[drupal-devel] [task] New drupal forms api.

Fri Sep 16 00:07:17 UTC 2005

Issue status update for 
http://drupal.org/node/29465
Post a follow up: 
http://drupal.org/project/comments/add/29465

 Project:      Drupal
 Version:      cvs
 Component:    base system
 Category:     tasks
 Priority:     critical
 Assigned to:  adrian
 Reported by:  adrian
 Updated by:   chx
 Status:       patch (code needs work)

Maybe others also have some hard time to figure out how to put form
elements into a table.

You construct the form, with non-interactive elements ie. plain text
going in as array(type => 'markup', value => ...). Then you write the
appropriate theme function and call form_render in a loop. If you use
foreach ($form as $key => $element) { for this loop be aware that you
need to pass $form[$key][..] to form_render so that it can set that
form element to rendered. Or you can unset($form[$key]); at the end of
the row. All this is necessary because the usual ending is:

Where this form_render call adds buttons and everything else not yet
rendered.

chx

Previous comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 11:34:00 +0000 : adrian

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/form.inc (20.53 KB)

This is the first check in of the new forms api code.

The system has been designed to co-exist with the current forms api,
and is contained in a new
include file (includes/form.inc).

Forms are now defined in their component arrays, similar to how menu
items are defined.

example :

<?php
 $form['body'] = array(type => 'textarea', default_value => $node->body, cols => 60, rows => 60);
?>

Elements can also be nested, and the $edit follows this definition. For
instance :

<?php
 $form['author'] = array(type => 'fieldset', title => t('Authoring information'), collapsible => TRUE, collapsed => TRUE, weight => -1);
 $form['author']['name'] = array(type => 'textfield', title => t('Authored by'), maxlength => 60,
                                 autocomplete_path => 'user/autocomplete', default_value => $node->name, weight => -1);
?>

All the properties used are defined as constants, and are documented
for each of the elements, and individually.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 11:46:19 +0000 : adrian

A patch for node.module, blog.module and taxonomy.module that changes
them to use the new form format. This patch is very far from complete,
but I wanted to get the code out so that i'm not working alone anymore.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:08:01 +0000 : adrian

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/forms.patch (9.98 KB)

The actual patch =) 

I forgot to mention, this adds a new hook .. namely hook_elements,
which allows us to define the defaults for the elements (ie : cols and
rows for textareas) meaning they don't have to be defined for each of
the elements.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:09:11 +0000 : chx

A few notes from my conversation with adrian. valid => array('integer',
'uid') for this to work you need function valid_integer($element) and
valid_uid($element). $extra for form_select is legacy and really
needed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:39:13 +0000 : fago

i really like this approach.

further i'd like to see the possibility to define an additional class
to a form element, which is currently not working. so we 'd have to
bring _form_get_class() and drupal_attributes() together.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:56:31 +0000 : adrian

that works already.

<?php
  $form[attributes]['class'] = 'someclass';
?>

Although I am considering just adding a class property ...

ie:

<?php
  $form[class][] = 'someclass';
?>

The fact that this is done via arrays, it means that the developer can
add classes as he or she sees fit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:29:10 +0000 : fago

really?
i don't think so.

e.g.
 $checkbox = '<input type="checkbox" class="'.
_form_get_class('form-checkbox', $element[required],
_form_get_error($element[name])) .'" name="'. $element[name] .'" id="'.
$element[id].'" value="'. $element[return_value] .'"'. ($element[value]
? ' checked="checked"' : '') . drupal_attributes($element[attributes])
.' />'

so we will end up with two class attributes, which won't work and isn't
standard compliance.
your css property idea would be ideal imho.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:40:12 +0000 : nevets

Minor point on #5 and #6, when accessing an associated array like
$form[class][] = 'someclass';
if the key is a string it should be enclosed in quotes, i.e.
$form['class'][] = 'someclass';
(This is from the PHP documentation.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 14:35:29 +0000 : moshe weitzman

Does this API affect form validation also? Thats the vague impression I
had in my head, but I don't see any validation changed in node or
taxonomy modules. perhaps that part is coming next.

