yform-fields

name

yform-fields

description

YForm field types, validators, and actions – the building blocks for forms and tables. Covers all value/validate/action types with parameters, the choice / be_manager_relation / upload field configurations, custom field types, and the pipe syntax used in the Formbuilder. Use when picking field types, configuring validators, building custom field/validator classes, troubleshooting field rendering or save behavior, writing forms in pipe syntax, or when the user says "Feldtypen", "YForm-Felder", "Validierung", "Formular-Felder", "be_manager_relation", or "Formbuilder Pipe-Syntax".

YForm Fields, Validators & Actions

YForm fields have three roles:

• type_id: value – an input that renders + (optionally) stores data (text, number, media, relation)
• type_id: validate – a rule applied during save (empty, type, unique, customfunction)
• type_id: action – post-save side effects (db, tpl2email, redirect, callback)

Pipe-syntax description (Formbuilder):

fieldtype|name|label|[param3]|[param4]|...
validate|type|name|[param3]|...
action|type|[param2]|[param3]|...
objparams|key|value

Value field types (overview)

Text/Input: text, textarea, email, integer, float, number, password Date/Time: date, datetime, time, datestamp Selection: checkbox, choice, prio Relations: be_link, be_manager_relation, be_media, be_table System: hidden, hashvalue, uuid, generate_key, index, ip, showvalue Layout: fieldset, html, php, emptyname, submit, resetbutton Special: upload, signature, google_geocode, objparams, article

Pipe syntax for every value field

text|name|label|default|[no_db]|[attributes]|[notice]|[prepend]|[append]
textarea|name|label|default|[no_db]|[attributes]|[notice]
email|name|label|default|[no_db]|[attributes]|[notice]
password|name|label|default|[no_db]|[attributes]|[notice]|[prepend]|[append]
integer|name|label|default|[no_db]|[unit]|[notice]
number|name|label|precision|scale|default|[no_db]|[widget]|[unit]|[notice]|[attributes]
float|name|label|scale
checkbox|name|label|default|[no_db]|[attributes]|[notice]|[output_values]
choice|name|label|choices|[expanded]|[multiple]|[default]|[group_by]|[preferred_choices]|[placeholder]|[group_attributes]|[attributes]|[choice_attributes]|[notice]|[no_db]
date|name|label|year_start|year_end|format|current_date|[no_db]|[widget]|[attributes]|[notice]|[modify_default]
datetime|name|label|year_start|year_end|format|current_date|[no_db]|[widget]|[attributes]|[notice]|[modify_default]
time|name|label|format|current_time|[no_db]|[widget]|[attributes]|[notice]
datestamp|name|label|format|[no_db]|only_empty|[modify_default]
hidden|name|value||[no_db]
hidden|name|key|REQUEST/GET/POST/SESSION|[no_db]
upload|name|label|sizes|types|required|messages|[notice]|[config_json]
be_link|name|label|[multiple]|[notice]
be_manager_relation|name|label|table|field|type|empty_option|empty_value|size|filter|relation_table|notice
be_media|name|label|preview|multiple|category|types|[notice]
be_table|name|label|columns|[notice]|[no_db]
fieldset|name|label|[attributes]|[options]
html|name|label|html_content
php|name|label|php_code
showvalue|name|label|default|notice
prio|name|label|fields|scope|default|[attributes]|[notice]
submit|name|labels|values|[no_db]|default|css_classes
resetbutton|name|label|value|cssclassname
hashvalue|name|label|field|function|salt|[no_db]
uuid|name|label|[no_db]|[show_value]
generate_key|name|label|only_empty|[show_value]|[no_db]
index|name|label|names|[no_db]|function|add_this_param|salt
ip|name|label|[no_db]|[server_var]
emptyname|name|label|[show_value]
signature|name|label|default|[no_db]|[attributes]|[notice]
article|article_id
objparams|key|value|[init/runtime]

