starting of a form class

form.class.php

<?php
//I hate typing in htmlspecialchars() all the time
function h($var) {
	return htmlspecialchars($var);
}
//cake's inflector class
require_once('inflector.class.php');
class form {
	/**
	 * Contains the form as a string
	 * @var string
	 */
	protected $form = '';
	/**
	 * Is the form open already?
	 * @var bool
	 */
	private $open = false;
	/**
	 * Will the form elements be printed out to the screen as you go or stored as a string for later?
	 * @var bool
	 */
	private $echo;
	/**
	 * The form method
	 * @var string post or get
	 */
	private $method;
	/**
	 * Automatically add labels to the form elements
	 * @var bool
	 */
	private $label;
	/**
	 *
	 * @var Inflector
	 */
	private $inflector;
	/**
	 *
	 * @param bool $echo Will the form elements be echoed out as you make them, or will they be stored for output later?
	 * @param bool $label 
	 */
	function __construct($echo = true, $label=true) {
		$this->inflector = new Inflector();
		$this->echo = $echo;
		$this->label = $label;
	}
	/**
	 * Print out the form
	 * @return string
	 */
	public function  __toString() {
		return $this->form;
	}
	/**
	 * Get the form as a string
	 * @return string
	 */
	public function getString(){
		if($this->echo){
			throw new Exception('You cannot get the form this way unless you set $echo to false in the constructor.');
		}
		return $this->form;
	}
	/**
	 * Get a $_POST variable
	 * @var string $var
	 */
	protected function post($var) {
		return array_key_exists($var, $_POST)? $_POST[$var]:null;
	}
	/**
	 * Get a $_GET variable
	 * @var string $var
	 */
	protected function get($var) {
		return array_key_exists($var, $_GET)? $_GET[$var]:null;
	}
	/**
	 * Clear the values in the form
	 */
	public function clear() {
		$this->form = '';
	}
	/**
	 * Create an open form tag
	 * @param string $action where this form will be submitting to (default the current page $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']
	 * @param string $method the form method (post or get, default get)
	 * @param array $attributes an array of attributes that you will be adding to the element (default empty)
	 */
	public function open($action='', $method='get', array $attributes = array()) {
		if($this->open) {
			throw new Exception("The form is already open.");
		}
		if(!$action) {
			$action = $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];
		}
		$this->method = strtolower($method);
		$this->open = true;
		$form = '<form action="'.h($action).'" method="'.h($method).'" ';
		$form .= $this->getAttributes($attributes);
		$form .= ' >';
		$this->returnElement($form);
	}
	/**
	 * Close the current form
	 */
	public function close() {
		if(!$this->open){
			throw new Exception('The form is not open.');
		}
		$this->returnElement('</form>');
	}
	/**
	 * Add a text input box to your form
	 * @param string $name The name of the element
	 * @param string $value The default value the element will have (the post or get variable will be used if the form returns here)
	 * @param string $id The id of the element (will use the name of the element if not specified)
	 * @param string $label The label for the element, will only be used if $label is true in the constructor (will default to a humanized version of the name if you do not enter it)
	 * @param array $attributes an array of attributes that you will be adding to the element (default empty)
	 */
	public function text($name, $value='', $id='', $label='', array $attributes = array()) {
		if(!$id) {
			$id = $name;
		}
		if(!$label) {
			$label = $this->inflector->humanize($name);
		}
		if(strpos($label, ':') === false) {
			$label .= ':';
		}

		unset($attributes['name']);
		unset($attributes['value']);
		unset($attributes['id']);

