Adding dynamic ajax fields

Question

I am trying to add new fields based on the select list. I am using the following code

function my_action_plan_from($form, &$form_state) {
  $form['#tree'] = TRUE;
  $result = db_query('Select * from my_action_plan_settings ORDER BY action_type');
  $records = array();
  $i = 0;
  foreach ($result as  $record) {
    $action_lists = array_merge($records, preg_split('/[\r\n]+/', trim($record->point_of_action), -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY));

    $form[$action_name] = array(      
      '#type' => 'select',
      '#options' => $action_lists,
      '#attributes' => array('class' => array('enabled-for-ajax')),
      '#ajax' => array(
        'callback' => 'get_next_steps',
        'wrapper' => 'item-action-'. $record->action_id,
        'method' => 'append',
      ),
    );

  }

  $form['submit'] = array(
    '#type' => 'submit',
    '#value' => 'Save',
  );

  return $form;
}

function get_next_steps($form, &$form_state) {
      $newform['date'] = array(
        '#type' => 'textfield',
        '#size' => 20,
      );
      $newform['note'] = array(
        '#type' => 'textarea',
      );

      $newform['percent'] = array(
        '#type' => 'textfield',
      );
      return $newform;
}

It works fine with adding new fields based on selection, but the problem is the new fields added does not appear in $form_state. The values does not get submitted to submit handler, am i doing something wrong?

* MODIFIED CODE *

Maybe i was wrong at explaining, sorry, i have posted the modified code and yes i am creating the form in my_action_plan_form(). I am not trying to use $form_state for a permanent store, I was using it to create new fields in my_action_plan() but the problem is if i set a value $form_state['storage'] = "foobar" in get_next_step(), the value is not passed to my_action_plan(). $form_state['storage'] becomes empty in my_action_plan().

function my_action_plan_form($form, &$form_state) {

  $form['#tree'] = TRUE;

  $trigger_element = !empty($form_state['triggering_element']['#name']) ? $form_state['triggering_element']['#name'] : FALSE;

  foreach ($result as  $record) {
    $action_lists = array_merge($records, preg_split('/[\r\n]+/', trim($record->point_of_action), -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY));
    $action_name = "action_name_" . $record->action_id;

    $form[$action_name] = array(        
      '#type' => 'fieldset',
    );

    if (empty($form_state['my_action_plan'][$action_name])) {
      $form_state['my_action_plan'][$action_name] = array();
    }

    if($trigger_element && $trigger_element == $record->action_id ) {
      if(!array_search($form_state['triggering_element']['#value'], $form_state['my_action_plan'][$action_name])) {
        $form_state['my_action_plan'][$action_name][] = $form_state['triggering_element']['#value'];
      }
    }


    $form[$action_name]['select'] = array(
      '#type' => 'select',
      '#options' => $action_lists,
      '#attributes' => array('class' => array('enabled-for-ajax')),
      '#ajax' => array(
        'callback' => 'get_next_steps',
        'wrapper' => $action_name . "-id",
      ),
    );

    if(count($form_state['my_action_plan'][$action_name]) > 0) {

        for ($i=0; $i < count($form_state['my_action_plan'][$action_name]); $i++) {

            $option = $form_state['my_action_plan'][$action_name][$i];

            $form[$action_name][$option] = array(
              '#type' => 'fieldset',
            );

            $form[$action_name][$option]['date'] = array(
              '#type' => 'textfield',
              '#size' => 20,
            );

            $form[$action_name][$option]['note'] = array(              
              '#type' => 'textarea',
            );

            $form[$action_name][$option]['percentage'] = array(
              '#type' => 'textfield',              
            );

            $submit_id = $action_name . '-' . $option . '-submit';
            $form[$action_name][$option]['submit'] = array(
              '#type' => 'fieldset',
            );

            $form[$action_name][$option]['submit'] = array(
              '#type' => 'fieldset',
            );

            $form[$action_name][$option]['submit']['value'] = array(
               '#type' => 'button',
              '#value' => 'Save ',
              '#ajax' => array(
                 'callback' => 'save_step',
                 'wrapper' => $submit_id,
              ),
            );
      }
  }

  return $form;
}

function get_next_steps($form, &$form_state) {
    return $form[$form_state['triggering_element']['#parents'][0]];
}

Please help

Deepak

Answer 1

You should create all the form elements in my_action_plan_form().

Use ajax callback function only to change some form elements values.

Example:

/**
 * My action plan form.
 */
function my_action_plan_form($form, &$form_state) {

  $form['#tree'] = TRUE;

  // some basic form elements
  // ...

  // set the variable to determine 
  // whether the new form elements should be created or not.
  if (empty($form_state['new_form'])) {
    $form_state['new_form'] = FALSE;
  }

  // create new form elements
  if ($form_state['new_form']) {

    $form['date'] = array(
      '#type' => 'textfield',
      '#size' => 20,
    );

    $form['note'] = array(
      '#type' => 'textarea',
    );

    $form['percent'] = array(
      '#type' => 'textfield',
    );
  } 

  $form['submit'] = array(
    '#type' => 'submit',
    '#value' => 'Save',
  );

  return $form;
}

/**
 * Ajax callback.
 * It's only to determine what part of the form should be returned. 
 * It allows making one-time changes, but is useless for permanent ones.
 */
function get_next_steps($form, &$form_state) {
  $form_state['new_form'] = TRUE;
  $form_state['rebuild'] = TRUE;
}