Introduction

Quick Start

Basic Concepts

Understanding Routing

Intercepting Requests

Module Fundamentals

Database Operations

Templates

Helpers

Form Handling

Form Validation

Working With Files

Image Manipulation

Working With Dates & Times

Language Control

Security

Tips And Best Practices

Form Helper Reference

Quick reference for all form helper functions in Trongate.

Form Tags

Function	Parameters	Returns
form_open()	`$location, $attributes`	Opening `<form>` tag
form_open_upload()	`$location, $attributes`	Opening `<form enctype="multipart/form-data">`
form_close()	None	CSRF token + `</form>` tag

Examples

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echo form_open('users/submit');
echo form_open('users/submit', ['id' => 'user-form']);
echo form_open_upload('products/upload');
echo form_close();

Text Input Fields

Function	Type	Parameters
form_input()	`text`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_email()	`email`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_password()	`password`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_number()	`number`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_search()	`search`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_url()	`url`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_hidden()	`hidden`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_file_select()	`file`	`$name, $attributes`

Examples

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echo form_input('username', $username);
echo form_email('email', $email, ['placeholder' => '[email protected]']);
echo form_password('password');
echo form_number('quantity', $quantity, ['min' => '1', 'max' => '100']);
echo form_search('q', $q, ['placeholder' => 'Search...']);
echo form_url('website', $website, ['placeholder' => 'https://example.com']);
echo form_hidden('user_id', $user_id);
echo form_file_select('document', ['accept' => '.pdf']);

Date and Time Input Fields

Function	Type	Format	Parameters
form_date()	`date`	`YYYY-MM-DD`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_time()	`time`	`HH:MM`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_datetime_local()	`datetime-local`	`YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_month()	`month`	`YYYY-MM`	`$name, $value, $attributes`
form_week()	`week`	`YYYY-W##`	`$name, $value, $attributes`

For additional guidance, check out the chapter on Working With Dates & Times

Examples

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echo form_date('due_date', $due_date);
echo form_date('birth_date', $birth_date, ['max' => date('Y-m-d')]);

echo form_time('start_time', $start_time);
echo form_time('appointment', $appointment, ['step' => '900']); // 15-min intervals

echo form_datetime_local('event_start', $event_start);
echo form_datetime_local('deadline', $deadline, ['required' => 'required']);

echo form_month('billing_month', $billing_month);
echo form_month('report_month', $report_month, ['max' => date('Y-m')]);

echo form_week('work_week', $work_week);
echo form_week('schedule_week', $schedule_week, ['required' => 'required']);

Native HTML5 Inputs: Date and time functions use browser-native pickers. Values are always submitted in ISO 8601 format regardless of how the browser displays them to the user.

Textarea and Dropdown

Function	Parameters	Returns
form_textarea()	`$name, $value, $attributes`	`<textarea>` element
form_dropdown()	`$name, $options, $selected, $attributes`	`<select>` element

Examples

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echo form_textarea('bio', $bio);
echo form_textarea('description', $description, ['rows' => '10']);

$options = ['1' => 'Option One', '2' => 'Option Two'];
echo form_dropdown('choice', $options, $selected_choice);

Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

Function	Parameters	Returns
form_checkbox()	`$name, $value, $checked, $attributes`	`<input type="checkbox">`
form_radio()	`$name, $value, $checked, $attributes`	`<input type="radio">`

Examples

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echo form_checkbox('subscribe', 1, $subscribe);
echo form_checkbox('active', 1, $active, ['id' => 'active-checkbox']);

echo form_radio('status', 'active', $status_active);
echo form_radio('status', 'inactive', $status_inactive);

Labels and Buttons

Function	Parameters	Returns
form_label()	`$label_text, $attributes`	`<label>` element
form_submit()	`$name, $value, $attributes`	`<button type="submit">`
form_button()	`$name, $value, $attributes`	`<button>` element

Examples

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echo form_label('Email Address');
echo form_label('Username', ['for' => 'username-field']);

echo form_submit('submit', 'Save');
echo form_submit('submit', 'Delete', ['class' => 'danger']);

echo form_button('action', 'Click Me');

Data Retrieval

Function	Parameters	Returns
post()	`$field, $clean_up, $cast_numeric`	Field value, array, or empty string

Examples

PHP

$username = post('username');
$email = post('email', true);
$quantity = post('quantity', true, true);
$all_data = post();
$all_clean = post(true);

Validation Error Display

Function	Parameters	Returns
validation_errors()	`$first_arg, $closing_html`	HTML error messages or JSON

Examples

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<?= validation_errors() ?>
<?= validation_errors('<div class="error">', '</div>') ?>
<?= validation_errors('email') ?>

PHP

// In API controller
validation_errors(422); // Returns JSON with 422 status code

Common Attribute Examples

All Input Types

['placeholder' => 'Enter text...']
['required' => 'required']
['maxlength' => '100']
['autocomplete' => 'off']
['id' => 'field-id']
['readonly' => 'readonly']
['disabled' => 'disabled']

Number Inputs

['min' => '1', 'max' => '100', 'step' => '1']

Date and Time Inputs

// Date constraints
['min' => '2025-01-01', 'max' => '2025-12-31']

// Time intervals (step in seconds)
['step' => '900'] // 15 minutes
['step' => '1800'] // 30 minutes
['step' => '3600'] // 1 hour

// DateTime constraints
['min' => '2025-12-27T09:00', 'max' => '2025-12-27T17:00']

Textareas

['rows' => '10', 'cols' => '50']

Forms

['method' => 'get']
['class' => 'highlight-errors']
['data-validate' => 'true']

Complete Form Example

View File

<?php
echo form_open('users/submit');

echo form_label('Full Name');
echo form_input('full_name', $full_name, ['placeholder' => 'John Smith']);

echo form_label('Email Address');
echo form_email('email', $email, ['required' => 'required']);

echo form_label('Birth Date');
echo form_date('birth_date', $birth_date, ['max' => date('Y-m-d')]);

echo form_label('Bio');
echo form_textarea('bio', $bio, ['rows' => '5']);

echo form_label('Country');
echo form_dropdown('country', $country_options, $selected_country);

echo '<label>';
echo form_checkbox('subscribe', 1, $subscribe);
echo ' Subscribe to newsletter';
echo '</label>';

echo form_submit('submit', 'Save');
echo form_close();
?>

All form helpers automatically escape attribute values for XSS protection.

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