There are reasons to love this patch. But one thing I don't like is the
movement toward arrays and away from functions. Modern editors and IDE's
offer function tips and function completion. These are huge time and
brain savers. They are great for newbies and for experts. It is so
helpful to just type 'form_sel', press tab, and have
form_select('title', 'name', 'value', 'options') printed for you, with
all the arguments. When you define forms in an array instead of
functions, as proposed in this patch, you lose a lot of developer
productivity and friendliness for newbies. Developers are also more
prone to mistakes this way since the editor can't guide them along.

This is the sort of advantage that means nothing to the many people who
just use a plain editor, and means everything to IDE users. Maybe
someone can think of a way to keep the flexibility without losing IDE
productivity.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:45:53 +0000 : adrian

The api has a drupal_validate_form() function, which does the following
validation :

It steps through each of the elements, and executes any of the valid
properties. An example would be valid => 'username'.
It then calls valid_username($element), which can check for errors. 

It then calls $form_id_validate() , which can check for errors between
form elements.

It then (optionally) calls $callback_validate(), which allows you to
have unique form id's , similar to how the example does the node form. 

You could create a function $type_node_form_validate(), to validate
only that form, or a theme_$type_node_form() to theme that form
differently.

An example of where this would be used is for CCK, where it will have a
single callback for all nodes created by it.

Errors are flagged using form_error($element). It's different from
form_set_error, in that it also sets the error property of the element,
which I think is more practical than using the globals.

Regarding the IDE discussion, I am on the fence about that, but
definitely leaning towards preferring the arrays over the function
calls. I think that the menu system has proven itself, and that it's
better to be consistent.

The plan for 4.7, is to leave the current form api in , so that all
contrib modules don't need to be ported, but to switch core over to the
new form system anyway, so for the time being .. the old functions will
still exist.

All this would be a non-issue if php supported named parameters, which
is essentially what we are reproducing using arrays.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 12:36:08 +0000 : Thomas Ilsche

I agree with moshe, and I think for day to day use the current forms api
does a good job - however on complicated constructions i consider this
to be really useful.
The problem i see is to keep the whole forms api consistent and easy to
learn, any ideas?
I'd be against deprecating the current functions.

About the keyword definitions. I think it should be consistent with for
hook_menu and all its "named parameter" friends, and to at least not
confuse it more define the keywords without the leading underscore.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 13:20:13 +0000 : adrian

I'd prefer to make the menu system properties be consistent with the
form system. actually.

I know the conventional logic is that all constants being uppercase,
and the first versions of the form code did stick to that, but the end
result
of the lowercase constants was far more readable code (the underscores
however are a necessity to allow for nesting.)

What i was thinking was, that we could use the conventional form api as
constructors for the form array.

ie:

<?php
$group .= form_textfield(t('File system path'), 'file_directory_path', $directory_path, 60, 255, t('desc here'), null, etc)
?>

turns into

<?php
 $form['files']['file_directory_path'] = form_textfield(t('File system path'), $directory_path, 60, 255, t('desc here'), null, etc);
 $form['files']['file_directory_path'][valid] = 'directory'; // any other properties that aren't in constructors.
?>

instead of

<?php
  $form['files']['file_create_path'] = array( type => 'textfield', title => t('File system path'), default_value => $directory_path, maxlength => 255, valid => 'directory', description => t('desc here')  );
?>

and form_textfield turns into

<?php
  function form_textfield($title, $value, $size, $maxlength, $description = NULL, $attributes = NULL, $required = FALSE) {
    return array( title => $title, size => $size, maxlength => $maxlength, description = $description, attributes => $attributes, required => $required);
  }
?>

Benefits :
1) easier to port
2) the ide thingy

Drawbacks :
1) more than one way to do something.
2) all forms will need to be upgraded, since the core form api will
change. ie: breaks all of contrib.
3) Constructors could become unwieldy trying to tend to most of the
parameters that can be set (weight, valid, validation_arguments, etc)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 13:47:17 +0000 : Dries

There should only be one way to build forms.  Simplicity and uniformity
is king.  For now, I leave it up to Adrian to decide what this "one
way" is going to look like. (I like his initial approach.  The code is
shorter which saves time too.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:24:48 +0000 : chx

I second Dries. The old form API be gone. The IDE is going to be a
problem, yes. A possible approach: the default array have all keys
possible set to NULL or so.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:28:50 +0000 : Bèr Kessels

I prefer the One Way too. having more ways to do something normally
results in two half-witted ways, instead of one way that works As Best
As Possible. 

