what I generally have in my controllers is something like this...
'
Code:
$form = new Default_Form_ChartAdd();
$formData = $this->_request->getPost();
if ($form->isValid($formData)){
...
...
}else{
// The form is not displayed yet so I can add values to the form from the db here.
$db = new Default_Model_SomeModel;
$test = $db->fetchRow("id=1");
// Where name is <input type... name="name" />
// And $this->view->form is echod in the view as $this->form;
$this->view->form->name->setValue( $test->name );
}