Parameter cheatsheet

• no_db: if set, value is not saved to database (form-only field)
• attributes: JSON for HTML attributes, e.g. {"placeholder":"Text...","class":"my-class"}
• notice: help text displayed below the field
• widget (date/time): select (default), input:text, input:date
• format (date): YYYY-MM-DD, DD.MM.YYYY, etc.
• format (datestamp): mysql (=YYYY-MM-DD HH:ii:ss), U (Unix timestamp), or PHP date format
• only_empty (datestamp): 0=always update, 1=only if empty (=created_at), 2=never
• modify_default (date/datestamp): PHP strtotime string, e.g. +1 week
• expanded (choice): 0=select/multiselect, 1=radio/checkboxes
• multiple (choice): 0=single, 1=multiple
• choices (choice): JSON, SQL, or comma-separated
• type (be_manager_relation): 0=select, 1=select multi, 2=popup, 3=popup multi, 4=inline 1:n, 5=inline multi
• sizes (upload): max KB or range 100,500
• types (upload): .jpg,.gif,.png,.pdf
• messages (upload): min_err,max_err,type_err,empty_err,delete_msg
• options (fieldset): onlyopen (default), onlyclose, openclose
• output_values (checkbox): custom values, e.g. nein,ja

Field type: choice

The most versatile selection field. Renders dropdowns, radio buttons, or checkboxes depending on expanded/multiple.

expanded	multiple	Result
0	0	Single-select dropdown
0	1	Multi-select dropdown
1	0	Radio buttons
1	1	Checkbox group

JSON choices:

{"Berlin":"berlin","Hamburg":"hamburg","Muenchen":"muenchen"}

Grouped JSON:

{"Nord":{"Hamburg":"hamburg","Bremen":"bremen"},"Sued":{"Muenchen":"muenchen"}}

SQL choices:

SELECT id, name FROM rex_categories ORDER BY name

Field type: be_manager_relation

Manages relations between YForm tables.

Option	Description
table	Target table name
field	Display field in target table
type	0=single select, 1=multi select, 2=popup, 3=popup multi, 4=inline 1:n, 5=inline m:n
empty_option	Show empty first option
filter	SQL WHERE filter for target records

1:n frontend output:

$items = rex_sql::factory()->getArray(
    'SELECT t1.*, t2.name AS category_name
     FROM rex_products t1
     LEFT JOIN rex_categories t2 ON t1.category_id = t2.id
     WHERE t1.status = 1'
);

m:n frontend output:

$items = rex_sql::factory()->getArray(
    'SELECT t1.*, t2.name AS tag_name
     FROM rex_products t1
     LEFT JOIN rex_products_tags rt ON t1.id = rt.product_id
     LEFT JOIN rex_tags t2 ON rt.tag_id = t2.id
     WHERE t1.id = :id',
    ['id' => $id]
);

For ORM-style relation access, see the yform-datasets skill (getRelatedDataset(), getRelatedCollection()).

Field type: upload

Configure via JSON in the config_json slot:

{
    "accept": "image/*,.pdf",
    "max_size": 10485760,
    "upload_folder": "media/uploads/",
    "allowed_extensions": ["jpg","jpeg","png","gif","pdf"],
    "required": true
}

Validate types

validate|empty|name|message
validate|compare|name1|name2|operator|message
validate|compare_value|name|compare_value|operator|message
validate|type|name|type|message|[not_required]
validate|intfromto|name|from|to|message
validate|size|name|size|message
validate|size_range|name|min|max|message
validate|preg_match|name|pattern|message
validate|unique|name|message|[table]|[empty_option]
validate|in_table|name|tablename|fieldname|message
validate|in_names|names|min|max|message
validate|customfunction|name|function|params|message|[validate_type]
validate|password_policy|name|message|rules_json

Validator	Use for
empty	Required field
compare	Compare two fields (==, !=, <, >, <=, >=)
compare_value	Compare to literal value
type	int, float, numeric, string, email, url, date, datetime, time, hex, iban, json
intfromto	Integer in range
size / size_range	Exact / ranged string length
preg_match	Regex match
unique	Unique in table (comma-separate names for composite uniqueness, e.g. email,company_id)
in_table	Value must exist in another table
in_names	Value must be in field-name list
customfunction	Custom PHP callback (prefix function with ! to negate)
password_policy	Password strength rules JSON

customfunction example:

// Pipe: validate|customfunction|my_field|myclass::validate||Error message

class myclass {
    public static function validate($label, $value, $params, $return) {
        // Return true = error, false = valid
        if ($value < 10) return true;
        return false;
    }
}

validate_type for customfunction: normal (default), pre (before processing), post (after).

Composite unique example:

[
    'type_id'   => 'validate',
    'type_name' => 'unique',
    'name'      => 'email,company_id',
    'message'   => 'Email already used in this company.',
]

For update forms, also pass not_id to skip the current row (otherwise every save fails on its own match).

