Content tagged with: form_alter

This code snippet will should you how to add additional functionality to a system form when it's submitted. You can do this in Drupal 5.x using a form_alter hook to modify the submit handlers on the form object. In my example, I'll show you how to add your own function that will executed when the contact form is submitted.

Now, when the contact form is submitted, you're submit handler will be processed as well. You'll need to define a function with the same name.

Drupal 6 comes with greatly improved usability, such as the ability to reposition node form elements by dragging and dropping (unlike Drupal 5, which made you assign a numeric weight to each item). But what about the form elements that Drupal does not let you adjust, like the revision information? You can implement a form_alter hook to solve this one...

Here are some tips on how to create a node programmatically in a Drupal module. The safest way to create a node is to use the drupal_execute() function which simulates the submission of a form [see API documentation]. This function accepts a variable number of arguments: 1) $form_id; 2) $form_state; and 3) any additional arguments. When creating a new node, the 3rd argument should be a $node object.

The $form_id should be formatted: NODETYPE_node_form. To confirm this, you could use hook_form_alter to show the form IDs for the current page (NOTE: you'll have to be on node/add/NODETYPE to display the node form ID).

For the second argument, you'll have to create an array that contains $form_state values (the data submitted from the node/add/NODETYPE form). Here is a basic $form_state array:

If you are creating a more complex node type, you'll want to include more information in in the $form_state['values'] array. I find it helpful to view the submitted node form data using the following code:

Now, if you create a test node (node/add/NODETYPE), you'll see the data that's being submitted from the form. NOTE: be sure to remove these two functions when you are familiar with the structure of the $form_state variable.

The 3rd argument will be a (mostly) empty $node object containing the node type:

Here's a code snippet that shows all the pieces together:

A recent task that came my way way to create the functionality to capture email addresses using a simple subscription form. Since email is not a reliable means of capturing data, I used CCK to create nodes to capture the data and a view to show the results. First, I create a CCK node type called "email_subscription" which did not have a body or any custom fields, just the title for email address. I then created a view that shows the nodes in a table. Here's the module I created that generates a block module that contains the CCK node form. The block uses the CCK node form to capture the data. When the node is created, it uses the nodeapi hook to send a conformation email. There is also a function to validate the user's email address.

I recently decided to use taxonomy to set the status of my nodes as they moved through phases of the application. A created a category called status and added the terms: incomplete, complete, and submitted. I needed the ability to restrict who can set the taxonomy, so I wrote this module which allows you to set which roles can modify taxonomy...