Cakephp Form input with array options

Question

I am using cakephp 3 and using Form->input() and need to pass an array of options.

My array looks like this :

$options=['option1', 'option2', 'option3'];

I need the values of these options same as labels. Problem is, cakephp is using array index as value. So if someone selects option1, values is going 0. I need the value to be option1.

Edit :

For now, I've changed the array to look like this :

$options=['option1'=>'option1', 'option2'=>'option2', 'option3'=>'option3'];

It works, but still out of curiosity, is there any other way?

Answer 1

Try this:

In Controller

$options = $this->YourModel->find('list', ['keyField' => 'name', 'valueField' => 'name']);

$this->set(compact('options'));

More info about Finding Key/Value Pairs

In View

<?= $this->Form->input('field', ['options' => $options ,'label' => 'Fields']); ?>

or

<?= $this->Form->select('field', $options); ?>

More info about FormHelper

Answer 2

I wrote a couple of little helper functions for dealing with this situation.

function make_option($value) {
    if (is_numeric($value)) {
        return $value;
    } else {
        // Translate string values
        return __($value);
    }
}

function make_options($values) {
    if (empty($values)) {
        return [];
    }
    return array_combine($values, array_map('App\Config\make_option', $values));
}

You would then use

$options = make_options(['option1', 'option2', 'option3']);

If translation isn't a concern for you, the return from your version of make_options can be simplified to just array_combine($values, $values);, and make_option can go away entirely.

Answer 3

This is because keys of array becomes the value and value of array becomes the label/text for display in select box. Options work based on key-value pairs. e.g.

$options=['option1'=>'option1', 'option2'=>'option2', 'option3'=>'option3'];
echo $this->Form->select(
'field',
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
['empty' => '(choose one)']
);

Becomes

<select>
 <option value='option1'>Option1</option>
 ...
 <option value='option2'>Option2</option>


 <select name="field">
   <option value="">(choose one)</option>
   <option value="0">1</option>
   <option value="1">2</option>
   <option value="2">3</option>
   <option value="3">4</option>
  <option value="4">5</option>
 </select>