DynamicFormBundle

The DynamicFormBundle offers helpers for handling dynamic form fields (forms built from definitions stored in the database). This can be helpful for several applications where a site admin (not the developer) needs to configure the fields of a form, like contact forms, surveys or exams, employment applications, etc.

An example SurveyMaker application is available.

Installation

Make sure Composer is installed globally, as explained in the installation chapter of the Composer documentation.

Applications that use Symfony Flex

Open a command console, enter your project directory and execute:

$ composer require zikula/dynamic-form-bundle

Applications that don't use Symfony Flex

Step 1: Download the Bundle

Open a command console, enter your project directory and execute the following command to download the latest stable version of this bundle:

$ composer require zikula/dynamic-form-bundle

Step 2: Enable the Bundle

Then, enable the bundle by adding it to the list of registered bundles in the config/bundles.php file of your project:

// config/bundles.php

return [
    // ...
    Zikula\Bundle\DynamicFormBundle\ZikulaDynamicFormBundle::class => ['all' => true],
];

Getting Started

In order to implement this bundle, the developer must create three entities:

1. A 'container' Entity that holds both:
   1. The form specifications (OneToMany)
   2. The response data (OneToMany)
   3. This may extend AbstractSpecificationContainer
2. A 'wrapper' Entity that defines the form specification.
   1. This must extend AbstractFormSpecification
3. A 'response' Entity to contain the data responses to the forms.
   1. This must extend AbstractResponseData

Form Creation: the 'Building' form

The Zikula\Bundle\DynamicFormBundle\Form\Type\FormSpecificationCollectionType formType is a collection of Form Specifications in your form. You must define the entry_type to be your own 'wrapper' Entity (item 2 above). Each member of the collection provides a form type to define all the needed details of a formType (a FormSpecification). Form options are loaded using ajax and dynamically added/replaced in the form.

    $builder
        ->add('questions', FormSpecificationCollectionType::class, [
            'entry_options' => [
                'data_class' => Question::class // required
            ],
        ])

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Javascript for these actions is automatically loaded. However, the javascript is jQuery-based. Therefore, you must include jQuery in your front-end assets.

Form Creation: The 'Responding' form

The bundle also provides the Zikula\Bundle\DynamicFormBundle\Form\Type\DynamicFieldsType formType. This provides for inclusion of the defined dynamic fields. The formType requires the specificationContainer object. This object implements Zikula\Bundle\DynamicFormBundle\Container\SpecificationContainerInterface. This can be your 'Container' object (item 1 above) or possibly another provider like a Repository. The object must provide a list of form specifications (as defined by the 'wrapper' class). This list can be optionally sorted or filtered as required.

Example:

    $builder->add('survey', DynamicFieldsType::class, [
        'specificationContainer' => $myContainer,
    ]);

More information

• see Additional Documentation
• This bundle suggests scienta/doctrine-json-functions
  • You must configure the DoctrineJsonFunctions bundle at the application level. It is not done automatically.