action

type: string default: empty string

This option specifies where to send the form's data on submission (usually a URI). Its value is rendered as the action attribute of the form element. An empty value is considered a same-document reference, i.e. the form will be submitted to the same URI that rendered the form.

by_reference

type: boolean default: true

In most cases, if you have a name field, then you expect setName() to be called on the underlying object. In some cases, however, setName() may not be called. Setting by_reference ensures that the setter is called in all cases.

To explain this further, here's a simple example:

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$builder = $this->createFormBuilder($article);
$builder
    ->add('title', 'text')
    ->add(
        $builder->create('author', 'form', array('by_reference' => ?))
            ->add('name', 'text')
            ->add('email', 'email')
    )

If by_reference is true, the following takes place behind the scenes when you call submit() (or handleRequest()) on the form:

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$article->setTitle('...');
$article->getAuthor()->setName('...');
$article->getAuthor()->setEmail('...');

Notice that setAuthor() is not called. The author is modified by reference.

If you set by_reference to false, submitting looks like this:

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$article->setTitle('...');
$author = $article->getAuthor();
$author->setName('...');
$author->setEmail('...');
$article->setAuthor($author);

So, all that by_reference=false really does is force the framework to call the setter on the parent object.

Similarly, if you're using the collection form type where your underlying collection data is an object (like with Doctrine's ArrayCollection), then by_reference must be set to false if you need the adder and remover (e.g. addAuthor() and removeAuthor()) to be called.

cascade_validation

type: boolean default: false

Set this option to true to force validation on embedded form types. For example, if you have a ProductType with an embedded CategoryType, setting cascade_validation to true on ProductType will cause the data from CategoryType to also be validated.

compound

type: boolean default: true

This option specifies if a form is compound. This is independent of whether the form actually has children. A form can be compound but not have any children at all (e.g. an empty collection form).

constraints

type: array or Constraint default: null

Allows you to attach one or more validation constraints to a specific field. For more information, see Adding Validation. This option is added in the FormTypeValidatorExtension form extension.

data

type: mixed default: Defaults to field of the underlying object (if there is one)

When you create a form, each field initially displays the value of the corresponding property of the form's domain object (if an object is bound to the form). If you want to override the initial value for the form or just an individual field, you can set it in the data option:

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$builder->add('token', 'hidden', array(
    'data' => 'abcdef',
));

data_class

type: string

This option is used to set the appropriate data mapper to be used by the form, so you can use it for any form field type which requires an object.

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$builder->add('media', 'sonata_media_type', array(
    'data_class' => 'Acme\DemoBundle\Entity\Media',
));

empty_data

type: mixed

DEFAULT_PLACEHOLDER

This option determines what value the field will return when the submitted value is empty.

But you can customize this to your needs. For example, if you want the gender choice field to be explicitly set to null when no value is selected, you can do it like this:

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$builder->add('gender', 'choice', array(
    'choices' => array(
        'm' => 'Male',
        'f' => 'Female'
    ),
    'required'    => false,
    'empty_value' => 'Choose your gender',
    'empty_data'  => null
));

The actual default value of this option depends on other field options:

• If data_class is set and required is true, then new $data_class();
• If data_class is set and required is false, then null;
• If data_class is not set and compound is true, then array() (empty array);
• If data_class is not set and compound is false, then '' (empty string).

empty_data

type: mixed

DEFAULT_PLACEHOLDER

This option determines what value the field will return when the submitted value is empty.

But you can customize this to your needs. For example, if you want the gender choice field to be explicitly set to null when no value is selected, you can do it like this:

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$builder->add('gender', 'choice', array(
    'choices' => array(
        'm' => 'Male',
        'f' => 'Female'
    ),
    'required'    => false,
    'empty_value' => 'Choose your gender',
    'empty_data'  => null
));

error_bubbling

type: boolean default: false unless the form is compound

If true, any errors for this field will be passed to the parent field or form. For example, if set to true on a normal field, any errors for that field will be attached to the main form, not to the specific field.

error_mapping

type: array default: array()

This option allows you to modify the target of a validation error.

Imagine you have a custom method named matchingCityAndZipCode that validates whether the city and zip code match. Unfortunately, there is no "matchingCityAndZipCode" field in your form, so all that Symfony can do is display the error on top of the form.

With customized error mapping, you can do better: map the error to the city field so that it displays above it:

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public function setDefaultOptions(OptionsResolverInterface $resolver)
{
    $resolver->setDefaults(array(
        'error_mapping' => array(
            'matchingCityAndZipCode' => 'city',
        ),
    ));
}

Here are the rules for the left and the right side of the mapping:

• The left side contains property paths;
• If the violation is generated on a property or method of a class, its path is simply propertyName;
• If the violation is generated on an entry of an array or ArrayAccess object, the property path is [indexName];
• You can construct nested property paths by concatenating them, separating properties by dots. For example: addresses[work].matchingCityAndZipCode;
• The right side contains simply the names of fields in the form.