I like the arrays approach. I love it, in fact. I have a feeling that
the more code in drupal adopts the Array Way [tm], the more power AND
uniformity we get. Just look at the success of array based menus:
powerfull, yet simple to develop with.

But, I have a few hesitations: one is the lowercase CONSTANTS. I know,
this is good for readability, so I lean towards the side of: then just
use lowercase constants. But still, something does not feel right about
it. I think this needs some more though, or comments of others. 

Another thing I dislike is the way we use parameters to construct, IMO,
completely different widgets. We should try to not think in terms of
HTML, but in terms of usage and display. In HTML a collapsible form is
similar -or nearly- to a noncollapsible. Same goes for a multi-select
and none-multiselect select.
But where I really think we should have different APIs is for
autofills. They are IMHO not textfields, but a complete separate
widget. Thus they should get a separate API.

And last about the IDEs: allthough I do understand the problem, i
beleive it is a very bad habit to let your code/application/product be
limited, because of the tools you use. If your tools cannot handle
libraries/snippets/etc beyond some function
calls, IMO you should get anoter IDE :). But surely we should not let
us be held back by these limitations in these IDEs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 15:31:14 +0000 : moshe weitzman

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/form_defaults.patch (2.39 KB)

Um, snippits and macros are not a substitute for function complete.
Snippits and macros are static entities which you manually create in
the IDE and are then available as needed. If syntax changes for an
given snippit, you have to manually change it. Thats just annoying
enough to make you not use these feature at all. By contrast, function
autocomplete just works the second you open a file. If you start
working on a Contrib module you never seen before, the IDE introspects
and is immediately ready for action. So all that nice PHPDoc that
Adrian has written would be nicely used. Not so with snippits or
macros.

If you guys want to see what the fuss about IDE is, download the free
trial of Zend Studio (http://www.zend.com/store/products/zend-studio/)
or Komodo (http://www.activestate.com/Products/Komodo/ - note the small
link for the OSX alpha. I've tried the alpha and it works). 

IDEs take a little while to get configured and get comfortable ...
Create a project and start typing some common functions. See how the
params show up and all our PHPDoc is there for your use. You can also
quickly navigate your project via function names, and skip to the spot
where a given function is defined. It is a tremendous time saver, and
bug preventer. The IDEs above also offer a debugger which lets you step
through your code and set breakpoints. Want to know the current value of
a variable - just hover over it in your debugger. Once you've gotten the
hang of this, you will never debug using print statements again.

I see nothing wrong with designing Drupal so that it uses those PHP
language features that are friendly to IDEs. Namely, functions,
classes, constants, etc. Arrays are very flexible, but that flexibility
comes at a price.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 16:34:41 +0000 : chx

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/forms_chx.patch (15.59 KB)

Like we have core.php for hooks we can have form.php for form API and
let that help your hand with any IDE.

Here is an updated version of Adrian's patch. User login block
reworked. I move on to other parts of user.module. I also created a
theme_password() function, so I will post form.inc as well.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 16:49:05 +0000 : chx

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/form_0.inc (21.01 KB)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 22:23:06 +0000 : gordon

+1 I like this patch a lot. but 2 things.

* The testarea hook is not supported. This needs to be implemented.
* the existing form_*() need to be changed to use the theme_*() so that
there is only one place that form items can be created.

I think this will be great for theme developers and it will be easier
to build forms for module developers.

Great job.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 09:27:08 +0000 : adrian

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/form_1.inc (24.73 KB)

Here is an updated version of the patch.

1) admin / settings has been rewritten
2) Added form_radios and form_checkboxes and form_select and a few
others
3) Very strict validation now .. the drupal_get_form function
automatically validates any input .. no way to skip that. If it doesn't
produce errors, it calls $form_id_execute(), or the optional
$callback_execute().
4) Started the first part of the implementation of the multiple
keyword, which is when an element can have multiple values. An example
of this would be the 'files' element from upload.module , where more
files get added, and also the primary / secondary links configuration
of phptemplate.

