Zend Form Element with Javascript - Decorator, View Helper or View Script? - zend-framework

Question

I want to add some javacsript to a Zend_Form_Element_Text .
At first I thought a decorator would be the best way to do it, but since it is just a script (the markup doesn't change) then maybe a view helper is better? or a view script?
It seems like they are all for the same purpose (regarding a form element).
The javascript I want to add is not an event (e.g. change, click, etc.). I can add it easily with headScript() but I want to make it re-usable , that's why I thought about a decorator/view helper. I'm just not clear about the difference between them.
What is the best practice in this case? advantages?
UPDATE: Seems like the best practice is to use view helpers from view scripts , so decorators would be a better fit?
Thanks.

Answer 1

You could create your own decorator by extending Zend_From_Decorator_Abstract and generate your snippet in it's render() method :
class My_Decorator_FieldInitializer extends Zend_Form_Decorator_Abstract {
public function render($content){
$separator = $this->getSeparator();
$element = $this->getElement();
$output = '<script>'.
//you write your js snippet here, using
//the data you have in $element if you need
.'</script>';
return $content . $separator . $output;
}
}
If you need more details, ask for it in a comment, i'll edit this answer. And I didn't test this code.

Answer 2

Use setAttrib function.
eg:-
$element = new Zend_Form_Element_Text('test');
$element->setAttrib('onclick', 'alert("Test")');

Answer 3

I'm not actually seeing where this needs to be a decorator or a view-helper or a view-script.
If I wanted to attach some client-side behavior to a form element, I'd probably set an attribute with $elt->setAttrib('class', 'someClass') or $elt->setAttrib('id', 'someId'), some hook onto which my script can attach. Then I'd add listeners/handlers to those targeted elements.
For example, for a click handler using jQuery , it would be something like:
(function($){
$(document).ready(function(){
$('.someClass').click(function(e){
// handle the event here
});
});
})(jQuery);
The benefit is that it is unobtrusive, so the markup remains clean. Hopefully, the javascript is an enhancement- not a critical part of the functionality - so it degrades gracefully.
Perhaps you mean that this javascript segment itself needs to be reusable across different element identifiers - someClass, in this example. In this case, you could simply write a view-helper that accepts the CSS class name as the parameter.

Answer 4

"the markup doesn't change", Yap,
but I like to add some javascript function throw ZendForm Element:
$text_f = new Zend_Form_Element_Text("text_id");
$text_f->setAttrib('OnChange', 'someFunction($(this));');
The best way is if you are working with a team, where all of you should use same code standard. For me and my team this is the code above.