Symfony/FOS - pass the user id variable to a form Type

Question

I try to set the value of a field "author" from a CategoryType form. I want it to be the user id from the current user logged in with FOS bundle.

my CategoryType form :

namespace My\CategoryBundle\Form;

use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolverInterface;

class CategoryType extends AbstractType
{
    private $userId;

    public function __construct(array $userId)
    {
        $this->userId = $userId;
    }

     /**
     * @param FormBuilderInterface $builder
     * @param array $options
     */
    public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
    {
        $builder
            ->add('title')
            ->add('author')
            ->add('content')
        ;
    }

    /**
     * @param OptionsResolverInterface $resolver
     */
    public function setDefaultOptions(OptionsResolverInterface $resolver)
    {
        $resolver->setDefaults(array(
            'data_class' => 'My\CategoryBundle\Entity\Category',
            'auteur' => $this->userId
        ));
    }

    /**
     * @return string
     */
    public function getName()
    {
        return 'my_categorybundle_category';
    }
}

And my controller Action :

public function addAction()
{
    $category = new Category;
    $user = $this->get('security.context')->getToken()->getUser(); 
    $userId = $user->getId();

    $form = $this->get('form.factory')->create(new CategoryType(), array( 'author' => $userId));

    $request = $this->get('request');
    if ($request->getMethod() == 'POST') {
        $form->bind($request);

        if ($form->isValid()) {
            $em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
            $em->persist($category);
            $em->flush();

        return $this->redirect($this->generateUrl('mycategory_voir',
            array('id' => $category->getId())));
        }
    }
    return $this->render('MyCategoryBundle:Category:add.html.twig',
        array(
            'form' => $form->createView(),
        ));
}

I catch this error while running the action :

Catchable Fatal Error: Argument 1 passed to My\CategoryBundle\Form\CategoryType::__construct() must be an array, none given, called in /My/CategoryBundle/Controller/CategoryController.php on line 55 and defined in /My/CategoryBundle/Form/CategoryType.php line 13

Isn't it already an array that I am passing to the form ?

Answer 1

Your problem is on this line

$form = $this->get('form.factory')->create(new CategoryType(), array( 'author' => $userId));

You're not satisfying the contract for My\CategoryBundle\FormCategoryType::__construct(). Here, let's look at it another way.

$form = $this->get('form.factory')->create(
    new CategoryType(/* You told PHP to expect an array here */)
  , array('author' => $userId)
);

The array that you send as the 2nd argument to Symfony\Component\Form\FormFactory::create() is what is ultimately injected as $options array My\CategoryBundle\Form\CategoryType::buildForm()

As I see it, you have a few different ways to resolve this

1. Update the argument signature AND call for My\CategoryBundle\FormCategoryType::__construct() to pass/receive the entire user object (not just their id - remember that you're working with Doctrine relationships at this point, not the lower-level foreign keys that they map to)

   namespace My\CategoryBundle\Form;
   
   use My\CategoryBundle\Entity\User; /* Or whatver your User class is */
   use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
   use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
   use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolverInterface;
   
   class CategoryType extends AbstractType
   {
       private $author;
   
       public function __construct( User $author )
       {
           $this->author = $author;
       }
   

   and

   $form = $this->get('form.factory')->create(
       new CategoryType(
         $this->get('security.context')->getToken()->getUser()
       )
   );
   

2. Don't inject the User into the type's constructor, just let the options handle it

   namespace My\CategoryBundle\Form;
   
   use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
   use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
   use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolverInterface;
   
   class CategoryType extends AbstractType
   {
       private $userId;
   
        /**
        * @param FormBuilderInterface $builder
        * @param array $options
        */
       public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
       {
           $builder
               ->add('title')
               ->add('author', 'hidden', array('data'=>$options['author']))
               ->add('content')
           ;
       }
   
       /**
        * @param OptionsResolverInterface $resolver
        */
       public function setDefaultOptions(OptionsResolverInterface $resolver)
       {
           $resolver->setDefaults(array(
               'data_class' => 'My\CategoryBundle\Entity\Category'
           ));
       }
   
       /**
        * @return string
        */
       public function getName()
       {
           return 'my_categorybundle_category';
       }
   }
   

3. Not even bother putting the author in the form and let the controller handle it

   $form = $this->get('form.factory')->create(
       new CategoryType()
     , array('author' => $this->get('security.context')->getToken()->getUser() )
   );
   

   and

   if ($request->getMethod() == 'POST') {
       $form->bind($request);
   
       if ($form->isValid()) {
           $category->setAuthor(
             $this->get('security.context')->getToken()->getUser()
           );
           $em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
           $em->persist($category);
           $em->flush();
   
       return $this->redirect($this->generateUrl('mycategory_voir',
           array('id' => $category->getId())));
       }
   }
   

4. Turn your form type into a service and user the DI Container to inject the security context

   app/config/config.yml

   services:
     form.type.my_categorybundle_category:
       class: My\CategoryBundle\Form\CategoryType
       tags:
         - {name: form.type, alias: my_categorybundle_category}
       arguments: ["%security.context%"]
   

   Update your type to receive the security context

   namespace My\CategoryBundle\Form;
   
   use Symfony\Component\Security\Core\SecurityContext;
   use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
   use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
   use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolverInterface;
   
   class CategoryType extends AbstractType
   {
       private $author;
   
       public function __construct( SecurityContext $security )
       {
           $this->author = $security->getToken()->getUser();
       }
   

   Then in your controller, create the form with its service name

   $form = $this->get('form.factory')->create('my_categorybundle_category');
   

Answer 2

Your current code passes the array to the create() method, not your CategoryType construct.

$form = $this->get('form.factory')->create(new CategoryType(), array( 'author' => $userId));

should be

$form = $this->get('form.factory')->create(new CategoryType(array( 'author' => $userId)));