How to set a value for a date field?

Question

I need to set a value for a date field with type datetime in hook_form_alter. I tried with below codes. But it is not working.

$form["field_event_date"]["und"][0]['#default_value']['value'] = $new_date;
$form_state['values']['field_event_date']['und'][0]['value']['date'] = $new_date;
$form['field_event_date'][LANGUAGE_NONE][0]['#default_value']['value'] = $new_date;

This $new_date will be a value from another field in this form and it should be in '2014-09-23 00:00:00' format. And 'field_event_date' will be a hidden field.

I can save the value to this field using the node_presave function. Please see the below code. If anyone trying to save a value to a date field with a static value, you can use this method.

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

But in my case, I need to get the value from a field that defined in the form alter. And need to set this value to the field_event_date. Can anyone help me on this? Is there any way to get a custom field value in node_presave function?

Answer 1

To set a value to a date field follow below codes.

Using hook_form_alter

$form["field_event_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_event_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_event_date['und'][0]['value'] =  $test_date ;
   }
}

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

Answer 2

It depends upon the format you are providing to save the date, whether it is unix or formatted date. Pick one already saved node using node_load($nid) in your form_alter function or in some other testing page and check the format the data is saved.

    $nodesaved = node_load($nid); //e.g. $nid = 10
    echo "<pre>";
    print_r($nodesaved);
die;

Now pass the same format statically and then make it dynamic. I think issue is with the format you are providing. Usually it is in unix, it converts automatically in the display

Hope it will help!

Answer 3

I got it worked using hook_node_submit function. Let test_date is a custom select field that list dates and this is defined in hook_form_alter. And to set and save the value from this date field to another field field_event_date(defined in field base and instance). Please follow 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_event_date['und'][0]['value'] =  $test_date ;
   }
}