EntityType: Custom Query

Hello!

First of all: great content. I learned so much on here!
Second: i've got a question.

I did the following at the end of this particular custom query-tut:

* changed EntityType to ChoiceType for the author field
* commented out *'class' => User::class*

And it still works but i can't wrap my head around *why* it works. The value for the chosen author option doesn't match with the correct author in the DB anymore
but still the correct author is being chosen. So...:

Why does it work?

Hey Wolfone,

My guess is that it's because you populate choices with the next line: "'choices' => $this->userRepository->findAllEmailAlphabetical()," - so it still fill the field with data because ChoiceType also has "choices" option as you can see here: https://symfony.com/doc/cur...

But to work correctly, you need to use EntityType. You can use ChoiceType, but you would need to use data transformer for this that is not a good idea as EntityType already works with entities out of the box ;)

I hope this clarifies some things for you!

Cheers!

Hello, I'm building a form that has a text field that a user supplies a number to a specific tool eg 0001. I've setup a custom query to display the last number used, eg 0004, but I want to increment that by 1, that way they don't have to look what the next number is, it would suggest it. I'm struggling on how to achieve that. I've used EntityType, custom query, but it a a drop down obviously, and I'm not sure how to increment it by one. Any suggestion would great, thank you.

Hey Brandon

I think I need a bit more of context to understand your real problem. If you are asking for a string why are you rendering as an EntityType? Is it the id value of an entity?

Cheers!

Diego, thank you so much for getting back to me. I'm using EntityType so I can make a custom query to get the last number used in the "toolspenum" column. That column is different than the id. To add some context I've created a web site for my business using procedural PHP, at the top of the page that has the form I run a mysqli query, get the last row in the database, take the value of column "toolspenum" and add 1 to it, then I use that variable as the value of the input field in my form so who ever is filling out the form doesn't have to look for the next number, but it is a text input field so if they don't want to use the next number then can erase it and use whatever is needed. I'm new to Symfony so I have been watching as many videos as I can, but I definitely don't know all the ins and outs on how to achieve what I know how to do procedure PHP style in Symfony. Again, thank you.

Cool! First of all, welcome to Symfony! I bet you gonna love it :)

I think you can simplify your process. What if the input field is always empty and you will only use it when a user submits a value? If he didn't, in other words, the input field is empty, you will what you said. Fetch the last record and add +1 to it, then create the new record using such value
You can add a help message under the input field explaining what will happen if it remains empty.

Does it sounds good?

Cheers!

Writing some code close to the tutorial, how would we use 'choices' and the UserRepository to only show the current logged in user in the dropdown? In my app, the logged in user is the "Author" so I would only like to persist the current user. It doesn't look like Security will do it. The ->setParameter('user', $security->getUser() does autocomplete so it makes be believe Security is giving me the User object, but I get a Too few arguments on the method. I'm a newbie!! This is what Ive got:

In buildForm:

->add('seller', EntityType::class, [
'class' => User::class,
'choice_label' => function(User $user) {
return sprintf('(%d) %s', $user->getId(), $user->getEmail());
},
'placeholder' => 'Choose an seller',
'choices' => $this->userRepository->findCurrentUser(),
])

UserRepository:

/**
*@return User[]
*/
public function findCurrentUser(Security $security)
{
return $this->createQueryBuilder('u')
->andWhere('u.email = :user')
->setParameter('user', $security->getUser())
->getQuery()
->execute()
;

}

I get a Too few arguments to the findCurrentUser method, got 0, expected 1.

Hey Robert V.

When you call Security::getUser() it will try to get the logged in user but it may return null as well in case nobody is logged in. What you need to do is to get the logged in user in your controller's action (by using the shortcut method $this->getUser();), if you get null, then there is no logged user and you should follow the logic for when that happens, but if there is a user, then you can just pass it in to any service or repository

Does it makes sense to you?
Cheers!

Hey Diego, kind of makes sense.

My app is set up just like the tutorial, where if an anonymous user goes too: /admin/article/new, they will be redirected to the login page. So I’m not sure my new function needs to check if the user object is null. More I look at this I don’t think I need to use Security to get the user. At the beginning of my Admin Controller new function, $user = $this->getUser(); returns the currently logged in user.

In the Script of Chapter 08, Ryan mentions “What if we don't want to show all of the users in this drop-down?”

That is exactly what I am trying to do. I’m trying to only show the logged in user in the drop down. And the best setup would be, we are not even presented with a dropdown, because on the new action, I only want to set the current User object onto the new Article object.

> I’m trying to only show the logged in user in the drop down. And the best setup would be, we are not even presented with a dropdown, because on the new action, I only want to set the current User object onto the new Article object.

