Form generation

drupal

Functions to enable the processing and display of HTML forms.

Drupal uses these functions to achieve consistency in its form processing and presentation, while simplifying code and reducing the amount of HTML that must be explicitly generated by modules.

The primary function used with forms is drupal_get_form(), which is used for forms presented interactively to a user. Forms can also be built and submitted programmatically without any user input using the drupal_form_submit() function.

drupal_get_form() handles retrieving, processing, and displaying a rendered HTML form for modules automatically.

Here is an example of how to use drupal_get_form() and a form builder function:

$form = drupal_get_form('my_module_example_form');
...
function my_module_example_form($form, &$form_state) {
  $form['submit'] = array(
    '#type' => 'submit',
    '#value' => t('Submit'),
  );
  return $form;
}
function my_module_example_form_validate($form, &$form_state) {
  // Validation logic.
}
function my_module_example_form_submit($form, &$form_state) {
  // Submission logic.
}

Or with any number of additional arguments:

$extra = "extra";
$form = drupal_get_form('my_module_example_form', $extra);
...
function my_module_example_form($form, &$form_state, $extra) {
  $form['submit'] = array(
    '#type' => 'submit',
    '#value' => $extra,
  );
  return $form;
}

The $form argument to form-related functions is a structured array containing the elements and properties of the form. For information on the array components and format, and more detailed explanations of the Form API workflow, see the Form API reference and the Form API documentation section. In addition, there is a set of Form API tutorials in the Form Example Tutorial which provide basics all the way up through multistep forms.

In the form builder, validation, submission, and other form functions, $form_state is the primary influence on the processing of the form and is passed by reference to most functions, so they use it to communicate with the form system and each other.

See drupal_build_form() for documentation of $form_state keys.

Functions & methods

Name	Description
date_validate	Validates the date type to prevent invalid dates (e.g., February 30, 2006).
drupal_build_form	Builds and processes a form for a given form ID.
drupal_form_submit	Retrieves, populates, and processes a form.
drupal_get_form	Returns a renderable form array for a given form ID.
drupal_prepare_form	Prepares a structured form array.
drupal_process_form	Processes a form submission.
drupal_rebuild_form	Constructs a new $form from the information in $form_state.
drupal_redirect_form	Redirects the user to a URL after a form has been processed.
drupal_retrieve_form	Retrieves the structured array that defines a given form.
drupal_validate_form	Validates user-submitted form data in the $form_state array.
form_builder	Builds and processes all elements in the structured form array.
form_clear_error	Clears all errors against all form elements made by form_set_error().
form_error	Flags an element as having an error.
form_execute_handlers	Executes custom validation and submission handlers for a given form.
form_get_cache	Fetches a form from the cache.
form_get_error	Returns the error message filed against the given form element.
form_get_errors	Returns an associative array of all errors.
form_get_options	Returns the indexes of a select element's options matching a given key.
form_load_include	Ensures an include file is loaded loaded whenever the form is processed.
form_options_flatten	Allows PHP array processing of multiple select options with the same value.
form_pre_render_conditional_form_element	Adds form element theming to an element if its title or description is set.
form_pre_render_fieldset	Adds members of this group as actual elements for rendering.
form_process_actions	Processes a form actions container element.
form_process_autocomplete	Adds autocomplete functionality to elements with a valid #autocomplete_path.
form_process_button	Processes a form button element.
form_process_checkbox	Sets the #checked property of a checkbox element.
form_process_checkboxes	Processes a checkboxes form element.
form_process_container	Processes a container element.
form_process_date	Expands a date element into year, month, and day select elements.
form_process_fieldset	Arranges fieldsets into groups.
form_process_machine_name	Processes a machine-readable name form element.
form_process_password_confirm	Expand a password_confirm field into two text boxes.
form_process_pattern	#process callback for #pattern form element property.
form_process_radios	Expands a radios element into individual radio elements.
form_process_select	Processes a select list form element.
form_process_tableselect	Creates checkbox or radio elements to populate a tableselect table.
form_process_vertical_tabs	Creates a group formatted as vertical tabs.
form_process_weight	Expands a weight element into a select element.
form_select_options	Converts a select form element's options array into HTML.
form_set_cache	Stores a form in the cache.
form_set_error	Files an error against a form element.
form_set_value	Changes submitted form values during form validation.
form_state_defaults	Retrieves default values for the $form_state array.
form_state_keys_no_cache	Returns an array of $form_state keys that shouldn't be cached.
form_state_values_clean	Removes internal Form API elements and buttons from submitted form values.
form_type_checkboxes_value	Determines the value for a checkboxes form element.
form_type_checkbox_value	Determines the value for a checkbox form element.
form_type_image_button_value	Determines the value for an image button form element.
form_type_password_confirm_value	Determines the value for a password_confirm form element.
form_type_radios_value	Form value callback: Determines the value for a #type radios form element.
form_type_range_value	Determines the value for a range element.
form_type_select_value	Determines the value for a select form element.
form_type_tableselect_value	Determines the value for a tableselect form element.
form_type_textfield_value	Determines the value for a textfield form element.
form_type_token_value	Determines the value for form's token value.
form_validate_email	Form element validation handler for #type 'email'.
form_validate_machine_name	Form element validation handler for machine_name elements.
form_validate_number	Form element validation handler for #type 'number'.
form_validate_pattern	#element_validate callback for #pattern form element property.
form_validate_url	Form element validation handler for #type 'url'.
map_month	Renders a month name for display.
password_confirm_validate	Validates a password_confirm element.
theme_button	Returns HTML for a button form element.
theme_checkbox	Returns HTML for a checkbox form element.
theme_checkboxes	Returns HTML for a set of checkbox form elements.
theme_container	Returns HTML to wrap child elements in a container.
theme_date	Returns HTML for a date selection form element.
theme_email	Returns HTML for an email form element.
theme_fieldset	Returns HTML for a fieldset form element and its children.
theme_file	Returns HTML for a file upload form element.
theme_form	Returns HTML for a form.
theme_form_element	Returns HTML for a form element.
theme_form_element_label	Returns HTML for a form element label and required marker.
theme_form_required_marker	Returns HTML for a marker for required form elements.
theme_hidden	Returns HTML for a hidden form element.
theme_image_button	Returns HTML for an image button form element.
theme_number	Returns HTML for a number form element.
theme_password	Returns HTML for a password form element.
theme_radio	Returns HTML for a radio button form element.
theme_radios	Returns HTML for a set of radio button form elements.
theme_range	Returns HTML for a range form element.
theme_search	Returns HTML for a search form element.
theme_select	Returns HTML for a select form element.
theme_submit	Returns HTML for a submit button form element.
theme_tableselect	Returns HTML for a table with radio buttons or checkboxes.
theme_tel	Returns HTML for a tel form element.
theme_textarea	Returns HTML for a textarea form element.
theme_textfield	Returns HTML for a textfield form element.
theme_url	Returns HTML for a url form element.
theme_vertical_tabs	Returns HTML for an element's children fieldsets as vertical tabs.
weight_value	Sets the value for a weight element, with zero as a default.
_form_builder_handle_input_element	Adds the #name and #value properties of an input element before rendering.
_form_button_was_clicked	Determines if a given button triggered the form submission.
_form_element_triggered_scripted_submission	Detects if an element triggered the form submission via Ajax.
_form_options_flatten	Iterates over an array and returns a flat array with duplicate keys removed.
_form_set_class	Sets a form element's class attribute.
_form_validate	Performs validation on form elements.

File

core/includes/form.inc, line 27: Functions for form and batch generation and processing.

Functions & methods

File

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