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Redirecting users based on form inputs is a common requirement in web applications, enabling dynamic navigation and personalized experiences.

CodeIgniter 4, a robust PHP framework, offers seamless methods to process form inputs and redirect users to specific routes or pages based on their submitted data. In this tutorial, we’ll see the process of redirection with form inputs in CodeIgniter 4.

Let’s get started.

CodeIgniter 4 Installation

To create a CodeIgniter 4 setup run this given command into your shell or terminal. Please make sure composer should be installed.

composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter codeigniter-4

Assuming you have successfully installed application into your local system.

Environment (.env) Setup

When we install CodeIgniter 4, we will have env file at root. To use the environment variables means using variables at global scope we need to do env to .env

Either we can do via renaming file as simple as that. Also we can do by terminal command.

Open project in terminal

cp env .env

Above command will create a copy of env file to .env file. Now we are ready to use environment variables.

Enable Development Mode

CodeIgniter starts up in production mode by default. You need to make it in development mode to see any error if you are working with application.

Open .env file from root.

# CI_ENVIRONMENT = production

 // Do it to 
 
CI_ENVIRONMENT = development

Now application is in development mode.

Create Database

To create a database, either we can create via Manual tool of PhpMyadmin or by means of a mysql command.

We will use MySQL command to create database. Run this command into Sql tab of PhpMyAdmin.

CREATE DATABASE codeigniter4_app;

Successfully, we have created a database.

Database Connection

Open .env file from project root.

Search for DATABASE. You should see the connection environment variables into it. Put your updated details of database connection string values.

 
#--------------------------------------------------------------------
# DATABASE
#--------------------------------------------------------------------

database.default.hostname = localhost
database.default.database = codeigniter4_app
database.default.username = admin
database.default.password = admin
database.default.DBDriver = MySQLi
database.default.DBPrefix =
database.default.port = 3306

Now, database successfully connected with the application.

Create Migration

Open project into terminal and run this command to create migration file.

php spark make:migration add_blogs

It will create a file –

Migration file – xxx_AddBlogs.php inside /app/Database/Migrations folder.

Open Migration file and write this complete code into it.

<?php

namespace App\Database\Migrations;

use CodeIgniter\Database\Migration;

class AddBlogs extends Migration
{
	public function up()
	{
		$this->forge->addField([
			'id' => [
				'type' => 'INT',
				'constraint' => 5,
				'unsigned' => true,
				'auto_increment' => true,
			],
			'title' => [
				'type' => 'VARCHAR',
				'constraint' => 50,
				'null' => false
			],
			'author_name' => [
				'type' => 'VARCHAR',
				'constraint' => 150,
				'null' => false
			],
			'description' => [
				'type' => 'TEXT',
				'null' => true
			]
		]);
		$this->forge->addPrimaryKey('id');
		$this->forge->createTable('blogs');
	}

	public function down()
	{
		$this->forge->dropTable('blogs');
	}
}

Next,

Run Migration

We need to create table inside database.

php spark migrate

This command will create table – blogs inside database.

Next,

Create Model & Controller

We need to create a model and a controller file.

Model File

php spark make:model Blog

It will create a model Blog.php inside /app/Models folder.

Open file and write this complete code into it.

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use CodeIgniter\Model;

class Blog extends Model
{
	protected $DBGroup              = 'default';
	protected $table                = 'blogs';
	protected $primaryKey           = 'id';
	protected $useAutoIncrement     = true;
	protected $insertID             = 0;
	protected $returnType           = 'array';
	protected $useSoftDelete        = false;
	protected $protectFields        = true;
	protected $allowedFields        = [
		"title",
		"author_name",
		"description"
	];

	// Dates
	protected $useTimestamps        = false;
	protected $dateFormat           = 'datetime';
	protected $createdField         = 'created_at';
	protected $updatedField         = 'updated_at';
	protected $deletedField         = 'deleted_at';

	// Validation
	protected $validationRules      = [];
	protected $validationMessages   = [];
	protected $skipValidation       = false;
	protected $cleanValidationRules = true;

	// Callbacks
	protected $allowCallbacks       = true;
	protected $beforeInsert         = [];
	protected $afterInsert          = [];
	protected $beforeUpdate         = [];
	protected $afterUpdate          = [];
	protected $beforeFind           = [];
	protected $afterFind            = [];
	protected $beforeDelete         = [];
	protected $afterDelete          = [];
}

Controller File

To create a controller, run this command.

php spark make:controller BlogController

It will create BlogController.php inside /app/Controllers folder.

Open file and write this complete code into it.

<?php

namespace App\Controllers;

use App\Controllers\BaseController;
use App\Models\Blog;

class BlogController extends BaseController
{
	public function index()
	{
		return view('blog-form');
	}

	public function submitData()
	{
		$input = $this->request->getVar();

		$blogObject = new Blog();

		$data = [
			'title' => $input['title'],
			'author_name'    => $input['author_name'],
			'description' => $input['description']
		];

		$blogObject->insert($data);

		return redirect()->to('form')->with('success', 'Data saved successfully')->withInput(); 
	}
}

Create Template File

Go to /app/Views folder and create a file with name blog-form.php

Open blog-form.php and write this complete code into it.

<html lang="en">

<head>
    <link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0-beta/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
</head>

<body>
    <div class="container" style="margin-top: 20px;">
        <div class="row">
            <div class="col-md-12">
                <?php if (session()->getFlashdata('success')) { ?>
                    <div class="alert alert-success">
                        <?php echo session()->getFlashdata('success'); ?>
                    </div>
                <?php } ?>

                <h4 class="text-center">CodeIgniter 4 Redirection with Form Inputs Example Tutorial</h4><br>
                <form method="post" action="<?php echo site_url('submit-data') ?>" class="form form-horizontal">
                    <div class="form-group">
                        <label>Title</label>
                        <input type="text" name="title" class="form-control" value="<?php echo old('title'); ?>"/>
                    </div>
                    <div class="form-group">
                        <label>Description</label>
                        <textarea class="form-control" id="description-ckeditor" name="description"> <?php echo old('description'); ?></textarea>
                    </div>
                    <div class="form-group">
                        <label>Author Name</label>
                        <input type="text" name="author_name" class="form-control" value="<?php echo old('author_name'); ?>"/>
                    </div>
                    <div class="form-group">
                        <input type="submit" value="Submit" class="btn btn-primary" />
                    </div>
                </form>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.2.1.min.js"></script>
    <script src="https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.15.1/standard/ckeditor.js"></script>
    <script>
        CKEDITOR.replace('description-ckeditor');
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Add Route

Open Routes.php from /app/Config folder and add these routes into it.

//...

$routes->get("form", "BlogController::index");
$routes->post("submit-data", "BlogController::submitData");

//...

Application Testing

Open project terminal and start development server via command:

php spark serve

URL: http://localhost:8080/form

Provide input values into form

Click on Submit button to save form data

You can see, form redirects back after submission but with inputs.

You should see data saved inside blogs table.

That’s it.

We hope this article helped you to learn CodeIgniter 4 Redirection with Form Inputs Example Tutorial in a very detailed way.

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