Reusable forms

Start with ordinary controls. Extract the part that repeats:

What repeats?	Use
One field's settings	A FieldConfig.
Markup and classes	A PHP element or theme.
A set of fields	A form blueprint.

Keep local configuration inline

Inside an open form:

echo $form->control('email')
    ->type('email')
    ->required();

If several fields need those same settings, define a preset instead:

use FormCompose\Configuration\FieldConfig;

$email = FieldConfig::builder()
    ->type('email')
    ->required();

echo $form->control('email', config: $email);
echo $form->control('billing.email', config: $email)->label('Billing email');

Configs are immutable: deriving a new config leaves the preset unchanged. See field configuration for named arguments and combining presets.

Extract a reusable form

A blueprint declares a collection once, then renders it wherever needed:

echo $this->Form
    ->form($article)
    ->blueprint('article')
    ->submit('Save article');

The blueprint guide defines article and shows both automatic rendering and a manual view. Validation and saving continue through your existing CakePHP application.

Use blueprint defaults with a manual layout

Select the blueprint before bind(), then use the session's open(), control(), and close() calls. Follow the manual-view example.

For several independent sections, combine blueprints. For related records, use nested blueprints or repeated rows.