Class: SForm_Element

A tag is empty if it can't contain elements. Examples of empty tags include '<input />' and '<img />'. Non-empty tags include '<form>' and '<fieldset>'.

This points to some subclass of SForm_Container. It is set in SForm_Container::addElement().

Validated elements have a finished $errors array and will not be validated again.

All available options are pre-set in the $options array, so we will be avoiding some frusteration if we throw an error on a bad option selection. Otherwise, we could think that we are retrieving a null value, but we have just misspelled the index.

$id is the Local ID of this element, and is similar to its name. If none is supplied, one will be created. The Local ID is different than the 'id' attribute that appears in the rendered form. The id attribute is referred to as the Global ID, and is the concatenation of the parent's Global ID, a colon, and this Local ID. The ID must contain only chars acceptable in the ID SGML token for the resulting page to be valid.

The $label is the the short string that describes this element. If it is rendered as HTML, it will automatically be enclosed in '<label>' tags which referr to the Global ID of this element. If enabled, an appropriate access key will also be found for this element. The access key will be rendered with '<span class="ak">' and '</span>' tags surrounding it. If you wish to communicate with your users that this access key may be used to access this field, I suggest that you use CSS like: '.ak{text- decoration:underline;}'.

Any additonal $attributes may be added and will be displayed when the element is rendered as HTML.

Filters a value that is about to be returned from getValue().

The Global ID is a page-unique id which is a concatination of the parent's Global ID, a colon, and the Local ID. This is done so that element groups can be nested arbitrarily deeply with non-uniqe IDs (ex: an array: '0','1','2'...).

The Global ID is used as the 'id' HTML attribute and is typically also used as the 'name' attribute.

The Global ID cannot be determined until the element is "rooted" to a SForm object.

Generates the marked up 'label' tag. This includes the 'for' attribute, which links this label to the appropriate form element. The label allows software (and the people who use it) to understand the layout of your form without being able to view it. If the element is required, the value of option 'requiredSym' is appended to the beginning of the label.

If requested, an access key is generated, and added to the tag. The access key links this label to a specific element. Not only does an access key make the page more friendly for people with motor disabilities, it will now be easier to quickly navigate the fields in your form for data entry.

Access keys can be enabled, set, or disabled via the passed parameters. By default, $ak is true and an access key is generated. If a char is passed, that char is used as the access key and the label is marked up approriately. If false is passed, no access key is used.

This is here to be overridden as needed by subclasses to add any rules, filters, and values immidiately before they are locked. Remember to check if it's already locked first, because an element may be locked more than once.

This sets the current value of the element, overriding any current value.

Creates a HTML tag appropriate to input a value for this element. At minimum, 'id' and 'name' attributes are included. Additonal attributes can be added via the methods appropriate for the element. Custom attributes can be added via setAttribute().

If this element is frozen, the string representation is returned instead of an input field.

Locks the rules and iterates through them to produce a JavaScript string appropriate to be run on submission of the form.