silverstripe-framework/docs/en/howto/dynamic-default-fields.md
2012-06-28 14:49:55 +02:00

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# Dynamic Default Values
The [api:DataObject::$defaults] array allows you to specify simple static values to be the default value for when a
record is created, but in many situations default values needs to be dynamically calculated. In order to do this, the
`[api:DataObject->populateDefaults()]` method will need to be overloaded.
This method is called whenever a new record is instantiated, and you must be sure to call the method on the parent
object!
A simple example is to set a field to the current date and time:
:::php
/**
* Sets the Date field to the current date.
*/
public function populateDefaults() {
$this->Date = date('Y-m-d');
parent::populateDefaults();
}
It's also possible to get the data from any other source, or another object, just by using the usual data retrieval
methods. For example:
:::php
/**
* This method combines the Title of the parent object with the Title of this
* object in the FullTitle field.
*/
public function populateDefaults() {
if($parent = $this->Parent()) {
$this->FullTitle = $parent->Title . ': ' . $this->Title;
} else {
$this->FullTitle = $this->Title;
}
parent::populateDefaults();
}