Thanks Lee. On 09/02/2010 08:49 PM, Lee Rowlands wrote:

Hi Jeff You need to call drupal_render on the form field. Have a look at theme_user_admin_account for a good example, this generates the list of users with the checkbox at /admin/user/user

So there seems to be two problems with the drupal_rendered form field. One is that in looking at the page source, the option value in each of these select fields that matches the #default_value are not marked as selected. The other problem is that the data is not passed back on any of these fields, and the page source shows each of them having a class of form_field like the non drupal_render fields, but id="" and name=""

Hi Lee, Well, I think this is a slightly different scenario, so I might need to do what you're saying in a different way. It's a multi-page form that starts as a a few search fields, and then adds on the results, some of which is editable. So, the flow is like this: hook_form() { turn off #redirect build sort form fields does form_values have id? Y update form submit was clicked? Y update tables N query based on contents of sort fields loop through result set and create additional form fields create table containing mixture of text and form fields add submit field } Jeff On 09/03/2010 05:14 AM, Lee Rowlands wrote:

Jeff Are you calling drupal_render in the theme function or the form builder? You need to call it in the theme function. See theme_user_admin_account and user_admin_account, the form is built and returned in user_admin_account (as a flat form) and returned as an array, which is then rendered in theme_user_admin_account as a table.

Lee On Fri, 2010-09-03 at 00:49 -0400, Jeff Greenberg wrote:

...

So there seems to be two problems with the drupal_rendered form field. One is that in looking at the page source, the option value in each of these select fields that matches the #default_value are not marked as selected.

The other problem is that the data is not passed back on any of these fields, and the page source shows each of them having a class of form_field like the non drupal_render fields, but id="" and name=""

It's confused the heck out of me :-) in terms of which element to #theme... Some of the form fields are in a table, rather than a table containing the form. So at first blush, it would seem that theming individual fields wouldn't work, nor would theming the entire form... create a fieldset around the table and theme it? On 09/03/2010 10:38 AM, John Fiala wrote:

Generally what you want to do to get a table as part of a form is to declare a theme function that you then assign as '#theme' => 'function_name', where the theme function is theme_function_name.

This used to confuse the heck out of me, and then I went in and read through the code on the admin/content/node page, which is a pretty good example of how to display a form in a table, I think.

Well, you can do a fieldset if you like. But it seems that you don't need to have a fieldset to theme a group of fields, you just need to group them in the array. So... <?php ... form stuff... $form['table'] = array( '#theme' => 'my_project_form_as_table', ); $form['table']['field_1'] = array( '#type' => 'textfield', .... ); $form['table']['field_2'] = array(...); $form['table']['field_3'] = array(...); ... $form['submit'] = array('#type' => 'submit', '#value' => 'submit'); return $form } .... theme_my_project_form_as_table(&$elements) { $header = ('a', 'b'); $rows = array( array(t('Row 1'), drupal_render($elements['field_1'])), array(t('Row 2'), drupal_render($elements['field_2'])), array(t('Row 3'), drupal_render($elements['field_3'])), ... ); return theme('table', $header, $rows) . drupal_render($elements); } ?> So, the two points you _really_ don't want to forget: 1) The $elements argument in the theme function declaration must start with the &, so that when fields are marked as rendered by drupal_render the rest of the system knows it. 2) Always call 'drupal_render($elements)' and add the output before you return. On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 9:03 AM, Jeff Greenberg <jeff@ayendesigns.com> wrote:

It's confused the heck out of me :-)  in terms of which element to #theme...  Some of the form fields are in a table, rather than a table containing the form. So at first blush, it would seem that theming individual fields wouldn't work, nor would theming the entire form... create a fieldset around the table and theme it?

On 09/03/2010 10:38 AM, John Fiala wrote:

...

Generally what you want to do to get a table as part of a form is to declare a theme function that you then assign as '#theme' => 'function_name', where the theme function is theme_function_name.

This used to confuse the heck out of me, and then I went in and read through the code on the admin/content/node page, which is a pretty good example of how to display a form in a table, I think.

-- John Fiala www.jcfiala.net

Just in case, first thing is to remind you to register your theme function in a hook_theme implementation - I forgot to list that as a 'need to do' earlier. Second thing is that *anything* you are displaying from $elements should be processed with drupal_render. That tells the form rendering system that this element has been rendered and you don't need to mess with it. Third thing to point out is that if you're doing that way of building fields - [table][$record->id]['field1'] (which is a good thing to do) - Don't forget to either include '#tree' => TRUE or explicitly set the '#parents' on each item. By default fields are kept track of in the fapi by the 'right-most' of the fields - 'field1' - whereas setting '#TREE' => TRUE means that suddenly it's remembered as table-#-field1. Yes, it's a little confusing the first time! But the results are cool. If you're still having trouble after this, I suggest cutting/pasting some code into a pastebin website and providing the link here so we can see it more clearly. On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 11:18 AM, Jeff Greenberg <jeff@ayendesigns.com> wrote:

Arrgh. Ok, I've made all those changes, and here's what it looks like (below). What I'm getting is the non-table form stuff, a vertical stacking of all the form fields that should be in the table, and then the table header, so the fields are being rendered (and the default value is showing--hoorah!), but outside of and previous to the table.

form stuff . .            $form['table'] = array(                '#theme' => 'my_form_as_table',            );            while (loop through recordset)    {                $form['table'][$record->id]['field1'] = array (                    field stuff                );                $form['table'][$record->id]['field2'] = array (                    field stuff                );                .                .                .            }            $form[] = array (                '#type' => 'submit',                '#value' => 'Save Changes',            );        } function theme_my_form_as_table(&$elements) { $header = array(t('a'),t('b')...

foreach ($elements['table'] as $k => $f) {    $rows[] = array($f['field1'],$f['field2'], drupal_render($f['field3'])...                     ); } return theme('table', $header, $rows) . drupal_render($elements); }

On 09/03/2010 11:30 AM, John Fiala wrote:

...

Well, you can do a fieldset if you like.  But it seems that you don't need to have a fieldset to theme a group of fields, you just need to group them in the array.  So...

-- John Fiala www.jcfiala.net

Hm. I'm wondering if $elements['table'] actually exists. Try http://pastebin.com/xU4F7C0m - pay attention to lines 51 through 58, that's where I made changes. Basically, I think the problem is that the $elements item _is_ the 'table' level, and that's why you're not finding your rows. And it's important to use $elements[$k] instead of $f, because drupal_render's changes need to go back to the calling function. On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 1:31 PM, Jeff Greenberg <jeff@ayendesigns.com> wrote:

I -had- forgotten #tree, and have added hook_theme and (I think) had drupal_render on all those fields, but that hasn't put the elements in the table. http://pastebin.com/rR9N5LfG

On 09/03/2010 01:31 PM, John Fiala wrote:

...

If you're still having trouble after this, I suggest cutting/pasting some code into a pastebin website and providing the link here so we can see it more clearly.

-- John Fiala www.jcfiala.net