How to set default value for form field in Symfony2?

Question

Is there an easy way to set a default value for text form field?

Answer 1

I usually just set the default value for specific field in my entity:

/**
 * @var int
 * @ORM\Column(type="integer", nullable=true)
 */
protected $development_time = 0;

This will work for new records or if just updating existing ones.

Answer 2

There is a very simple way, you can set defaults as here :

$defaults = array('sortby' => $sortby,'category' => $category,'page' => 1);

$form = $this->formfactory->createBuilder('form', $defaults)
->add('sortby','choice')
->add('category','choice')
->add('page','hidden')
->getForm();

Answer 3

You can set the default for related field in your model class (in mapping definition or set the value yourself).

Furthermore, FormBuilder gives you a chance to set initial values with setData() method. Form builder is passed to the createForm() method of your form class.

Also, check this link: http://symfony.com/doc/current/book/forms.html#using-a-form-without-a-class

Answer 4

If you're using a FormBuilder in symfony 2.7 to generate the form, you can also pass the initial data to the createFormBuilder method of the Controler

$values = array(
    'name' => "Bob"
);

$formBuilder = $this->createFormBuilder($values);
$formBuilder->add('name', 'text');

Answer 5

Can be use during the creation easily with :

->add('myfield', 'text', array(
     'label' => 'Field',
     'empty_data' => 'Default value'
))

Answer 6

You can set a default value, e.g. for the form message, like this:

$defaultData = array('message' => 'Type your message here');
$form = $this->createFormBuilder($defaultData)
    ->add('name', 'text')
    ->add('email', 'email')
    ->add('message', 'textarea')
    ->add('send', 'submit')
    ->getForm();

In case your form is mapped to an Entity, you can go like this (e.g. default username):

$user = new User();
$user->setUsername('John Doe');

$form = $this->createFormBuilder($user)
    ->add('username')
    ->getForm();