View source for JModelForm/getForm

===Description===
Method to get a form object.





===Syntax===
<source lang="php">getForm($xml, $name= 'form', $options=array(), $clear=false)</source>

 {| class="wikitable"
|-
!Parameter Name
!Default Value
!Description
|-
| $xml
| 
|  $xml The form data. Can be XML string if file flag is set to false. 
|-
| $name
| 'form'
|  $options Optional array of parameters. 
|-
| $options
| array()
|  $clear Optional argument to force load a new form. 
|-
| $clear
| false
|  
|}

===Returns===
mixed  object on success, False on error. 

===Defined in===
libraries/joomla/application/component/modelform.php
===Importing===
<source lang="php">jimport( 'joomla.application.component.modelform' );</source>

===Source Body===
<source lang="php">
function getForm($xml, $name = 'form', $options = array(), $clear = false)
{
        // Handle the optional arguments.
        $options['array']       = array_key_exists('array',     $options) ? $options['array'] : false;
        $options['file']        = array_key_exists('file',      $options) ? $options['file']  : true;
        $options['event']       = array_key_exists('event',     $options) ? $options['event'] : null;
        $options['group']       = array_key_exists('group',     $options) ? $options['group'] : null;

        // Create a signature hash.
        $hash = md5($xml.serialize($options));

        // Check if we can use a previously loaded form.
        if (isset($this->_forms[$hash]) && !$clear) {
                return $this->_forms[$hash];
        }

        // Get the form.
        jimport('joomla.form.form');
        JForm::addFormPath(JPATH_COMPONENT.DS.'models'.DS.'forms');
        JForm::addFieldPath(JPATH_COMPONENT.'/models/fields');
        $form = &JForm::getInstance($xml, $name, $options['file'], $options);

        // Check for an error.
        if (JError::isError($form))
        {
                $this->setError($form->getMessage());
                $false = false;
                return $form;
        }

        // Look for an event to fire.
        if ($options['event'] !== null)
        {
                // Get the dispatcher.
                $dispatcher     = &JDispatcher::getInstance();

                // Load an optional plugin group.
                if ($options['group'] !== null) {
                        JPluginHelper::importPlugin($options['group']);
                }

                // Trigger the form preparation event.
                $results = $dispatcher->trigger($options['event'], array($form->getName(), $form));

                // Check for errors encountered while preparing the form.
                if (count($results) && in_array(false, $results, true))
                {
                        // Get the last error.
                        $error = $dispatcher->getError();

                        // Convert to a JException if necessary.
                        if (!JError::isError($error)) {
                                $error = new JException($error, 500);
                        }

                        return $error;
                }
        }

        // Store the form for later.
        $this->_forms[$hash] = $form;

        return $form;
}
</source>




===Examples===
=== Code Examples ===
<dpl>
 noresultsheader=\n
 category=getForm
 category=JModelForm
 namespace=CodeExample
 category=MethodExample
 include=*
 format= ,,,
</dpl>