Zend Framework: Mechanism behind populate method in Zend_Form and $_POST var

[ethereal1m]

Dear all,

I try to understand the mechanism behind populate method in Zend_Form class. Suppose  I have the following statement where is the part of method that is in a view helper class that  instantiates Zend_Form object:

        $form->populate(array(
            'productId' => $product->productId,
            'returnto' => $this->view->url()
        ));

where productId and returnto are hidden elements of the form. If I modify the code by excluding productId and run a debugger, set a breakpoint at the very beginning of index script, and look at the $_POST variable, the productId is not set (whereas returnto is). I don't understand what the mechanism behind the HTTP POST method and Zend_Form populate method is. I thought at the very beginning the code in view helper class was not even read yet. Anybody could explain that?

 

Much appreciated,

ethereal1m