How do I add an unbound field to a form in Symfony which is otherwise bound to an entity?

Question

Maybe I'm missing the obvious but how do I (or can I) add an extra "unbound" field to a Symfony form that is otherwise bound to an entity? Let's say I have an entity with fields `first_name` and `last_name`. I do the typical thing in my form class `buildForm` method. ``` $builder ->add('first_name') ->add('last_name') ; ``` and this in my controller: ``` $editForm = $this->createForm(new MyType(), $entity); ``` That works nicely but I'd like to add another text box, let's call it "extra", and receive the value in the POST action. If I do `$builder->add('extra')‍`, it complains that NoSuchPropertyException in PropertyAccessor.php line 479: Neither the property "extra" nor one of the methods "getExtra()", "extra()", "isExtra()", "hasExtra()", "__get()" exist and have public access in class... Which is correct. I just want to use it to collect some extra info from the user and do something with it other than storing it with the entity. I know how to make a completely standalone form but…

Accepted Answer

In your form add a text field with a false property_path:

```
$builder->add('extra', 'text', array('property_path' => false));
```

You can then access the data in your controller:

```
$extra = $form->get('extra')->getData();
```

UPDATE

The new way since Symfony 2.1 is to use the `mapped` option and set that to `false`.

`->add('extra', null, array('mapped' => false))`

Credits for the update info to Henrik Bjørnskov ( comment below )

How do I add an unbound field to a form in Symfony which is otherwise bound to an entity?

Solution

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