By fabbe on

Hi!

I'm pretty new to Drupal and I've only played with making my own modules for a short time. The API seems very clear and straightforward, and the documentation and examples are excellent. However, what I'm now trying to do requires me to combine things in a way that isn't covered in the docs. I need to ask for advice from someone with more experience.

Here's what I want to do:

  • In my module, I export two blocks, let's call them A and B.
  • Block A should include the user's details (let's say, login and full name) and a drop-down menu with items that belong to that user.
  • Block B should show the details of whatever was selected in the drop-down menu.

I guess I need to get the user's details using $user->uid, $user->name and so on. Am I correct in assuming that I can use the form generation functions to make the dropdown even if I'm making a block?

Finally, and most importantly, what is the recommended way of signaling to block B what was selected in block A? Using variable_[get,set] is probably not the right way. How about a cookie? Or can I read the state of the form in block A from block B?

I'm using Drupal 4.6.3.

I'd be glad for any advice!

Comments

fabbe’s picture

fabbe commented

Nobody replied but I managed to figure this out on my own. I'm replying to myself in the hope that someone else will find this useful.

The form data gets stored in $_REQUEST['edit'], so you can make a form like this and have it retain its state:

$edit = $_REQUEST['edit'];
$myform = form_select('Description', 'form_name', $edit['form_name'], array('Selection 1 Text' => 'Selection 1 Value', 'Selection 2 Text' => 'Selection 2 Value'));
$button_submit = form_submit('Go');
return form($customer_list . $button_submit);

This code is supposed to be placed in a function that generates a block. When that form is submitted, it will have the previously selected value pre-selected instead of the browser default (the first option).

In the same way, you can access the state of another form from a different block, which was what I wanted to do. You just have to remember that the first time around, the $_REQUEST['edit'] variable will not be set, so you have to make a special case for that or have the logic work without the variable set.