Still needs to be done : The clean_url validation, and any other module
with a _settings hook. I haven't integrated chx' user module work at
this point.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 09:48:14 +0000 : adrian

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/forms_0.patch (37.68 KB)

Here's the patch.

I'm also still busy with the filter format, which has unique
requirements and needs to be a filter_format element type (gets rid of
the in-line html)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 02:52:59 +0000 : yogadex

One thing I like about the current API is that you can inject arbitrary
HTML in the middle of a form if you see fit.  It's not obvious to me
how to do that with the new API.  Is there a way? 

Could I, for example, arrange my form fields in a table with two or
three columns?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 07:26:13 +0000 : naudefj

I would also like to be able to display forms in HTML tables. Here's a
great article explaining how forms can be styled using tables -
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/forms/tables.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 08:25:06 +0000 : adrian

EVERY form will now have a theme function, as every form now has it's
own (unique) form-id.

You can create a theme_my_form_id() function if you are a developer,
and require the form to be differently layed out (like for instance,
adding all the element outputs to a table).

You can create a mytheme_my_form_id() if you are a theme developer,
that can override the form layout. (as is shown by the current
node_form)
[?
function theme_node_form($form) {
  $output .= '';
    $output .= '';
      $output .= '';
      $output .= form_render($form['author']);
      $output .= '';

      $output .= '';
      $output .= form_render($form['options']);
      $output .= '';
    $output .= '';
    $output .= '';
    $output .= form_render($form_render);
    $output .= '';
  $output .= '';
  return $output;
}

?]
You can create a phptemplate stub to load it from a template.

<?php
function phptemplate_node_form($element) {
  return _phptemplate_default('node_form', $element);
}
?>

and the current node_form template being :
[?

<?php
 print form_render($form['author']) 
?>

<?php
 print form_render($form['options']) 
?>

<?php
 print form_render($form) 
?>

?]

NOTE: As a developer, you can even remix forms you didn't design.
Infact, it gives you complete themeability over everything.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 08:44:27 +0000 : adrian

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/forms_presentation.pdf (78.63 KB)

I hate the php filter ..
here's the theme_ function ..
i don't have time to escape the template right

<?php
function theme_node_form($form) {
  $output .= '<div class="node-form">';
    $output .= '<div class="admin">';
      $output .= '<div class="authored">';
      $output .= form_render($form['author']);
      $output .= '</div>';
      $output .= '<div class="options">';
      $output .= form_render($form['options']);
      $output .= '</div>';
    $output .= '</div>';
    $output .= '<div class="standard">';
    $output .= form_render($form_render);
    $output .= '</div>';
  $output .= '</div>';
  return $output;
}
?>

I am attaching my presentation from drupalcon in portland.It has all
the examples, although stuff like the validation has changed slightly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:53:48 +0000 : adrian

Call for help : 

Code freeze for Drupal 4.7 is coming very quickly , and a lot of work
is still needed to get this functionality in before the code freeze
happens.
As this patch is incredibly important (even if only considered from a
security point of view), we need people to help us port all the forms
in
Drupal at the moment.

If anyone is interested in helping, could you please contact me, so we
can coordinate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 22:19:40 +0000 : killes at www.drop.org

You can assign me a module to conver as soon as my revisions patch is in
core. I think I'd like to convert profile.module.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 23:41:06 +0000 : yogadex

Regarding #24:

Now I see why you keep the [printed] flag during node_render.

Should this line:
$output .= form_render($form_render);
read:
$output .= form_render($form);
??? (That is, I don't see where variable $form_render is coming from).

Regarding #25:

Must every form be converted in order to include this?  Drupal 4.7 will
still support the old forms API, yes?

I see that this was discussed early in the thread.  For those of us
with custom modules life would be a lot easier if the old form api
sticks around until say a 5.0 release.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 00:02:09 +0000 : killes at www.drop.org

@yogadex: To those of us who roll out the actual security releases till
4am in the morning the disappearance of the old api with 4.7 will
provide a lot more sleep. We win, backwards compatibility sucks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 03:50:27 +0000 : adrian

The old form api will remain in core for a maximum of one release. 

another 6-9 months to convert your modules is more than enough time...
plus most of the new uber features (cck etc) are going to require you
to upgrade to the new system.

