Zend Framework form with jquery

Question

Any one a idea how to simply create a form with Zend_Form and jquery? I want to use Zend_Form to validate the form so I don't have to dual script the form in JavaScript and PHP.

Thank you,

Ivo Trompert

Answer 1

No problem there.

Add ZendX_JQuery to your library if you use autoload.

Then extend ZendX_JQuery_Form to your needs. Do your stuff in the init() method of your class.

For example, I was able to create an AutoComplete field which has regular Zend_Form validation plus JQuery behavior like this:

$elem = new ZendX_JQuery_Form_Element_AutoComplete(
    'query',
     array('Label' => 'Search',
           'required'=>true,
           'filters'=>array('StripTags'),
           'validators'=>array(
                            array('validator'=>'StringLength',
                                'options'=>array('min'=>'3'),
                                'breakChainOnFailure'=>true
                                ),
                            array('Alnum')
                )
        )
    );

$elem->setJQueryParams(array('data' => array(),
    'url' => 'my_autocomplete_callback.php',
    'minChars' => 1,
    'onChangeInterval' => 500,
    )
);

Then I even changed the default decorators like this:

$elementDecorators = array(
    array('UiWidgetElement', array('tag' => '')),
    array('Errors', array('tag' => 'div', 'class'=>'error')),
    array('Label'),
    array('HtmlTag', array('tag' => 'div')),
);
$elem->setDecorators($elementDecorators);

And finally add to my form (remember I'm in the init() so I'll address it via $this):

$this->addElement($elem);

There you are, the magic is done.

PS: don't forget to add the following in your bootstrap:

$view->addHelperPath('ZendX/JQuery/View/Helper/', 'ZendX_JQuery_View_Helper');

Answer 2

Well, Zend_Form will not generate any client-side JavaScript validators for you, if that's what you mean.

BUT: You can just do all the validation on the server, and use jQuery to hook into the fields' change events, and to AJAX-ify the form validation.

Check that for a sample.