How to Implement a simple Registration Form

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How to Implement a simple Registration Form

Some forms have extra fields whose values don't need to be stored in the database. For example, you may want to create a registration form with some extra fields (like a "terms accepted" checkbox field) and embed the form that actually stores the account information.

The simple User Model

You have a simple User entity mapped to the database:

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// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Entity/User.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Entity;

use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;
use Symfony\Bridge\Doctrine\Validator\Constraints\UniqueEntity;

/**
 * @ORM\Entity
 * @UniqueEntity(fields="email", message="Email already taken")
 */
class User
{
    /**
     * @ORM\Id
     * @ORM\Column(type="integer")
     * @ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy="AUTO")
     */
    protected $id;

    /**
     * @ORM\Column(type="string", length=255)
     * @Assert\NotBlank()
     * @Assert\Email()
     */
    protected $email;

    /**
     * @ORM\Column(type="string", length=255)
     * @Assert\NotBlank()
     * @Assert\Length(max = 4096)
     */
    protected $plainPassword;

    public function getId()
    {
        return $this->id;
    }

    public function getEmail()
    {
        return $this->email;
    }

    public function setEmail($email)
    {
        $this->email = $email;
    }

    public function getPlainPassword()
    {
        return $this->plainPassword;
    }

    public function setPlainPassword($password)
    {
        $this->plainPassword = $password;
    }
}

This User entity contains three fields and two of them (email and plainPassword) should display on the form. The email property must be unique in the database, this is enforced by adding this validation at the top of the class.

Note

If you want to integrate this User within the security system, you need to implement the UserInterface of the Security component.

Why the 4096 Password Limit?

Notice that the plainPassword field has a max length of 4096 characters. For security purposes (CVE-2013-5750), Symfony limits the plain password length to 4096 characters when encoding it. Adding this constraint makes sure that your form will give a validation error if anyone tries a super-long password.

You'll need to add this constraint anywhere in your application where your user submits a plaintext password (e.g. change password form). The only place where you don't need to worry about this is your login form, since Symfony's Security component handles this for you.

Create a Form for the Model

Next, create the form for the User model:

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// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Form/Type/UserType.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Type;

use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolverInterface;

class UserType extends AbstractType
{
    public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
    {
        $builder->add('email', 'email');
        $builder->add('plainPassword', 'repeated', array(
           'first_name'  => 'password',
           'second_name' => 'confirm',
           'type'        => 'password',
        ));
    }

    public function setDefaultOptions(OptionsResolverInterface $resolver)
    {
        $resolver->setDefaults(array(
            'data_class' => 'Acme\AccountBundle\Entity\User'
        ));
    }

    public function getName()
    {
        return 'user';
    }
}

There are just two fields: email and plainPassword (repeated to confirm the entered password). The data_class option tells the form the name of the underlying data class (i.e. your User entity).

Tip

To explore more things about the Form component, read Forms.

Embedding the User Form into a Registration Form

The form that you'll use for the registration page is not the same as the form used to simply modify the User (i.e. UserType). The registration form will contain further fields like "accept the terms", whose value won't be stored in the database.

Start by creating a simple class which represents the "registration":

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// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Form/Model/Registration.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Model;

use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

use Acme\AccountBundle\Entity\User;

class Registration
{
    /**
     * @Assert\Type(type="Acme\AccountBundle\Entity\User")
     * @Assert\Valid()
     */
    protected $user;

    /**
     * @Assert\NotBlank()
     * @Assert\True()
     */
    protected $termsAccepted;

    public function setUser(User $user)
    {
        $this->user = $user;
    }

    public function getUser()
    {
        return $this->user;
    }

    public function getTermsAccepted()
    {
        return $this->termsAccepted;
    }

    public function setTermsAccepted($termsAccepted)
    {
        $this->termsAccepted = (Boolean) $termsAccepted;
    }
}

Next, create the form for this Registration model:

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// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Form/Type/RegistrationType.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Type;

use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;

class RegistrationType extends AbstractType
{
    public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
    {
        $builder->add('user', new UserType());
        $builder->add(
            'terms',
            'checkbox',
            array('property_path' => 'termsAccepted')
        );
        $builder->add('Register', 'submit');
    }

    public function getName()
    {
        return 'registration';
    }
}

You don't need to use a special method for embedding the UserType form. A form is a field, too - so you can add this like any other field, with the expectation that the Registration.user property will hold an instance of the User class.

Handling the Form Submission

Next, you need a controller to handle the form. Start by creating a simple controller for displaying the registration form:

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// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Controller/AccountController.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Controller;

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\Controller;

use Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Type\RegistrationType;
use Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Model\Registration;

class AccountController extends Controller
{
    public function registerAction()
    {
        $registration = new Registration();
        $form = $this->createForm(new RegistrationType(), $registration, array(
            'action' => $this->generateUrl('account_create'),
        ));

        return $this->render(
            'AcmeAccountBundle:Account:register.html.twig',
            array('form' => $form->createView())
        );
    }
}

And its template:

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{# src/Acme/AccountBundle/Resources/views/Account/register.html.twig #}
{{ form(form) }}

Next, create the controller which handles the form submission. This performs the validation and saves the data into the database:

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use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
// ...

public function createAction(Request $request)
{
    $em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();

    $form = $this->createForm(new RegistrationType(), new Registration());

    $form->handleRequest($request);

    if ($form->isValid()) {
        $registration = $form->getData();

        $em->persist($registration->getUser());
        $em->flush();

        return $this->redirect(...);
    }

    return $this->render(
        'AcmeAccountBundle:Account:register.html.twig',
        array('form' => $form->createView())
    );
}

Add new Routes

Next, update your routes. If you're placing your routes inside your bundle (as shown here), don't forget to make sure that the routing file is being imported.

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# src/Acme/AccountBundle/Resources/config/routing.yml
account_register:
    path:     /register
    defaults: { _controller: AcmeAccountBundle:Account:register }

account_create:
    path:     /register/create
    defaults: { _controller: AcmeAccountBundle:Account:create }

Update your Database Schema

Of course, since you've added a User entity during this tutorial, make sure that your database schema has been updated properly:

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$ php app/console doctrine:schema:update --force

That's it! Your form now validates, and allows you to save the User object to the database. The extra terms checkbox on the Registration model class is used during validation, but not actually used afterwards when saving the User to the database.

This work, including the code samples, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license.
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