Prepopulating form data

[eluser]ajcolburn[/eluser]
This method is great for prepopulating an update record form. I have tried to modify it to allow for the creation of new records, but the system throws a PHP error if the set_value() default variable is not defined. The variable is not defined because if a record for the given ID is not returned by the model then my controller assumes a new record is being created. Basically I'm trying to write the simplest/shortest bit of code to add and edit records with one controller and one view.

Any help would be much appreciated...

Regards,
Alex