Meanwhile, new functionality like the install wizards are going to
require you to use this form api.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 03:59:41 +0000 : adrian

And regarding the form_render question .. it's not a variable, it's a
small recursive function.

the theme function is passed the entire form tree. The designer can
choose to remix the form however he chooses. Since elements are nested,
and for instance the fieldsets, are named .. you can use
form_render($form['elementname']) , which will print that element, and
set the printed flag so it won't be printed again. 

Like in the example where the author and options fieldsets are
seperated out from the form and displayed seperately.
form_render($form) in turn will print anything that hasn't been printed
yet. 

if you wanted to seperate out the author field on the page, you could
use form_render($form['author']['name']) , and it would print that
element wherever, and when you then called form_render($form['author'])
or form_render($form); , it would not be printed again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 04:24:47 +0000 : yogadex

@killes: I certainly don't want you losing sleep ;)  I'm glad to hear
the new and old will coexist for at least one release.  (Unless there's
a security issue - that's another story)

@adrian: I understand the form_render() function and it's nifty.  But
there is a typo in both your attached presentation and #24 above, where
"$form_render" is written and it should be "$form", if I am reading
correctly.  Thanks for explaining.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 21:14:37 +0000 : chx

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/forms_1.patch (46.21 KB)

I merged and rerolled against current HEAD.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 13:59:30 +0000 : m3avrck

Minor include bug in the node.module patch:

 define('NODE_NEW_LIMIT', time() - 30 * 24 * 60 * 60);
+include_once 'includes/form.inc';

that include_once is missing the './' part.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:25:22 +0000 : ax

that second

<?php
+include_once 'includes/form.inc';
?>

shouldn't be changed but *removed*, because it is a duplicate of 8
lines above.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:31:52 +0000 : m3avrck

ah yes, an even better catch than mine, touche!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 01:14:12 +0000 : chx

Not so. The first should be removed 'cos it is hard to patch against the
cvs id :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 01:42:27 +0000 : ax

allright, ok, of course, the first one.

what would be even better would be a working patch. the ones attached 
(last one and before) don't include form.inc, generate some duplicate
functions that result in "PHP Fatal errors:  Cannot redeclare
functions()" (system_elements(), theme_node_form()), and "PHP Warning: 
Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated - argument passed by
value"s. chx: are you working on this?

i would much like to help testing the new forms api and getting it into
4.7 because thats exactly what i need for a bigger project at work where
we are considering using Drupal as base framework. the one showstopper
is the extensability of Drupal forms ...

thanks for all the work done up to now, anyway.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 02:38:08 +0000 : jvandyk

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/forms_2.patch (47.72 KB)

Here's an updated patch against HEAD that is mostly working. Karoly
provided the updated node.module. For me, there seems to be an issue in
form.inc in the recursive _form_builder() function where it is recursing
even when $element is not an array but is a scalar.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 02:43:01 +0000 : m3avrck

Not to nitpick, but in node.module, the patch has +include_once
'includes/form.inc'; but should read +include_once
'./includes/form.inc'; for consistency and performance :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 03:24:16 +0000 : webchick

I don't know if this is just the Drupal newbie in me talking, but I am
getting quite a few errors with this patch (Drupal HEAD, up-to-date as
of about 5 minutes ago). I've uploaded the form.inc from #19 and
applied the forms_2.patch from #38, and I'm getting errors like the
following:

*admin/settings:*
warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in
$DRUPAL_ROOT/includes/form.inc on line 511.

*admin/comment/configure, admin/settings/user*:
warning: Missing argument 2 for system_settings_form() in
$DRUPAL_ROOT/modules/system.module on line 733.

*node/add/[anything]*:
warning: Cannot use a scalar value as an array in
$DRUPAL_ROOT/includes/form.inc on line 406.

warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in
$DRUPAL_ROOT/includes/form.inc on line 403.

warning: Cannot use a scalar value as an array in
$DRUPAL_ROOT/includes/form.inc on line 411.

warning: Cannot use a scalar value as an array in
$DRUPAL_ROOT/includes/form.inc on line 406.