Using hook_form_alter to set default values for multiple-value CCK fields

Question

I was previously using the Default Value PHP field in the CCK Field Properties page to define multi-value default which was working fine. However the code is now getting so complex and I need to pass arguments to it that developing it within the CMS is becoming unfeasible, so I'd like to move the functionality out to a custom module.

I'm successfully using hook_form_alter to set defaults for single value CCK fields, so this isn't a problem. What I'm curious about is that when $form is passed to hook_form_alter, only the first element (0 or $form['field_myfield'][0]) exists, whilst I need to have from 0 to x default values.

Is the best practice simply to clone element 0 for as many default values as I need? Or is there another hook I should be using to set the initial number of empty fields before setting the defaults or something else I'm not thinking of?

Thanks :D

Answer 1

I think you may need to use #after_build, to ensure that your alter code runs after CCK has completely built the form element. Try something like this

function mymodule_form_alter(&$form, &$form_state, $form_id) {
  $form['field_myfield']['#after_build'][] = 'mymodule_after_build';
}

function mymodule_after_build(&$form_element, &$form_state) {
  // Have a look at the element with devel's dsm
  dsm($form_element);

  // Code to adjust your form element here...

  return $form_element;
}

I'm not 100% on the above syntax. I'd sugest you have a look at this article entitled hook_form_alter() and CCK fields