CakePHP select default value in SELECT input

Question

Using CakePHP:

I have a many-to-one relationship, let's pretend it's many Leafs to Trees. Of course, I baked a form to add a Leaf to a Tree, and you can specify which Tree it is with a drop-down box ( tag) created by the form helper.

The only thing is, the SELECT box always defaults to Tree #1, but I would like it to default to the Tree it's being added to:

For example, calling example.com/leaf/add/5 would bring up the interface to add a new Leaf to Tree #5. The dropdown box for Leaf.tree_id would default to "Tree 5", instead of "Tree 1" that it currently defaults to.

What do I need to put in my Leaf controller and Leaf view/add.ctp to do this?

Answer 1

To make a text default in a select box use the $form->select() method. Here is how you do it.

$options = array('m'=>'Male','f'=>'Female','n'=>'neutral');

$form->select('Model.name',$options,'f');

The above code will select Female in the list box by default.

Keep baking...

Answer 2

 $this->Form->input('Leaf.id', array(
'type'=>'select',
'label'=>'Leaf',
'options'=>$leafs,
'value'=>2
));

This will select default second index position value from list of option in $leafs.

Answer 3

the third parameter should be like array('selected' =>value)

Answer 4

cakephp version >= 3.6

echo $this->Form->control('field_name', ['type' => 'select', 'options' => $departments, 'default' => 'your value']);