute (see error); 'data' is the JSON response from the server-side validation; 'hasError' is a boolean value indicating whether there is any validation error.
Note that because this option refers to a js function, you should prefix the value with 'js:' to prevent it from being encoded as a string. This option has been available since version 1.1.3.
Some of the above options may be overridden in individual calls of error(). They include: validationDelay, validateOnChange, validateOnType, hideErrorMessage, inputContainer, errorCssClass, successCssClass, validatingCssClass, beforeValidateAttribute, afterValidateAttribute.
whether to enable data validation via AJAX. Defaults to false. When this property is set true, you should
the CSS class name for error messages. Defaults to 'errorMessage'. Individual error call may override this value by specifying the 'class' HTML option.
additional HTML attributes that should be rendered for the form tag.
the form submission method. This should be either 'post' or 'get'. Defaults to 'post'.
whether to generate a stateful form (See CHtml::statefulForm). Defaults to false.
Method Details
public void checkBox($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a checkbox for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeCheckBox. Please check CHtml::activeCheckBox for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void checkBoxList($model, $attribute, $data, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$data | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a checkbox list for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeCheckBoxList. Please check CHtml::activeCheckBoxList for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void dropDownList($model, $attribute, $data, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$data | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a dropdown list for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeDropDownList. Please check CHtml::activeDropDownList for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public string error(CModel $model, string $attribute, array $htmlOptions=array (
), boolean $enableAjaxValidation=true)
| ||
$model | CModel | the data model |
$attribute | string | the attribute name |
$htmlOptions | array | additional HTML attributes to be rendered in the container div tag.
Besides all those options available in CHtml::error, the following options are recognized in addition:
|
$enableAjaxValidation | boolean | whether to enable AJAX validation for the specified attribute. Note that in order toe enable AJAX validation, both enableAjaxValidation and this parameter must be true. |
{return} | string | the validation result (error display or success message). |
Displays the first validation error for a model attribute. This is similar to CHtml::error except that it registers the model attribute so that if its value is changed by users, an AJAX validation may be triggered.
See Also
public string errorSummary(mixed $models, string $header=NULL, string $footer=NULL, array $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$models | mixed | the models whose input errors are to be displayed. This can be either a single model or an array of models. |
$header | string | a piece of HTML code that appears in front of the errors |
$footer | string | a piece of HTML code that appears at the end of the errors |
$htmlOptions | array | additional HTML attributes to be rendered in the container div tag. |
{return} | string | the error summary. Empty if no errors are found. |
Displays a summary of validation errors for one or several models. This method is very similar to CHtml::errorSummary except that it also works when AJAX validation is performed.
See Also
public void fileField($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a file field for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeFileField. Please check CHtml::activeFileField for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void hiddenField($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a hidden field for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeHiddenField. Please check CHtml::activeHiddenField for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void init()
|
Initializes the widget. This renders the form open tag.
public void label($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders an HTML label for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeLabel. Please check CHtml::activeLabel for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void labelEx($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders an HTML label for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeLabelEx. Please check CHtml::activeLabelEx for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void listBox($model, $attribute, $data, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$data | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a list box for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeListBox. Please check CHtml::activeListBox for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void passwordField($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a password field for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activePasswordField. Please check CHtml::activePasswordField for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void radioButton($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a radio button for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeRadioButton. Please check CHtml::activeRadioButton for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void radioButtonList($model, $attribute, $data, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$data | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a radio button list for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeRadioButtonList. Please check CHtml::activeRadioButtonList for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void run()
|
Runs the widget. This registers the necessary javascript code and renders the form close tag.
public void textArea($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a text area for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeTextArea. Please check CHtml::activeTextArea for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public void textField($model, $attribute, $htmlOptions=array (
))
| ||
$model | ||
$attribute | ||
$htmlOptions |
Renders a text field for a model attribute. This method is a wrapper of CHtml::activeTextField. Please check CHtml::activeTextField for detailed information about the parameters for this method.
public static string validate(mixed $models, array $attributes=NULL, boolean $loadInput=true)
| ||
$models | mixed | a single model instance or an array of models. |
$attributes | array | list of attributes that should be validated. Defaults to null, meaning any attribute listed in the applicable validation rules of the models should be validated. If this parameter is given as a list of attributes, only the listed attributes will be validated. |
$loadInput | boolean | whether to load the data from $_POST array in this method.
If this is true, the model will be populated from $_POST[ModelClass] . |
{return} | string | the JSON representation of the validation error messages. |
Validates one or several models and returns the results in JSON format. This is a helper method that simplies the way of writing AJAX validation code.