Dynamicform
Yii2 Dynamic form widget for cloning form elements in a nested manner while maintaining accessibility.
Install / Use
/learn @yii2-extensions/DynamicformREADME
Yii2 Extension for Making Dynamic Forms
It is widget to yii2 framework to clone form elements in a nested manner, maintaining accessibility.

Installation
The preferred way to install this extension is through composer.
Either run
composer require --prefer-dist yii2-extensions/dynamicform:"^1.0.0"
or add
"yii2-extensions/dynamicform": "^1.0.0"
to the require section of your composer.json file.
Extension Usage
Databases
To explain usage of this extension we are going to have a sample scenario where we are building address book for customers. Each customer can have multiple addresses. See the image below for further details.

Models
With that database, our assumption is you have two models Customer and Address classes.
<?php
namespace app\models;
class Customer extends ActiveRecord
{
public static function tableName()
{
return 'customer';
}
//....
//normal Yii AR stuffs
}
<?php
namespace app\models;
class Address extends ActiveRecord
{
public static function tableName()
{
return 'address';
}
//....
//normal Yii AR stuffs
}
The Controller
1. Create Action
<?php
namespace app\controllers;
use Yii2\Extensions\DynamicForm\Models\Model; //Very important. Do not mix this with yii\base\Model
class CustomerController extends Controller
{
public function actionCreate()
{
$modelCustomer = new Customer;
$modelsAddress = [new Address];
if ($modelCustomer->load(Yii::$app->request->post())) {
$modelsAddress = Model::createMultiple(Address::classname());
Model::loadMultiple($modelsAddress, Yii::$app->request->post());
// ajax validation
if (Yii::$app->request->isAjax) {
Yii::$app->response->format = Response::FORMAT_JSON;
return ArrayHelper::merge(
ActiveForm::validateMultiple($modelsAddress),
ActiveForm::validate($modelCustomer)
);
}
// validate all models
$valid = $modelCustomer->validate();
$valid = Model::validateMultiple($modelsAddress) && $valid;
if ($valid) {
$transaction = \Yii::$app->db->beginTransaction();
try {
if ($flag = $modelCustomer->save(false)) {
foreach ($modelsAddress as $modelAddress) {
$modelAddress->customer_id = $modelCustomer->id;
if (! ($flag = $modelAddress->save(false))) {
$transaction->rollBack();
break;
}
}
}
if ($flag) {
$transaction->commit();
return $this->redirect(['view', 'id' => $modelCustomer->id]);
}
} catch (Exception $e) {
$transaction->rollBack();
}
}
}
return $this->render('create', [
'modelCustomer' => $modelCustomer,
'modelsAddress' => (empty($modelsAddress)) ? [new Address] : $modelsAddress
]);
}
}
2. Update Action
<?php
namespace app\controllers;
use Yii2\Extensions\DynamicForm\Models\Model; //Very important. Do not mix this with yii\base\Model
class CustomerController extends Controller
{
public function actionUpdate($id)
{
$modelCustomer = $this->findModel($id);
$modelsAddress = $modelCustomer->addresses;
// primary key of $modelsAddress
$pkey = 'address_id';
if ($modelCustomer->load(Yii::$app->request->post())) {
$oldIDs = ArrayHelper::map($modelsAddress, $pkey, $pkey);
$modelsAddress = Model::createMultiple(Address::classname(), $modelsAddress, $pkey);
Model::loadMultiple($modelsAddress, Yii::$app->request->post());
$deletedIDs = array_diff($oldIDs, array_filter(ArrayHelper::map($modelsAddress, $pkey, $pkey)));
// ajax validation
if (Yii::$app->request->isAjax) {
Yii::$app->response->format = Response::FORMAT_JSON;
return ArrayHelper::merge(
ActiveForm::validateMultiple($modelsAddress),
ActiveForm::validate($modelCustomer)
);
}
// validate all models
$valid = $modelCustomer->validate();
$valid = Model::validateMultiple($modelsAddress) && $valid;
if ($valid) {
$transaction = \Yii::$app->db->beginTransaction();
try {
if ($flag = $modelCustomer->save(false)) {
if (! empty($deletedIDs)) {
Address::deleteAll([$pkey => $deletedIDs]);
}
foreach ($modelsAddress as $modelAddress) {
$modelAddress->customer_id = $modelCustomer->id;
if (! ($flag = $modelAddress->save(false))) {
$transaction->rollBack();
break;
}
}
}
if ($flag) {
$transaction->commit();
return $this->redirect(['view', 'id' => $modelCustomer->id]);
}
} catch (Exception $e) {
$transaction->rollBack();
}
}
}
return $this->render('update', [
'modelCustomer' => $modelCustomer,
'modelsAddress' => (empty($modelsAddress)) ? [new Address] : $modelsAddress
]);
}
}
The View
The View presents our complex form that will dynamically add or remove items. At the hear of it is the DynamicFormWidget
The following are some details on widget profperties:
widgetContainer: Top container for the widget. Can only be alphanumeric plus a_character. It is requiredwidgetBody: The Container that hosts rows of form elements. Its value must conform to css class. It is requiredwidgetItem: Represents single row of form line. If you are used to Bootstrap grid,widgetBodyis similar to a container andwidgetItemto a row. It is a required element and must be in the format of css classlimit: Maximum number of clones. It is an integer. Limits the number of times element can be cloned. Defaults to 999.min: Minimum number of elements by default. Set it to 0 if you want empty sub-form elements or 1 to start with single row. Defaults to 1.insertButton: Css class name for an element when clicked will add a row in the form.deleteButton: Css class name for an element when clicked will delete a row in the form.model: Sample model for the widget. If you are not sure, pass first element of the model rows. This requires your controller always send at least single model to the view.formId: ID of yourActiveForm. Mismatching the two is a recipe for disaster. Be careful!
Sample view
<?php
use yii\helpers\Html;
use yii\widgets\ActiveForm;
use Yii2\Extensions\DynamicForm\DynamicFormWidget;
?>
<div class="customer-form">
<?php $form = ActiveForm::begin(['id' => 'dynamic-form']); ?>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-sm-6">
<?= $form->field($modelCustomer, 'first_name')->textInput(['maxlength' => true]) ?>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-6">
<?= $form->field($modelCustomer, 'last_name')->textInput(['maxlength' => true]) ?>
</div>
</div>
<div class="panel panel-default">
<div class="panel-heading"><h4><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-envelope"></i> Addresses</h4></div>
<div class="panel-body">
<?php DynamicFormWidget::begin([
'widgetContainer' => 'dynamicform_wrapper', // required: only alphanumeric characters plus "_" [A-Za-z0-9_]
'widgetBody' => '.container-items', // required: css class selector
'widgetItem' => '.item', // required: css class.
'limit' => 4, // the maximum times, an element can be cloned (default 999)
'min' => 1, // 0 or 1 (default 1)
'insertButton' => '.add-item', // css class
'deleteButton' => '.remove-item', // css class
'model' => $modelsAddress[0],
'formId' => 'dynamic-form',
'formFields' => [
'full_name',
'address_line1',
'address_line2',
'city',
'state',
'postal_code',
],
]); ?>
<div class="container-items"><!-- widgetContainer -->
<?php foreach ($modelsAddress as $i => $modelAddress): ?>
<div class="item panel panel-default"><!-- widgetBody -->
<div class="panel-heading">
<h3 class="panel-title pull-left">Address</h3>
<div class="pull-right">
<button type="button" class="add-item btn btn-success btn-xs"
