Hey, I havent abandoned this issue.
Armed with what I got from reading the replies here I went on some
google searches and came up with a near-solution that is almost there.
My first main problem was that this is my first foray into AJAX, so my
lack of understanding was a hurdle there. The other problem was that
I have been away from cakePHP for a while so some obvious things ended
up getting me snagged for a bit. Anyway here are the steps I took,
and my new problem.
I created the view for the form that, using a Js helper request, gets
appended to the original form when the user clicks a button:
<fieldset>
<?php
$this->Form->create();
echo $this->Form->input('Element.1.element_title_id', array('label' =>
'Element Type', 'options' => $element_titles));
echo $this->Form->input('Element.1.title', array('type' => 'text'));
echo $this->Form->input('Element.1.description', array('type' =>
'textarea', 'label' => 'Description'));
echo $this->Form->input('Element.1.Image.0.path', array('type' =>
'file'));
?>
</fieldset>
Ajax calls the add_element action of my projects_controller which just
has a simple $this->render('add_element', 'ajax') statement in it.
This all works beautifully, and believe it or not took me a while to
figure out (i tried some horrible horrible things before I got to
where I am)
Now this is what the $data looks like when I submit the form:
Array
(
[Project] => Array
(
[title] =>
[description] =>
)
[Element] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[element_title_id] => 3
[title] =>
[description] =>
[Image] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[path] =>
)
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[element_title_id] => 3
[title] =>
[description] =>
[Image] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[path] =>
)
)
)
)
)
My problem is that no matter how many times a new element is added via
my add_element action. only 2 elements are sent back to the controller
to be saved. I know why this is happening; Element.
1.element_title_id. I'm not incrementing the key there, its always
1. For example the second time the button is clikced, that should be
Element.2.element_title_id, but I have no idea how to do that
So what it comes down to is that I have no idea how to increment this
key each time the button is clicked on the form.
Any help is appreciated.
Don't hesitate to ask me to clarify...I tend to get sloppy and
rambling when describing something like this
On May 16, 11:53 am, dreamingmind <[email protected]> wrote:
> Rob,
>
> My code diverged from crisuwork's in a couple of areas. One difference
> (which I think you will share); I had to add several fields rather
> than one. This is a small detail but it adds a fair amount of code
> though the general pattern he describes is the same I followed. It
> sums up the process beautifully.
>
> Another difference: when I add a group of fields I have to do some db
> checks to see if data exists for the image name I'm bringing in. That
> means I may need to populate some fields with existing data so I don't
> rewrite or over-write things in ignorance. And I have select lists to
> populate, etc.
>
> These differences in complexity lead to the other difference: I set
> myself the goal of following web standards and cake conventions as
> closely as possible. This helped manage the complexity. Rather than
> introducing the new form fields with a javascript function, I used an
> Element and had my javascript return that via Ajax.
>
> So my basic pattern is:
> User clicks link calling javascript/ajax
> Js finds form content existing? clears it out (this allows me to
> toggle sections open/closed)
> Js finds no content then it uses my Cake action to look up data and
> return an Element containing a populated fieldset
> Sends it all back to the page.
>
> One important detail that crisuwork had in his code which you'll need
> to note; the name attribute for his field ends with [ ]. This will let
> your multiple occurrences of the same field return as an array. If the
> fields have the same name attribute and don't end with the array
> brackets, they'll overwrite each other and you'll get back the value
> of the last one.
>
> This caused me some problems in the Element because the Form Helper in
> its simplest usage is incompatible with our needs in this case. The
> Cake Development team was farsighted though!
>
> Problem:
> echo $this->Form->input('ImageId'); // cake code in the Element
>
> Returns:
> <div class="input text">
> <label for="ImageId">Image Id</label>
> <input
> type="text"
> id="ImageId"
> name="data[ImageId]"
> >
> </div>
>
> Both the normally returned 'id' and 'name' attributes will trip you up
> in the kind of ajax function we're discussing (id's need to be unique
> or things can break).
>
> Solution, this more detailed cake code in the Element:
> echo $this->Form->input('ImageId', array(
> 'name' => 'data[Image][id][]',
> 'id' => null,
> 'class' => 'imgid',
> 'type' => $type
> ));
>
> Returns this simpler html:
> <div class="input text">
> <label for="ImageId">Image Id</label>
> <input
> type="text"
> class="imgid"
> name="data[Image][id][]"
> >
> </div>
>
> As you can see, both our problems are solved! You can add a 'value'
> attribute also if you want to force field content. But, since this is
> standard Form Helper usage, if the standard data array exists (from a
> query in the controller) fields will get their appropriate content.
>
> By the way, the 'type' attribute is just a debugging thing so I can
> make certain fields hidden or visible as I work things out.
>
> crisuworks describes the process you'll need to follow when processing
> the returned data.
>
> Regards,
> Don
>
> On May 15, 11:42 pm, crisuwork <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > I just made such a feature 2 weeks ago using a simple javascript
> > function to generate more input fields with file as type. I attached
> > that function to a button "Add files" and that is.
> > You need than in controller to write a loop to parse all the array
> > from $_FILES and for each file do call a "save()" function.
>
> > Here is an example jQuery function ( this function has to be in your
> > ctp file ):
> > function addmorefiels(){
> > $('#yourDiv').append('<input type="file" name="myfilesforupload[]"
> > value="">');
>
> > }
>
> > The you need in your form .ctp file some div where you push/attach new
> > dynamically input fields:
> > <form....>
> > ...
> > ...
> > <div id="yourDiv"></div>
> > <a href='javascript:void(0)' onclick='addmorefiels()'></a>
> > </form>
>
> > Than, in controller in save() function you check the array from
> > "myfilesforupload":
>
> > if( is_array($_FILES["myfilesforupload"]) &&
> > count($_FILES["myfilesforupload"])>0 ){
> > foreach($_FILES["myfilesforupload"] as $distinctFile){
> > ... here you have to call your upload class and to save the
> > files
> > }
>
> > }
>
> > If you want to do this without page refresh than you have to use $ajax
> > from jQurey :)
>
> > On 15 Mai, 22:22, Rob <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > Let me start off by explaining what I want to do and where I am right
> > > now.
>
> > > I have a CakePHP site where I can submit projects, and each project
> > > has many different elements attached to it. I'm created the add
> > > project form to be able to add elements as well. I have successfully
> > > created a form that will submit both projects and elements. This form
> > > has 2 parts to it the Project form which there is only one and the
> > > Element form which I want there to be many of. So for one project
> > > submission there will be more than one element submission.
>
> > > What I want to do is add a button that, when clicked, adds another
> > > Element form to the page until there are enough. My original idea was
> > > to do this with AJAX and jQuery, since the form creation is handled by
> > > cake. Problem is, I don't really know where to get started.
>
> > > Any push in the right direction would be helpful
> > > Thanks
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