In that case, in the new action, do not print the user drop down, and manually set the logged in user into the Article object

I have the new action manually setting the logged in user to my Item "Article" object, but is it possible to filter the {{ form_row(itemForm.seller) }} field so it doesn't appear on the new.html.twig page? In my case the seller is the User object and the current logged in user is getting persisted, I'm down to trying to find best way to keep {{ form_row(itemForm.seller) }} from printing.

Yes, there are a couple of ways to get it removed from your Form. First, you can create a second Form, the NewArticleForm, which won't add the seller field
Second: you can use form events in order to add dynamically the field
Third: Pass an option to the form that indicates if the seller field should be added

You can find more info about form events here: https://symfony.com/doc/cur...

BTW, I would just create a new form and keep going

Cool I will give those a try. I also just tried the below in my form and it hides the seller field on new and edit and also persists

->add('seller', HiddenType::class, [
'data' => User::class,
'mapped' => false,
])

Just be aware that someone could hack your form and change the user id of the hidden field. That's why it's better to not render a form field if you are not going to use it :)

That wouldn't be good! I looked at this and realized when I manually set the User object to my Item object in my controller, I can remove the ->add('seller') from my ItemFormType and also remove the form field {{ form_row(itemForm.seller) }} . The new and edit functions are working and when I inspect form, I can't see any reference to the user id at all.

Excellent, your form is now more secure!

Diego, thank you so much for your help on this topic! I am a newbie to coding and even symfony and this type of help really helps the lights click on!

Hello,

I got one error when i try to use a select clause into my custom query,

/**

* @return Object[]

*/

public function distinctPostalCode()

{

return $this->getOrCreateQueryBuilder()

->select('r.postalCode')

->distinct()

->getQuery()

->execute();

}

Exception : Warning: spl_object_hash() expects parameter 1 to be object, string given

Hey Akavir S.

Interesting! It sounds like one of Doctrine bugs 🐛 (https://github.com/doctrine... If it make sense, than I'll advice to modify your query somehow, probably add r.id will fix it, or not anyways try, and come back with some results)

Cheers!

i have annotated $data as Article object but get back a array, what what went's wrong?


/** @var Article $data */
$data = $form->getData();
// returns Array


looks like the automatic casting does not work for me longer, but why? All things exactly like in the tutorial and worked until yesterday.

As a workaround i wrote a simple parser in Article.php if someone has the same problem:


public static function fromArray($array): Article{
$article = new Article();
foreach($array as $key => $field){
$keyUp = ucfirst($key);
if(method_exists($article,'set'.$keyUp)){
call_user_func(array($article,'set'.$keyUp),$field);
}
}
return $article;
}


now if you call $article = Article::fromArray($form->getData()); you get an Instance of Article.

found the error by myself, i had a typo in ArticleFormType.php in the configureOptions (big fingers make mistakes)

Hey Maik T.

Wooohoo! That's great! BTW typos are the most frequent issues in code =)

Cheers!! Have a great time with courses!

Good Morning, I have a hard time locating a tutorial where we can create an EDIT FORM with rows of fields where fields are retrieved from sql queries operations FULL OUTER JOIN / INNER JOIN / LEFT JOIN etc from database. take an example I have 2 tables STUDENT and ADDRESS, in an EDIT FORM in order to edit the address of a student I want to be able to see his/her first name and last name so that I can correctly identify the address belongs to them. How can I make such form please?

Hey Dung,

So, first of all you probably have 2 entities, i.e. Student and Address. And those entities should have some relations, like for example Student may have many Addresses, i.e. the relation is One to Many. So, what relation does your Student and Address entities have? Depends on this, you would need to use different form types, but most probably you would need to create a custom form type for both Student and Address types to specify what properties of those entities you want to see in the final form.

Cheers!

victor Thanks Victor, my question is: does symfonycasts have any tutorial for such custom form and sql queries operations (inside Repository) FULL OUTER JOIN / INNER JOIN / LEFT JOIN etc from database? Thank you very much!

Hey Dung,

Ah, ok, I think I got it. Yes, we do have tutorials about Symfony Forms: https://symfonycasts.com/sc... where we create a custom form type for Article entity called ArticleFormType and make it more complex in every new chapter. And about Doctrine Relations: https://symfonycasts.com/sc... where In particular to your question, you may want to take a look at:

- https://symfonycasts.com/sc... about inner joins;
- https://symfonycasts.com/sc... about left joins

So, those are good courses to watch in full. But for more specific questions I'd recommend you to use our cool search on SymfonyCasts that searches in chapter titles, scripts and even code that we're showing in our screencasts or comments that are left below videos, e.g:

- https://symfonycasts.com/se...
- https://symfonycasts.com/se...

I hope this helps!

Cheers!

victor Hi, this is great, I can now go back to my project learning from your source and applying / coding to my project. Thank you so much, btw Symfonycasts is awesome resource!

