Form Helpers

Trongate's form helpers let you easily build HTML forms without the tedium. Call a function. Get perfect HTML.

Zero config. Just functions:

• form_button() Generates a generic button that requires JavaScript to perform actions.
• form_checkbox() Outputs a checkbox input for binary choices.
• form_close() Closes the form and automatically injects a CSRF token.
• form_date() Generates a date input with browser-native date picker.
• form_datetime_local() Generates a local datetime input with browser-native controls.
• form_dropdown() Generates a select menu allowing single or multiple selections.
• form_email() Creates an email input with built-in browser validation.
• form_file_select() Generates a file picker input for uploading files.
• form_hidden() Adds hidden fields for data that should not be visible to users.
• form_input() Generates a standard text input field.
• form_label() Generates an HTML label element for form fields.
• form_month() Generates a month input with browser-native month picker.
• form_number() Outputs a numeric input with browser-level validation and controls.
• form_open() Outputs the opening <form> tag and initializes a new form.
• form_open_upload() Opens a form configured for file uploads using multipart encoding.
• form_password() Produces a password field that masks user input.
• form_radio() Creates a radio button for mutually exclusive options.
• form_search() Generates a search input with optional clear button.
• form_url() Creates a URL input with built-in browser validation.
• form_submit() Creates a submit button for sending form data to the server.
• form_textarea() Creates a multi-line text field for longer user input.
• form_time() Generates a time input with browser-native time picker.
• form_week() Generates a week input with browser-native week picker.
• post() Retrieves submitted POST, JSON, or multipart form data.
• validation_errors() Displays validation errors, supporting inline, grouped, or JSON output.

Building a Form

In a view file:

<?php
echo form_open('submit');
echo form_input('username');
echo form_password('password');
echo form_checkbox('remember', '1', true);
echo 'Remember me';
echo form_submit('submit', 'Login');
echo form_close();
?>

Output:

<form action="submit" method="post">
    <input type="text" name="username">
    <input type="password" name="password">
    <input type="checkbox" name="remember" value="1" checked> Remember me
    <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Login">
    <input type="hidden" name="csrf_token" value="abc123">
</form>

File Uploads

For forms that accept files, just use form_open_upload() instead of form_open(). It adds the required enctype="multipart/form-data" automatically. No extra arguments needed.

In a view file:

<?php
echo form_open_upload('products/upload_picture');
echo form_label('Product Image');
echo form_file_select('picture');
echo form_submit('upload', 'Upload Image');
echo form_close();
?>

Output:

<form action="products/upload_picture" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <label>Product Image</label>
    <input type="file" name="picture">
    <input type="submit" name="upload" value="Upload Image">
    <input type="hidden" name="csrf_token" value="abc123">
</form>

Adding Attributes

All form helpers accept an optional third parameter: an associative array of HTML attributes.

In a view file:

<?php
$email_attr = [
    'placeholder' => 'Enter email address here...',
    'required'    => true
];
echo form_email('email', '', $email_attr);
?>

Output:

<input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Enter email address here..." required>