Set value for date field in hook_form_alter

Question

How can I set the default date for a date field in hook_form_alter().?

I tried:

$form["field_price_date"]["und"][0]['value']['#default_value'] = $curDate;
$form["field_price_date"]["und"][0]['value']['date']['#default_value'] = $curDate;
$form["field_price_date"]["und"][0]['value']['date'] = $curDate;           
$form["field_price_date"]["und"][0]['value'] = $curDate;

None of the above work.

Answer 1

The date field's a funny one, normally the field column name is the last in the array (like the first example you tried), and the default value is set on that.

For a date field though, the default value is an array, and it's one level further up, e.g.:

$form["field_price_date"]["und"][0]['#default_value']['value'] = $curDate;

For future reference, install the Devel module and use the dpm() function to print a breakdown of the form array to the screen (dpm($form);). It makes debugging this kind of thing so much easier.

Answer 2

On Drupal 8, here's an example to set a specific date time field value in a hook form alter :

use Drupal\Core\Datetime\DrupalDateTime;
use Drupal\Core\Form\FormStateInterface;  

/**
 * Implements hook_form_alter().
 */
function my_module_form_alter(&$form, FormStateInterface &$form_state, $form_id) {
  $date = strtotime(date('Y-m-d 00:00:00'));
  $form['field_datetime']['widget'][0]['value']['#default_value'] = DrupalDateTime::createFromTimestamp($date);
}

Answer 3

I was inspired by this response to try the Devel module to solve a similar problem. I tried it and it worked. I posted detailed instructions on how to obtain the field array structure for a field in order to modify it using hook_form_alter here: https://drupal.org/node/1243628#comment-7777329

I hope this helps someone the way the Devel module suggestion helped me.

Answer 4

This is the function I use to print the structure:

// Custom print for testing purposes
function prnt($element){
  print "<pre>";
  print_r($element);
  print "</pre>";
}

Answer 5

Please see below methods to set a value to a date field

Using hook_form_alter

$form["field_price_date"]["und"][0]['#default_value']['value'] = $new_date;

Using hook_node_submit or hook_node_presave (Saving the value to the database)

function MY_MODULE_node_presave($node) 
  {
      $node->field_price_date['und'][0]['value'] =  '2014-09-23 00:00:00';
  }

Or if you need to save value of one custom field(defined in hook_form_alter) to another, see below codes.

function MY_MODULE_node_submit($node, $form, &$form_state) {
  if($node->type == 'my_node_type') {
    $test_date =  $form['test_date ']['#value'];
    //Ensure that $test_date format is '2014-09-23 00:00:00'
    $node->field_price_date['und'][0]['value'] =  $test_date ;
   }
}

I think it may help anyone who is searching for the solution.