Symfony2 FormBuilder with Entity class - symfony

Question

I have a form that works well, there is just one issue with it and I'm hoping that I'll get an answer on how to do what I need to do.
<?php
namespace ADS\UserBundle\Form;
use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolverInterface;
use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\SecurityContext;
class UserType extends AbstractType {
private $type;
public function __construct($type) {
$this->type = $type;
}
public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options) {
$builder
->add('firstName', 'text', array('required' => true))
->add('lastName', 'text', array('required' => true));
$builder->add('email', 'email', array('required' => true));
$builder->add('parentCompany', 'entity', array(
'class' => 'ADSUserBundle:Company',
'expanded' => false,
'empty_value' => 'CHOOSE ONE',
'required' => false,
'property' => 'companyName'
))
->add('enabled', 'choice', array('choices' => array('1' => 'Enabled', '0' => 'Disabled')))
->add('roles', 'entity', array(
'class' => 'ADSUserBundle:Roles',
'required' => true,
'property' => 'displayName',
));
}
public function setDefaultOptions(OptionsResolverInterface $resolver) {
$resolver->setDefaults(array('data_class' => 'ADS\UserBundle\Entity\User'));
}
public function getName() { return 'ads_userbundle_user'; }
}
I have this form, the portion I am looking at is the 'roles' portion... Right now it created a multiple select box ( as I expect it to ), though the value is sequentially ie: 0,1,2,3,4...
What I really need is to figure out how to take this entity, and make the property to be the displayName ( as it is now ) and get the value to be the corresponding internalName This way it'll give me an array like:
array('ROLE_EXAMPLE' => 'EXAMPLE', 'ROLE_EXAMPLE1' => 'EXAMPLE1')
Any ideas how to accomplish this is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Kamil Adryjanek is correct, it is going to be much easier if you change it from an entity to a choice field. I've done some testing, both with FOSUserBundle and without the bundle - in both cases I hit some interesting road blocks.
First, I tried to run it through QueryBuilder in a repository, that didn't work out as it should have. The reason being, the fact that you wanted to be returning an array instead of a ORM object causes an error.
So next, I started looking at creating the choice field. All the guides, say to use the fieldname role instead of roles so I tried that, but I then had to duplicate the UserInterface from FOSUserBundle - I didn't want to do that -- so here I am stressed, and trying to figure it out.
Here is what I ended up doing, which works well.
private $normalRoles = array();
then in the __construct I add: $this->normalRoles = $roles;
Here is the builder:
$builder
->add('roles', 'choice', array(
'multiple' => true,
'choices' => $this->normalRoles
))
;
Originally, I left the multiple part out, figuring that it'd at least let me see an option box. I ended up getting an Array to String conversion error. So, adding the 'multiple' => true in, fixes that error.
Then, in my repository I created a function called normalizeRoles
public function normalizeRoles() {
$data = array();
$qb = $this->getEntityManager();
$query = $qb->createQuery(
"SELECT r.internalName, r.displayName FROM AcmeUserBundle:Roles r"
)->getArrayResult();
foreach ($query as $k => $v) {
$data[$v['internalName']] = $v['displayName'];
}
return $data;
}
From here, we just have to make some small edits in the DefaultController of the UserBundle in the newAction and editAction ( both are the same changes )
So, first off is to put into your Controller use Acme/UserBundle/Entity/Roles in order to avoid any errors and be able to get that repository.
Next, right before you create the form you run the normalizeRoles() function
$roles = $em->getRepository('AcmeUserBundle:Roles')->normalizeRoles()
Then, you pass it through the construct via: new UserType($roles)
full line for that would look like this:
$form = $this->createForm(new UserType($roles), $entity, array(
'action' => $this->generateUrl('acmd.user.edit', array(
'id' => $id)
)
));
or for new:
$form = $this->createForm(new UserType($roles), $entity, array(
'action' => $this->generateUrl('acmd.user.new')
)
));
At this point -- You'll have a working system that will allow you to dynamically add roles into a database table, and then associate those with a new or current user.

Answer 2

You can try do it via query_builder attribute:
$builder->add('roles', 'entity', array(
'class' => 'ADSUserBundle:Roles',
'required' => true,
'property' => 'displayName',
'query_builder' => function (RolesRepository $queryBuilder) {
return $queryBuilder->someMethod() // some method in this repository that return correct query to db.
},
));

Answer 3

In this case it would be better to use choice field Type (http://symfony.com/doc/current/reference/forms/types/choice.html) instead of entity and pass some role choices as option to form because entity field Type get entity id as key for choices:
public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options) {
...
$builder->add('roles', 'choice', array(
'choices' => $options['role_choices']
));
...
}
public function setDefaultOptions(OptionsResolverInterface $resolver) {
$resolver->setDefaults(array(
'data_class' => 'ADS\UserBundle\Entity\User',
'role_choices' => array()
));
}
Notice: it's recommended to pass variables to form through options parameter, not in constructor.

Answer 4

if I understand your question correctly, you need a data transformers. They help you to show data in form as you want.
Documentation: http://symfony.com/doc/current/cookbook/form/data_transformers.html