		$value = ($this->{$this->method}($name))? $_POST[$name]:$value;
		$form = '';
		if($this->label) {
			$form .= $this->generateLabel($label, $id);
		}
		$form .= '<input type="text" name="'.h($name).'" id="'.h($id).'" value="'.h($value).'" ';
		$form .= $this->getAttributes($attributes);
		$form .= ' />';
		$this->returnElement($form);
	}
	/**
	 * Add a password input box to your form
	 * @param string $name The name of the element
	 * @param string $id The id of the element (will use the name of the element if not specified)
	 * @param string $label The label for the element, will only be used if $label is true in the constructor (will default to a humanized version of the name if you do not enter it)
	 * @param array $attributes an array of attributes that you will be adding to the element (default empty)
	 */
	public function password($name, $id='', $label='', array $attributes = array()) {
		if(!$id) {
			$id = $name;
		}
		if(!$label) {
			$label = $this->inflector->humanize($name);
		}
		if(strpos($label, ':') === false) {
			$label .= ':';
		}

		unset($attributes['name']);
		unset($attributes['value']);
		unset($attributes['id']);
		unset($attributes['autocomplete']);

		$form = '';
		if($this->label) {
			$form .= $this->generateLabel($label, $id);
		}
		$form .= '<input type="password" name="'.h($name).'" id="'.h($id).'" ';
		$form .= $this->getAttributes($attributes);
		$form .= ' />';
		$this->returnElement($form);
	}
	/**
	 * Add a credit card input box to your form, automatically has the attribute autocomplete="off"
	 * @link http://www.petefreitag.com/item/481.cfm
	 * @param string $name The name of the element
	 * @param string $id The id of the element (will use the name of the element if not specified)
	 * @param string $label The label for the element, will only be used if $label is true in the constructor (will default to a humanized version of the name if you do not enter it)
	 * @param array $attributes an array of attributes that you will be adding to the element (default empty)
	 */
	public function creditCard($name, $id='', $label='', array $attributes = array()) {
		if(!$id) {
			$id = $name;
		}
		if(!$label) {
			$label = $this->inflector->humanize($name);
		}
		if(strpos($label, ':') === false) {
			$label .= ':';
		}

		unset($attributes['name']);
		unset($attributes['value']);
		unset($attributes['id']);
		unset($attributes['autocomplete']);

		$form = '';
		if($this->label) {
			$form .= $this->generateLabel($label, $id);
		}
		$form .= '<input type="text" autocomplete="off" name="'.h($name).'" id="'.h($id).'" ';
		$form .= $this->getAttributes($attributes);
		$form .= ' />';
		$this->returnElement($form);
	}
	/**
	 * Add a credit card validation input box to your form, automatically has the attribute autocomplete="off"
	 * @link http://www.petefreitag.com/item/481.cfm
	 * @param string $name The name of the element
	 * @param string $id The id of the element (will use the name of the element if not specified)
	 * @param string $label The label for the element, will only be used if $label is true in the constructor (will default to a humanized version of the name if you do not enter it)
	 * @param array $attributes an array of attributes that you will be adding to the element (default empty)
	 */
	public function ccv($name, $id='', $label='', array $attributes = array()) {
		if(!$id) {
			$id = $name;
		}
		if(!$label) {
			$label = $this->inflector->humanize($name);
		}
		if(strpos($label, ':') === false) {
			$label .= ':';
		}

		unset($attributes['name']);
		unset($attributes['value']);
		unset($attributes['id']);
		unset($attributes['autocomplete']);

		$form = '';
		if($this->label) {
			$form .= $this->generateLabel($label, $id);
		}
		$form .= '<input type="text" autocomplete="off" name="'.h($name).'" id="'.h($id).'" ';
		$form .= $this->getAttributes($attributes);
		$form .= ' />';
		$this->returnElement($form);
	}
	protected function generateLabel($label, $for) {
		$form = '<label for="'.h($for).'">'.$label.'</label>';
		return $form;
	}
	public function label($label, $for='', array $attributes = array()) {
		$form = '<label for="'.h($for).'" ';
		$form .= $this->getAttributes($attributes);
		$form .= ' >'.$label.'</label>';
		return $this->returnElement($form);
	}
	protected function getAttributes(array $attributes) {
		$return = '';
		foreach($attributes as $k=>$a) {
			$return .= ' '.h($k).'="'.h($a).'" ';
		}
		return $return;
	}
	protected function returnElement($form) {
		if($this->echo) {
			echo $form;
		} else {
			$this->form .= $form;
		}
	}
}