passing value from Yii CController class to CForm (Form Builder) config array - yii

Question

I'm new to Yii, and I'm trying to do my initial project the "right" way. I've created a CFormModel class that needs three fields to query for some data, a CForm config to construct the form, and a CController to tie it together (all given below).
The data request needs an account, and this can come from a couple of different places. I think retrieving it should be in the controller. However, I don't know how to get it into the form's hidden "account" field from the controller, so that it makes it to the arguments assigned to the CFormModel after submission. More generally, I know how to pass from CController to view script, but not to CForm. Is the registry (Yii::app()->params[]) my best bet?
I suppose I can just leave it out of the form (and required fields) and wait to populate it in the submit action (actionSummaries). Does that break the intention of CForm? Is there a best practice? Even taking this solution, can someone address the first issue, in case it comes up again?
Any other, gentle critique is welcome.
models/SummariesForm.php
class SummariesForm extends CFormModel
{
public $account;
public $userToken;
public $year;
public function rules () {...}
public function fetchSummary () {...}
static public function getYearOptions () {...}
}
views/account/select.php
<?php
$this->pageTitle=Yii::app()->name;
?>
<div class="form">
<?php echo $form->render(); ?>
</div>
controllers/AccountController.php
class AccountController extends CController
{
public $layout = 'extranet';
public function actionSelect ()
{
$model = new SummariesForm();
// retrieve account
require_once 'AccountCookie.php';
/*
*
* Here, I insert the account directly into the
* model used to build the form, but $model isn't
* available to selectForm.php. So, it doesn't
* become part of the form, and this $model doesn't
* persist to actionSummaries().
*
*/
$model->account = AccountCookie::decrypt();
if ($model->account === false) {
throw new Exception('Unable to retrieve account.');
}
$form = new CForm('application.views.account.selectForm', $model);
$this->render('select', array(
'form' => $form,
'account' => $model->account,
));
}
public function actionSummaries ()
{
$model = new SummariesForm();
if (isset($_POST['SummariesForm'])) {
$model->attributes = $_POST['SummariesForm'];
/*
*
* Should I just omit "account" from the form altogether
* and fetch it here? Does that break the "model"?
*
*/
if ($model->validate() === true) {
try {
$summaries = $model->fetchSummary();
} catch (Exception $e) {
...
CApplication::end();
}
if (count($summaries) === 0) {
$this->render('nodata');
CApplication::end();
}
$this->render('summaries', array('model' => $model, 'summaries' => $summaries));
} else {
throw new Exception('Invalid year.');
}
}
}
}
views/account/selectForm.php
<?php
return array(
'title' => 'Select year',
'action' => Yii::app()->createUrl('Account/Summaries'),
'method' => 'post',
'elements' => array(
'account' => array(
'type' => 'hidden',
'value' => $account,
),
'userToken' => array(
'type' => 'hidden',
'value' => /* get token */,
),
'year' => array(
'type' => 'dropdownlist',
'items' => SummariesForm::getYearOptions(),
),
),
'buttons' => array(
'view' => array(
'type' => 'submit',
'label' => 'View summaries',
),
),
);

Answer 1

The answer is NO to do what you asked. You can see $form variable which acted almost like array when it was passed from controller to view. The solution is you add more property $account into selectForm model and treat it like other elements. I don't think leaving the new field outside the form will be properly way if you want to submit its value also.
Edited: