How do I handle multiple submit buttons in a single form with Laravel?

Level 50

Have multiple submit buttons, with the same name, but different values for each. You could run some form of switch or if statement within your form handler class. This isn;t specific to Laravel.

Level 3

so there is no Laravel way?

Robstar

Level 50

What do you mean by a "Laravel" way? Your question is just simple HTML and basic PHP, all of which Laravel can handle. What code do you have so far?

Level 3

switch ($request['action']) {
        case 'Post Reply':
          echo 'foo';
          break;
        case 'Preview':
          echo 'bar';
          break;
        case 'Go Advanced':
          return view();
          break;
        default:
          # code...
          break;
      }

Right now I am under the impression that placing plain PHP code inside a Laravel app is "messy" since I am not utilizing Laravel's functions. Although this code works, it has a slight problem.

The submit button for 'Go Advanced' needs to be a GET request since it should redirect a user to a completely new page with a WYSIWYG editor. But I did come up with a solution for that, but I'm not sure if it is preferred. My solution is simply removing the type="submit" attribute for that button but still place it inside the form so I can style all 3 buttons side by side. In doing this, I can probably have the 'Go Advanced' button act like just a simple button instead of a submit and route the user to the above mentioned page. What do you think?

martinbean

Best Answer

Level 80

@p0t4t0 Laravel is PHP. There isn’t “plain PHP code” and “Laravel code”. You are free to use native PHP functions in a Laravel application.

As @Robstar says, you can use name attributes with different values in your submit buttons, and then perform the intended action based on the value:

<form action="" method="POST">
    <!-- fields -->
    <button type="submit" name="action" value="save">Save</button>
    <button type="submit" name="action" value="preview">Preview</button>
    <button type="submit" name="action" value="advanced_edit">Advanced edit</button>
</form>

public function store(Request $request)
{
    switch ($request->input('action')) {
        case 'save':
            // Save model
            break;

        case 'preview':
            // Preview model
            break;

        case 'advanced_edit':
            // Redirect to advanced edit
            break;
    }
}

28 likes

metaman13

4 years ago

Level 2

This is really nice, thank you

deGecko

Level 3

It's a little old to hard refresh the page to show some advanced field and then handle the form again; same thing for previewing something.

The main button should submit the form and the other two should do something in the same page, with the help of JavaScript.

The Preview button should open a modal, as an example, with the preview, or maybe just toggle off the form accordion-style and show the preview.
The Advanced button should just display the new field below the current form.

When they submit, you just check if the advanced field has been filed, if not, you ignore it. The validation rule would be something like this:

'advanced-field' => 'sometimes|min:10'

If you're expecting a message, minimum 10 characters long.

Level 3

@deGecko I know but I am keeping everything strictly PHP/Laravel with this project to help me understand Laravel more.

@martinbean Yes, I am aware about that part. I am just making sure whether or not there is an already existing Laravel function that can handle multiple submit buttons For example, $request->input('action') is I believe a Laravel function that is equivalent to $_POST['action'] in plain PHP.

(Sorry about the bad explanation. I find it hard sometimes to explain what I am thinking in English.)

But to get things back on track. The code I have above is already working. But I am just wondering what the difference is between $request->input('action') and $request['action'], because the latter is what I have in my code and it seems to be working just fine.

martinbean

Level 80

@p0t4t0 Accessing $request as an array (i.e. $request['action']) or property ($request->action) will search multiple “bags” of request data. I just prefer to be a little more explicit, i.e.

If I want some POST data then I’ll use $request->input('key')
If I want a query string parameter I’ll use $request->query('key')
If I want a route parameter, I’ll use $request->route('key')

And so on.

It prevents little bugs where you might be intending to get data from say, the route, but instead end up with the value from a form field with the same name.

3 likes

Level 3

@martinbean Oh, I see. Thanks for the explanation and info.

dokohler

Level 6

I had the same issue and solved it with Javascript.

 <input type="submit" value="Submit to alternative action" data-submit-action="/new-target">

 <input type="submit" value="Submit to alternative target" data-submit-target="_blank">

 <input type="submit" value="Submit as delete" data-submit-method="delete">

 <input type="submit" value="Submit with confirmation" data-submit-confirmation="Are you sure?">

Of course i needed to create a manipulator: https://gist.github.com/kohlerdominik/af78ecaec7a83e566e6fe8170f5f11bd

1 like

babonday

Level 1

@MARTINBEAN - what does the route web.php file look like in this example?

Route::post('/search', 'SearchController@wtf');

thx

babonday

Level 1

@ROBSTAR - i think he means the confusion when you first follow the laracasts.. it implies that laravel is an alternative to php syntax and also a shortcut.. . so you spend ages looking for the magic new way/ shortcut .

...which of course ironically wastes days in time...

martinbean

Level 80

@babonday I don’t understand your question.

Robstar