Drupal save data hook_form_alter

Question

I added a field to a node using hook_form_alter and i can see it fine but now i would like of course that the data enterd in that field is also saved. What do i have to do for this to happen?

Answer 1

When you alter the form, you need to also add a form submission handler to the module; in that way, your module would be invoked when the form is being submitted, and you can save the value of the field you added.

If there are more than one button, then it's preferable to add the submission handler to the specific button you need to act upon. Suppose, for example, that the form has two submission buttons: "Save" and "Delete"; if you add the submission handler with $form[#submit][] = "my module_form_submit"; then the submission handler is called even when the "Delete" button is clicked.

As reported in Form buttons can define custom #submit and #validate handlers:

All forms can have "#validate" and "#submit" properties containing lists of validation and submission handlers to be executed when a user submits data. Previously, if a form featured multiple submission buttons to initiate different actions (updating a record versus deleting, for example), it was necessary to check the incoming $form_values['op'] for the name of the clicked button, then execute different code based on its value.

Now, it is possible to define #validate and #submit properties on each individual form button if desired.

When a specific button is used to submit a form, its validation and submission handlers will be used rather than the default form-level ones. If none are specified at the button level, the form-level handlers will be used instead.

Additionally, The 'op' element in the form values is deprecated and should not be relied upon reports:

As discussed above, each button can have "#validate" and "#submit" functions associated with it. Thus, there should be one button that submits the form and which invokes the normal $form_id_validate and $form_id_submit handlers. Any additional buttons which need to invoke different validate or submit functionality should have button-specific functions. Note also that the 'op' element in the form values, corresponding to the button clicked when there are several in a form in Drupal 5.x, should no longer be relied upon and may not be present.