By default, errors for any property that is not mapped will bubble up to the parent form. You can use the dot (.) on the left side to map errors of all unmapped properties to a particular field. For instance, to map all these errors to the city field, use:

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$resolver->setDefaults(array(
    'error_mapping' => array(
        '.' => 'city',
    ),
));

extra_fields_message

type: string default: This form should not contain extra fields.

This is the validation error message that's used if the submitted form data contains one or more fields that are not part of the form definition. The placeholder {{ extra_fields }} can be used to display a comma separated list of the submitted extra field names.

inherit_data

type: boolean default: false

This option determines if the form will inherit data from its parent form. This can be useful if you have a set of fields that are duplicated across multiple forms. See How to Reduce Code Duplication with "inherit_data".

invalid_message

type: string default: This value is not valid

This is the validation error message that's used if the data entered into this field doesn't make sense (i.e. fails validation).

This might happen, for example, if the user enters a nonsense string into a time field that cannot be converted into a real time or if the user enters a string (e.g. apple) into a number field.

Normal (business logic) validation (such as when setting a minimum length for a field) should be set using validation messages with your validation rules (reference).

invalid_message_parameters

type: array default: array()

When setting the invalid_message option, you may need to include some variables in the string. This can be done by adding placeholders to that option and including the variables in this option:

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$builder->add('some_field', 'some_type', array(
    // ...
    'invalid_message' => 'You entered an invalid value, it should include %num% letters',
    'invalid_message_parameters' => array('%num%' => 6),
));

label_attr

type: array default: array()

Sets the HTML attributes for the <label> element, which will be used when rendering the label for the field. It's an associative array with HTML attribute as a key. This attributes can also be directly set inside the template:

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{{ form_label(form.name, 'Your name', {
       'label_attr': {'class': 'CUSTOM_LABEL_CLASS'}
}) }}

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echo $view['form']->label(
    $form['name'],
    'Your name',
    array('label_attr' => array('class' => 'CUSTOM_LABEL_CLASS'))
);

mapped

type: boolean default: true

If you wish the field to be ignored when reading or writing to the object, you can set the mapped option to false.

max_length

type: integer default: null

If this option is not null, an attribute maxlength is added, which is used by some browsers to limit the amount of text in a field.

This is just a browser validation, so data must still be validated server-side.

method

type: string default: POST

This option specifies the HTTP method used to submit the form's data. Its value is rendered as the method attribute of the form element and is used to decide whether to process the form submission in the handleRequest() method after submission. Possible values are:

• POST
• GET
• PUT
• DELETE
• PATCH

pattern

type: string default: null

This adds an HTML5 pattern attribute to restrict the field input by a given regular expression.

post_max_size_message

type: string default: The uploaded file was too large. Please try to upload a smaller file.

This is the validation error message that's used if submitted POST form data exceeds php.ini's post_max_size directive. The {{ max }} placeholder can be used to display the allowed size.

property_path

type: any default: the field's name

Fields display a property value of the form's domain object by default. When the form is submitted, the submitted value is written back into the object.

If you want to override the property that a field reads from and writes to, you can set the property_path option. Its default value is the field's name.

If you wish the field to be ignored when reading or writing to the object you can set the property_path option to false, but using property_path for this purpose is deprecated, you should use the mapped option.

read_only

type: boolean default: false

If this option is true, the field will be rendered with the readonly attribute so that the field is not editable.

required

type: boolean default: true

If true, an HTML5 required attribute will be rendered. The corresponding label will also render with a required class.

This is superficial and independent from validation. At best, if you let Symfony guess your field type, then the value of this option will be guessed from your validation information.

trim

type: boolean default: true

If true, the whitespace of the submitted string value will be stripped via the trim function when the data is bound. This guarantees that if a value is submitted with extra whitespace, it will be removed before the value is merged back onto the underlying object.

attr

type: array default: array()

If you want to add extra attributes to an HTML field representation you can use the attr option. It's an associative array with HTML attributes as keys. This can be useful when you need to set a custom class for some widget:

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$builder->add('body', 'textarea', array(
    'attr' => array('class' => 'tinymce'),
));

auto_initialize

type: boolean default: true

An internal option: sets whether the form should be initialized automatically. For all fields, this option should only be true for root forms. You won't need to change this option and probably won't need to worry about it.

block_name

type: string default: the form's name (see Knowing which block to customize)

Allows you to override the block name used to render the form type. Useful for example if you have multiple instances of the same form and you need to personalize the rendering of the forms individually.

disabled

type: boolean default: false

If you don't want a user to modify the value of a field, you can set the disabled option to true. Any submitted value will be ignored.

label

type: string default: The label is "guessed" from the field name

Sets the label that will be used when rendering the field. Setting to false will suppress the label. The label can also be directly set inside the template:

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{{ form_label(form.name, 'Your name') }}

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echo $view['form']->label(
    $form['name'],
    'Your name'
);

translation_domain

type: string default: messages

This is the translation domain that will be used for any labels or options that are rendered for this field.