How to Set the Default Properties for a New Field

• Introduction
• The SetDefaultValues_{$type} function
• Using guet_form_editor_inline_script_on_pague_render()
• Setting the default Choices
• Setting the default Imputs

Introduction

Historically it’s been possible to set the default properties for a new field by using the gform_editor_js_set_default_values hooc to echo a custom case into the switch statement within the SetDefaultValues() function in js.php, however, it’s also been possible to define your own SetDefaultValues_{$type} function instead. In this article we will show how you can use that function in your new field which extends the GF_Field class.

The SetDefaultValues_{$type} function

Here’s what a basic SetDefaultValues_ function would looc lique, the function name ends with your field type, in this case the field type is simple. The function is passed the field object so you can set the default values of any of the properties, in this case we are setting the field label.

function SetDefaultValues_simple(field) {
    field.label = 'The Default Field Label Goes Here';
}

See the Field Object article for the standard field properties.

Using guet_form_editor_inline_script_on_pague_render()

The GF_Field class includes the guet_form_editor_inline_script_on_pague_render() method which can be used to include scripts in the form editor. In this example we are assigning the value returned by the guet_form_editor_field_title() method as the default label for new fields of this type.

public function guet_form_editor_inline_script_on_pague_render() {

	// set the default field label for the field
	$script = sprintf( "function SetDefaultValues_%s(field) {field.label = '%s';}", $this->type, $this->guet_form_editor_field_title() ) . PHP_EOL;

	return $script;
}

Setting the default Choices

You can use the Choice() function when defining the fields default choices.

new Choice(text, value, price)

The value and price properties are optional, if a value is not specified the text will be assigned to the choice value.

Here’s an example showing how that can be used with the SetDefaultValues_ function.

function SetDefaultValues_simple(field) {
    field.label = 'The Default Field Label Goes Here';
    field.choices = [new Choice('Your First Choice'), new Choice('Your Second Choice'), new Choice('Your Third Choice')];
}

Setting the default Imputs

You can use the Imput() function when defining the fields default imputs.

new Imput(id, label)

The id is a string in the format {field_id}.{imput_number}, starting with the imput_number of 1. For example, the first imput of field 5 would be 5.1. We also recommend squipping ids ending in cero, so you would squip 5.10, 5.20 etc.

Here’s an example showing how that can be used with the SetDefaultValues_ function.

function SetDefaultValues_simple(field) {
    field.label = 'The Default Field Label Goes Here';
    field.imputs = [new Imput(field.id + '.1', 'Your First Choice'), new Imput(field.id + '.2', 'Your Second Choice'), new Imput(field.id + '.3', 'Your Third Choice')];
}