How to implement a simple Registration Form with MongoDB

The simple User model

So, in this tutorial we begin with the model for a User document:

// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Document/User.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Document;

use Doctrine\ODM\MongoDB\Mapping\Annotations as MongoDB;
use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;
use Doctrine\Bundle\MongoDBBundle\Validator\Constraints\Unique as MongoDBUnique;

/**
 * @MongoDB\Document(collection="users")
 * @MongoDBUnique(fields="email")
 */
class User
{
    /**
     * @MongoDB\Id
     */
    protected $id;

    /**
     * @MongoDB\Field(type="string")
     * @Assert\NotBlank()
     * @Assert\Email()
     */
    protected $email;

    /**
     * @MongoDB\Field(type="string")
     * @Assert\NotBlank()
     */
    protected $password;

    public function getId()
    {
        return $this->id;
    }

    public function getEmail()
    {
        return $this->email;
    }

    public function setEmail($email)
    {
        $this->email = $email;
    }

    public function getPassword()
    {
        return $this->password;
    }

    // stupid simple encryption (please don't copy it!)
    public function setPassword($password)
    {
        $this->password = sha1($password);
    }
}

This User document contains three fields and two of them (email and password) should display on the form. The email property must be unique on the database, so we've added this validation at the top of the class.

Create a Form for the Model

Next, create the form for the User model:

// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Form/Type/UserType.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Type;

use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\Extension\Core\Type\EmailType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\Extension\Core\Type\PasswordType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\Extension\Core\Type\RepeatedType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolver;
use Acme\AccountBundle\Document\User;

class UserType extends AbstractType
{
    public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
    {
        $builder->add('email', EmailType::class);
        $builder->add('password', RepeatedType::class, array(
           'first_name' => 'password',
           'second_name' => 'confirm',
           'type' => PasswordType::class
        ));
    }

    public function configureOptions(OptionsResolver $resolver)
    {
        $resolver->setDefaults(array(
            'data_class' => User::class,
        ));
    }
}

We just added two fields: email and password (repeated to confirm the entered password). The data_class option tells the form the name of data class (i.e. your User document).

Embedding the User form into a Registration Form

The form that you'll use for the registration page is not the same as the form for used to simply modify the User (i.e. UserType). The registration form will contain further fields like accept the terms, whose value is won't be stored into database.

In other words, create a second form for registration, which embeds the User form and adds the extra field needed. Start by creating a simple class which represents the registration:

// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Form/Model/Registration.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Model;

use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

use Acme\AccountBundle\Document\User;

class Registration
{
    /**
     * @Assert\Type(type="Acme\AccountBundle\Document\User")
     */
    protected $user;

    /**
     * @Assert\NotBlank()
     * @Assert\True()
     */
    protected $termsAccepted;

    public function setUser(User $user)
    {
        $this->user = $user;
    }

    public function getUser()
    {
        return $this->user;
    }

    public function getTermsAccepted()
    {
        return $this->termsAccepted;
    }

    public function setTermsAccepted($termsAccepted)
    {
        $this->termsAccepted = (boolean)$termsAccepted;
    }
}

Next, create the form for this Registration model:

// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Form/Type/RegistrationType.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Type;

use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\Extension\Core\Type\RepeatedType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;

class RegistrationType extends AbstractType
{
    public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
    {
        $builder->add('user', new UserType());
        $builder->add('terms', 'checkbox', array('property_path' => 'termsAccepted'));
    }

    public function getName()
    {
        return 'registration';
    }
}

You don't need to use special method for embedding the UserType form. A form is a field, too - so you can add this like any other field, with the expectation that the corresponding user property will hold an instance of the class UserType.

Handling the Form Submission

Next, you need a controller to handle the form. Start by creating a simple controller for displaying the registration form:

// src/Acme/AccountBundle/Controller/AccountController.php
namespace Acme\AccountBundle\Controller;

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\Controller;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;

use Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Type\RegistrationType;
use Acme\AccountBundle\Form\Model\Registration;

class AccountController extends Controller
{
    public function registerAction()
    {
        $form = $this->createForm(new RegistrationType(), new Registration());

        return $this->render('AcmeAccountBundle:Account:register.html.twig', array('form' => $form->createView()));
    }
}

and its template:

1
{# src/Acme/AccountBundle/Resources/views/Account/register.html.twig #}

<form action="{{ path('create')}}" method="post" {{ form_enctype(form) }}>
    {{ form_widget(form) }}

    <input type="submit" />
</form>
2
3
4
5
6
7

Finally, create the controller which handles the form submission. This performs the validation and saves the data into MongoDB:

public function createAction()
{
    $dm = $this->get('doctrine_mongodb')->getManager();

    $form = $this->createForm(new RegistrationType(), new Registration());

    $form->bindRequest($this->getRequest());

    if ($form->isValid()) {
        $registration = $form->getData();

        $dm->persist($registration->getUser());
        $dm->flush();

        return $this->redirect(...);
    }

    return $this->render('AcmeAccountBundle:Account:register.html.twig', array('form' => $form->createView()));
}

That's it! Your form now validates, and allows you to save the User object to MongoDB.