Action types

action|db|tablename|[where]
action|db_query|query_with_?_placeholders|fieldnames
action|email|from|to|subject|body|[error_message]
action|tpl2email|template_name|email_field|[fixed_email]
action|callback|function_or_class::method
action|redirect|target|[request_or_label]|[field]
action|showtext|text|open_tag|close_tag|format
action|html|html_content
action|readtable|tablename|fieldname|label
action|copy_value|from_field|to_field
action|create_table|tablename
action|manage_db|[tablename]
action|encrypt_value|fieldname|algorithm|[save_in_field]
action|fulltext_value|target_field|source_fields
action|wrapper_value|fieldname|template

Action	Description
db	Save to a YForm-managed table
db_query	Execute custom SQL with ? placeholders
email	Send a plain email
tpl2email	Send email rendered from a YForm email template
callback	Execute PHP callback function_or_class::method
redirect	Redirect after submit
showtext	Display text after submit (format: 0=plaintext, 1=HTML, 2=Textile)
html	Output HTML
readtable	Pre-fill values from a table
copy_value	Copy field value to another field
create_table	Auto-create the underlying table from form fields
manage_db	Insert or update depending on existence (for edit forms)
encrypt_value	Encrypt the field's value
fulltext_value	Generate a fulltext-search value from source fields
wrapper_value	Wrap field value with a template

In email and showtext bodies, use ###fieldname### as placeholders for form values.

Form-only fields (no DB column)

Set no_db: 1 to render a field in the form without persisting it. Useful for honeypots, "I agree" checkboxes that get checked by a validator but not stored, or computed previews.

[
    'type_id'   => 'value',
    'type_name' => 'checkbox',
    'name'      => 'agree_terms',
    'label'     => 'I agree to the privacy policy',
    'no_db'     => 1,
]

Validate as required without storing:

[
    'type_id'   => 'validate',
    'type_name' => 'empty',
    'name'      => 'agree_terms',
    'message'   => 'You must agree to the privacy policy.',
]

Custom field types

Define your own under lib/yform/value/ or lib/yform/validate/ in your addon. YForm autodiscovers them on boot if the class name matches rex_yform_value_<name> or rex_yform_validate_<name>.

Minimal value field:

<?php
// lib/yform/value/colorpicker.php
class rex_yform_value_colorpicker extends rex_yform_value_abstract
{
    public function enterObject()
    {
        $this->setValue((string) $this->getValue());

        if ($this->needsOutput()) {
            $this->params['form_output'][$this->getId()] = $this->parse(
                ['value.colorpicker.tpl.php', 'value.text.tpl.php'],
                ['type' => 'color']
            );
        }
        $this->params['value_pool']['email'][$this->getName()] = $this->getValue();
        if ($this->saveInDb()) {
            $this->params['value_pool']['sql'][$this->getName()] = $this->getValue();
        }
    }

    public function getDescription(): string
    {
        return 'colorpicker|name|label';
    }

    public function getDefinitions(): array
    {
        return [
            'type'      => 'value',
            'name'      => 'colorpicker',
            'values'    => [
                'name'  => ['type' => 'name',  'label' => 'Field name'],
                'label' => ['type' => 'text',  'label' => 'Label'],
            ],
            'description' => 'A color picker',
            'db_type'     => ['varchar(7)'],
        ];
    }
}

YForm Tools addon enhancements

If yform_tools is installed, attribute JSON gives you these for free:

• Searchable select: {"class":"form-control selectpicker","data-live-search":"true"}
• Input masking: {"data-inputmask-alias":"datetime","data-inputmask-inputformat":"yyyy-mm-dd"}
• Date range picker: {"data-yform-tools-datepicker":"YYYY-MM-DD"}

Common pitfalls

• Misspelling type_name_internal for the type validator – falls back to silent pass.
• Setting no_db: 1 on a field whose SQL column also exists – data gets ignored on save, then read back as empty.
• Missing prio on validators – they may fire before the value field is populated.
• Using unique without not_id in update forms – every save fails because the value matches itself.
• customfunction validator returning true to mean "valid" – it's the opposite: true = error, false = valid.
• Using validate|customfunction|...|||1 – the trailing 1 means validate_type=post, runs after DB write. Default (no value) is normal.