How to pass id value from select list to controlle

Question

I've constructed a select list in a dashboard view, which lists id and name of various components. The data is passed to a controller that makes a view using the passed id to pull up the correct component data for that id. Problem is that the controller is constructed to expect an object from which to get the id, so that when I submit the id from the list, I get a "Trying to get property of non-object" error. (It doesn't matter whether I submit to the route or directly to the controller; I get the same error.) Here's the code:

PagesController (that creates list array for the dashboard):

public function showDashboard()
{
    $components = Component::lists('name','id');
    return View::make('dashboard', array(
        'components'=>$components, ...
    ));
}

Snippet of source code for the select list:

<form method="GET" action="https://..." accept-charset="UTF-8">
<select id="id" name="id"><option value="2">Component Name</option>...

Components Model:

class Component extends Eloquent {

protected $table = 'components'; ... }

ComponentsController:

public function show($id)
{
    $component = $this->component->find($id);
    return View::make('components.show', array(
            'component'=>$component, ...
        ));
}

dashboard.blade.php:

{{ Form::open(array(
    'action' => 'ComponentsController@show',
    'method'=>'get'
    )) }}
{{ Form::Label('id','Component:') }}
{{ Form::select('id', $components) }}
{{ Form::close() }}

The same controller code is used for other purposes and works fine, for example, when I pass a specific id from a URL, it accepts that id without an error. So, I know this should be something simple involving the form opening, but I can't figure it out. How can I fix this? Thanks!

Answer 1

It will not work because using get method the url will be like this.

http://laravel/puvblic/show?id=2

and laravel will not accept it , rather it accepts a parameter for function in this way

http:/laravel/puvblic/show/2

A better way to do this would be to make your form method as 'POST' . It would be much safer and better this way. and modify your function as.

public function show()

Then , You can get the id in your controller as

Input::get('id')

EDIT:

To make it simple , try this one:

Route::get('{show?}', function()
{

    $id = Input::get('id') ; 
    echo $id;   //This will give you the id send via GET 
    die();
});

Simply follow the GET method , your form will send a GET request and it will come to this route here you can perform your desired function.

Answer 2

I finally figured out the problem, and the solution:

The problem is that the form should (optimally) be sent as POST (not GET), and therefore not changed from the default value provided by Blade. BUT then the route has to be registered correctly as POST, and that's what I wasn't doing before. So,

dashboard.blade.php:

{{ Form::model(null, array('route' => array('lookupsociety'))) }}
{{ Form::select('value', $societies) }} ...

Route:

Route::post('lookupsociety', array('as'=>'lookup society', 'uses'=>'SocietiesController@lookupsociety'));

SocietiesController@lookupsociety:

public function lookupsociety()
{
    $id = Input::get('value'); ... // proceed to do whatever is needed with $id value passed from the select list
}

It works perfectly! The key was changing the method in the route to Route::post() instead of Route::get().

I knew it had to be simple -- I simply hadn't stumbled on the solution before :)