Option groups in symfony2 entity form type

Question

Is there any way an entity field can be shown grouped in option groups in symfony2 (v.2.1), for example I have something like this in my form class:

$builder->add('account',
                    'entity',
                    array(
                        'class' => 'MyBundle\Entity\Account',
                        'query_builder' => function(EntityRepository $repo){
                            return $repo->findAllAccounts();
                        },
                        'required'  => true,
                        'empty_value' => 'Choose_an_account',
                    );

But (of course) they are displayed as the repository class reads it from the db and I would like to display them grouped in the combobox. This post mentions that featured added to the 2.2 release out of the box, but what options do we 2.1 users have?

The Grouping would be based on a field called Type, lets say I have a getter for that called getType() in my Account entity that returns a string.

Thanks.

Grouped by means of what criterion? E.g. by category so then you wanna display the category and the list of items from that category? — JeanValjean, Nov 09 '12 at 14:31
Is [my question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12244376/select-with-optgroup-in-symfony-2-0) helpful? If yes, you can construct the array of choices at runtime by doing a query to your entity repository. — JeanValjean, Nov 09 '12 at 18:35
Any news? Did your problem can be resolved by the tag? In this case I have the answer... Otherwise, please add a textual example of the desired output! — JeanValjean, Nov 12 '12 at 11:15
Thank you, I think It can be constructed at runtime since no functionality of that kind is built in the version of the framework I'm using. — james_bond, Dec 04 '12 at 15:03

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 04 '12 at 18:27

I did a similar thing when handling with categories.

First, when you build the form, pass the list of choices as a result from a function getAccountList() as follows:

 public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options){
        $builder        
            ->add('account', 'entity', array(
                'class' => 'MyBundle\Entity\Account',
                'choices' => $this->getAccountList(),
                'required'  => true,
                'empty_value' => 'Choose_an_account',
            ));
}

The function should do something like follows (the content depend on the way you structure your result).

private function getAccountList(){
    $repo = $this->em->getRepository('MyBundle\Entity\Account');

    $list = array();

    //Now you have to construct the <optgroup> labels. Suppose to have 3 groups
    $list['group1'] = array();
    $list['group2'] = array();
    $list['group3'] = array(); 

    $accountsFrom1 = $repo->findFromGroup('group1'); // retrieve your accounts in group1.
    foreach($accountsFrom1 as $account){
        $list[$name][$account->getName()] = $account;
    }
    //....etc

    return $list;
}

Of course, you can do it more dynamics! Mine is just a brief example!

You also have to pass the EntityManager to your custom form class. So, define the constructor:

class MyAccountType extends AbstractType {

    private $em;

    public function __construct(\Doctrine\ORM\EntityManager $em){
        $this->em = $em; 
    }    
}

And pass the EntityManager when you initiate the MyAccountType object.

Option groups in symfony2 entity form type

1 Answers1

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