How to access / modify custom form fields values

Question

I was able to create dynamically the form fields by retrieving them from the database by using this as a guide:

How can I dynamically generate a form's XML from PHP?

I just want to know on how get and set values for the custom fields?

also, I want to convert them to JSON format to store in a database field.

Here is my current situation:

My requirement is to make a form dynamic as possible by means of:

Adding custom fields to the edit form depending on the set-up on the back-end: - On the back end, I have a Reports Table, and then I have a Fields table which has a foreign key associated with Reports. Every time I add an item in the Fields table, i have a toggle column to indicate whether that Field I added will be added as a custom field when choosing a report.

If example I have a Regions field as a line item to a report, when I select the report, I will need to add the custom Regions field as an additional selection.

Answer 1

how can I access these fields in my loadFormData() function?

Actually loadFormData() is used to get the data for the form, but not the form by itself. Why do you need access your custom fields in this method?

how can I modify the values of the custom fields before saving? I want to convert them to JSON format to store in a database field.

At the top of the file include Registry class:

use Joomla\Registry\Registry;

Then in your save() function:

if (isset($data['custom_field']))
{
    $registry = new Registry;
    $registry->loadArray($array['custom_field']);
    $data['custom_field'] = (string) $registry;
}

Where $data is your input data. See my answer to the same question here.

Answer 2

I was now able to access my created custom fields after creating them in my loadForm function by using this code:

JFactory::getApplication()->input->get('jform', array(), 'array');