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18.

Agree to Terms Checkbox Field

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The User class has an agreedTermsAt property that expects a DateTime object. But, our form has an agreeTerms field that, on submit, will give us a true/false boolean value. How can we make these work together? As I so often like to say: there are two options.

First, we could be clever! There is no agreeTerms property on User. But, we could create a setAgreeTerms() method on User. When that's called, we would actually set the agreedTermsAt property to the current date. We would also need to create a getAgreeTerms() method that would return a boolean based on whether or not the agreedTermsAt property was set.

This is a fine solution. But, this is also a good example of how the form system can start to make your life harder instead of easier. When your form and your class don't look the same, sometimes you can find a simple and natural solution. But sometimes, you might need to dream up something crazy to make it all work. If the solution isn't obvious to you, move on to option two: make the field unmapped.

Let's try that: set agreeTerms to mapped false. To force this to be checked, add constraints set to a new IsTrue()... because we need the underlying value of this field to be true, not false. Set a custom message:

I know, it's silly, but you must agree to our terms

53 lines | src/Form/UserRegistrationFormType.php
// ... lines 1 - 14
class UserRegistrationFormType extends AbstractType
{
public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
{
$builder
// ... lines 20 - 34
->add('agreeTerms', CheckboxType::class, [
'mapped' => false,
'constraints' => [
new IsTrue([
'message' => 'I know, it\'s silly, but you must agree to our terms.'
])
]
])
;
}
// ... lines 45 - 51
}

Excellent! Thanks to the mapped = false, the form should at least load. Try it - refresh! Yes! Well... oh boy - our styling is so bad, the checkbox is hiding off the screen! Let's worry about that in a minute.

Thanks to the mapped => false, the data from the checkbox does not affect our User object in any way when we submit. No problem: in SecurityController, let's handle it manually with if (true === $form['agreeTerms']->getData()). Wait... that looks redundant! We already have form validation that forces the box to be checked. You're totally right! I'm just being extra careful... ya know... for legal reasons.

79 lines | src/Controller/SecurityController.php
// ... lines 1 - 44
public function register(Request $request, UserPasswordEncoderInterface $passwordEncoder, GuardAuthenticatorHandler $guardHandler, LoginFormAuthenticator $formAuthenticator)
{
// ... lines 47 - 49
if ($form->isSubmitted() && $form->isValid()) {
// ... lines 51 - 56
// be absolutely sure they agree
if (true === $form['agreeTerms']->getData()) {
// ... line 59
}
// ... lines 61 - 71
}
// ... lines 73 - 76
}
// ... lines 78 - 79

Inside, we could call $user->setAgreedTermsAt() and pass the current date. Or, we can do something a bit cleaner. Find the setAgreedTermsAt() method and rename it to agreeTerms(), but with no arguments. Inside say $this->agreedTermsAt = new \DateTime().

270 lines | src/Entity/User.php
// ... lines 1 - 19
class User implements UserInterface
{
// ... lines 22 - 264
public function agreeTerms()
{
$this->agreedTermsAt = new \DateTime();
}
}

This gives us a clean, meaningful method. In SecurityController, call that: $user->agreeTerms().

79 lines | src/Controller/SecurityController.php
// ... lines 1 - 57
if (true === $form['agreeTerms']->getData()) {
$user->agreeTerms();
}
// ... lines 61 - 79

Ok team, let's try this. Refresh the page. Annoyingly, I still can't see the checkbox. Let's hack that for now: add a little extra padding on this div. There it is!

Register as geordi3@theenterprise.org, password engage, hit enter, and... yes! We know the datetime column was just set correctly in the database because it's required.

Here's the big takeaway: whenever you need a field on your form that doesn't exist on your entity, there may be a clever solution. But, if it's not obvious, make the field unmapped and add a little bit of glue code in your controller that does whatever you need.

Later, we'll discuss a third option: creating a custom model class for your form.

Fixing your Fixtures

Before we move on, try to reload the fixtures:

php bin/console doctrine:fixtures:load

It... explodes! Duh! I made the new agreedTermsAt field required in the database, but forgot to update it in the fixtures. No problem: open UserFixture. In the first block, add $user->agreeTerms(). Copy that, and do the same for the admin users.

62 lines | src/DataFixtures/UserFixture.php
// ... lines 1 - 9
class UserFixture extends BaseFixture
{
// ... lines 12 - 18
protected function loadData(ObjectManager $manager)
{
$this->createMany(10, 'main_users', function($i) use ($manager) {
// ... lines 22 - 24
$user->agreeTerms();
// ... lines 26 - 41
});
// ... line 43
$this->createMany(3, 'admin_users', function($i) {
// ... lines 45 - 48
$user->agreeTerms();
// ... lines 50 - 56
});
// ... lines 58 - 59
}
}

Cool! Try it again:

php bin/console doctrine:fixtures:load

And.... all better!

Next: let's fix the styling in our registration form by creating our very own form theme.