Hey Dung,

Glad it helped you! And thank you for the kind words about SymfonyCasts :)

Cheers!

For those who read this thread, here is more https://symfonycasts.com/sc...

Hey Dung L.!

Do you still have this question? I noticed you asked it on a different thread, but removed the comment there. Let me know!

Cheers!

Hi Ryan, yes I still have this question. Thank you!

Is there a way to setup EntityType so that I can query one class of entity but return a different class?

I have Location chooser based on a complex set of inherited entities (Site->Room->Sublocation are all the same parent class). If I query for a location list using these entities, getting the 'choice_label' values adds up to a ridiculous number of queries since each choice object calls a method that does another query. So I created a read-only view in my db along with an associate entity called `LocationDetailView` which has all the properties for a choice in one row. Terrific! Except that now I have to transform my `LocationDetailView` object into a `Location` object when it gets submitted. And so far as I can see, that means that I can't use an EntityType because the query_builder needs the class property to equal `LocationDetailView` while the form itself needs the class property to equal `Location`.

Working code with stupid number of queries (between 2 and 4 per entity depending on subtype):

    public function configureOptions(OptionsResolver $resolver)
    {
          $resolver->setDefaults(array(
              'class' => AbstractStoragePlaceProxy::class,
              'query_builder' => function(EntityRepository $er) {
                    $qb = $er->createQueryBuilder('l');
                    $qb
                        ->leftJoin(LocationDetailView::class, 'v', Join::WITH, 'l.id = v.id')
                        ->orderBy('v.site')
                        ->addOrderBy('v.sortnum')
                        ->addOrderBy('v.sublocation');


                  if(!$this->authorizationChecker->isGranted('ROLE_ROOT')){
                        $userEntity = $this->tokenStorage->getToken()->getUser()->getUserEntity();
                        $rer = $this->em->getRepository(Room::class);
                        $rids = $rer->getMyRoomIds($userEntity, DelegateInterface::FULLACCESS);
                        $qb
          ->where($qb->expr()->in('v.rid', ':rids'))
                            ->setParameter('rids', $rids);
    }
                  return $qb;
            },
            'choice_label' => function($location){
                  return $location->getPath();
            },
            'group_by' => function($val, $key, $index){
                  $place = $val->getPlace();
                  $site = $place instanceof SubLocation ? $place->getRoom()->getSite() : $place->getSite();
                  return $site->getSiteAlias();
            }
  ));
    }

Code that displays but won't submit due to wrong entity type:

public function configureOptions(OptionsResolver $resolver)
   {


      $resolver->setDefaults(array(
      'class' => LocationDetailView::class,
      'query_builder' => function(EntityRepository $er) {
        $qb = $er->createQueryBuilder('v');
                $qb
         ->orderBy('v.site')
         ->addOrderBy('v.sortnum')
         ->addOrderBy('v.sublocation');


             if(!$this->authorizationChecker->isGranted('ROLE_ROOT')){
       $userEntity = $this->tokenStorage->getToken()->getUser()->getUserEntity();
       $rer = $this->em->getRepository(Room::class);
       $rids = $rer->getMyRoomIds($userEntity, DelegateInterface::FULLACCESS);
       $qb
         ->where($qb->expr()->in('v.rid', ':rids'))
         ->setParameter('rids', $rids);
      }
      return $qb;
        },
        'choice_label' => function(LocationDetailView $location){
      return trim(join('/',[$location->getRnum(),$location->getSublocation()]), '/');
        },
        'group_by' => function(LocationDetailView $location, $key, $index){
      return $location->getSite();
        }
      ));
   }

Yo halifaxious !

Sorry for my slow reply on this one! I might (or might not) have something that would help. Basically, instead of using the query_builder option, it's total legal to query (however you want) for the final array of AbstractStoragePlaceProxy objects (sorry if I've got the entity wrong) that you want in the drop-down and pass that as the choices option. That gives you full control over how you query for the entities, but you still get the nice things where it correctly renders the select tag with the ids and hydrates whatever is chosen back into an object.

To actually query for the entities you need, I would add a __construct() to your form class and autowire whatever repository you want (it looks like maybe the LocationDetailViewRepository might be the most useful (or you could autowire the EntityManagerInterface). Then, use that below in buildForm to query for the entities you need and pass to the choices option. No query_builder option needed.

Let me know if that helps!

Cheers!

How would I go if I wanted for example to have a registration and a login form on the same page?

Hey Laura M.

A quick and easy way would be to handle both forms in the same controller's action. It's a bit ugly but you would save some troubles because of validations. If you split your submit actions into different routes then it would be somehow hard to print the form errors on the same page, probably would be better to handle it with some javascript code.

Cheers!