Multiple ways to do things in Magento - Which one is correct? (My example is with Attribute Sets / Groups) - magento

More of a best practice question as I don't want to start down the wrong path.
The following link from the Magento Wiki shows how to add Attribute sets programmatically: here.
It also seems you can use the class Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup and access the methods within to add the attributes etc i.e
$groupSetup = new Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup('core_setup');
$groupSetup->addAttributeSet($entityTypeId, $name);
In my mind, the second option is quicker and simpler but is there a rule on how this data should be added? i.e Is one option likely to change whereas another isn't?

Related

Bitrix CMS, how to get cached data based on GET parameter in template of standart component?

I'm working with a component bitrix:catalog (which is standard one) and faced an issue. I want to add some extra GET parameters to switch view mode. I think there is no need to rewrite whole component to make such switcher, so I added extra keys in result_modifier in a way similar to:
$this->__component->arResultCacheKeys = array_merge($this->__component->arResultCacheKeys, array('key1', "key2"));
Earlier in the same result_modifier I perform adding those extra keys in $arResult['key1'] etc. They seem to be correctly saved, but only for current inquiry such as ?view=list or view=card, that means only one variable value is saved and it does not react on changing of GET parameter. Is there simple and correct way to make that component to cache and to output data based on GET variable? The only idea which came to my mind is to rewrite component by adding extra parameter and checking of GET, but I think there must more simple and correct solution to make in via template. Human Readable Links are turned on. And I want to have auto-cash being turned on as well. If I turn it off it starts working as planned.
One of possible solutions is to rewrite it cache by SetTemplateCachedData but it still seems to me rough and incorrect way for such simple task.
Bitrix masters please help me to find correct solution, google can't help at the moment.
If you use standard bitrix:catalog component, you may be use standart bitrix:catalog.section. In that component.php used standart component cache.
That means you can describe additional parametr in you custom .parameters.php, and set it in bitrix:catalog.section params.
Standart component cache set cacheId based on arParams.
So you include component should look like this:
$APPLICATION->IncludeComponent(
"bitrix:catalog.section",
"",
array(
"IBLOCK_TYPE" => $arParams["IBLOCK_TYPE"],
"IBLOCK_ID" => $arParams["IBLOCK_ID"],
"ELEMENT_SORT_FIELD" => $arParams["ELEMENT_SORT_FIELD"],
"ELEMENT_SORT_ORDER" => $arParams["ELEMENT_SORT_ORDER"],
....
....
"NEW_ADDITIONAL_GET_PARAMS"=> $_GET['view']
),
$component
);
Of course better way somethink like
"NEW_ADDITIONAL_GET_PARAMS"=> (in_array($_GET['view'],array('list','card'))?$_GET['view']:'list')
But may be you need just set right catalog params: SEF_MODE SEF_FOLDER SEF_URL_TEMPLATES

How to build CodeIgniter URL with hierarchy?

I know this doesn't exactly match the form of www.example.com/class/function/ID/, but what I want to display to the user would make more sense.
This is what I would like to do:
www.example.com/project/id/item/item_id/
So, an example would be:
www.example.com/project/5/item/198237/
And this would be the behavior:
www.example.com/project/ --> This would show a list of projects (current implementation)
www.example.com/project/5/ --> This would show a list of items on project 5 (current implementation)
www.example.com/project/5/item/ --> This wouldn't really mean anything different than the line above. (Is that bad?)
www.example.com/project/5/item/198237/ --> This would show details for item 198237.
So, each item is directly associated with one and only one project.
The only way I can think how to do this is to bloat the "project" controller and parse the various parameters and control ALL views from that "project" controller. I'd prefer not to do this, because the model and view for an "item" are truly separate from the model and view of a "project."
The only other solution (that I am currently implementing and don't prefer) is to have the following:
www.example.com/project/5/
www.example.com/item/198237/
Is there any way to build a hierarchical URL as I showed at the beginning without bloating the "project" controller?
There are 3 options, sorted by how practical they can be:
Use URI Routing. Define a regular expression that will use a specific controller/method combination for each URL.
Something like that could help you, in routes.php:
$route['project/'] = 'project/viewall';
$route['project/(.+)'] = 'project/view/$1';
$route['project/(.+)/item/'] = 'project/view/$1';
$route['project/(.+)/item/(.+)'] = 'item/view/$2';
That is, considering your controllers are item and project respectively. Also note that $n in the value corresponds to the part matched in the n-th parenthesis.
Use the same controller with (or without) redirection. I guess you already considered this.
Use redirection at a lower level, such as ModRewrite on Apache servers. You could come up with a rule similar to the one in routes.php. If you are already using such a method, it wouldn't be a bad idea to use that, but only if you are already using such a thing, and preferably, in the case of Apache, in the server configuration rather than an .htaccess file.
You can control all of these options using routes.php (found in the config folder). You can alternatively catch any of your URI segments using the URI class, as in $this->uri->segment(2). That is if you have the URL helper loaded. That you can load by default in the autoload.php file (also in the config folder).

Extend a Varien Form Element for a Custom Module

Improving on this question:
Is it good practice to add own file in lib/Varien/Data/Form/Element folder
The accepted answer shows how to extend a Varien form element, but this will not work if you want to package it into a custom module.
What would be the proper method of extending the Varien form element in a module? A simple XML setting I'm hoping?
Update:
Thanks Vinai for the response. Although that does work, I was hoping to extend the form element somehow. My extension is using the base File form element to allow administrators to upload files to categories. So, I'm not directly adding the form elements to the fieldset myself.
I suppose it's possible to to check for the file input on my category block on the backend: Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Catalog_Category_Tab_Attributes , and then change the form element if it is 'file' to 'mycompany_file' -- but this seems like a workaround.
Is there an easier way? Thanks again Vinai.
On the Varien_Data_Form instance you can specify custom element types like this:
$fieldset->addType('custom', 'Your_Module_Model_Form_Element_Custom');
Then, add your element with
$fieldset->addField('the_name', 'custom', $optionsArray);
If you are using a form without fieldsets you can do the same on the Varien_Data_Forminstance, too.
EDIT: Expand answer because of new additional details in the question.
In the class Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Widget_Form::_setFieldset() there is the following code:
$rendererClass = $attribute->getFrontend()->getInputRendererClass();
if (!empty($rendererClass)) {
$fieldType = $inputType . '_' . $attribute->getAttributeCode();
$fieldset->addType($fieldType, $rendererClass);
}
Because of this the attribute frontend_input_renderer on the attributes can be used to specify custom element classes.
This property can be found in the table catalog_eav_attribute, and luckily enough it isn't set for any of the category image attributes.
Given this, there are several ways to apply customizaton.
One option is to simply set the element class in the table using an upgrade script.
Another would be using an observer for the eav_entity_attribute_load_after event and setting the input renderer on the fly if the entity_type_id and the input type matches.
So it is a little more involved then just regular class rewrites in Magento, but it is quite possible.
You don't necessarily need to have a file in the lib/Varien/ directory in order to extend it. If you needed to add an element to that collection, you should be able to extend one of the Elements in your app/code/local module. The answer to the question you referenced seems to also indicate this is the case. I would create your custom field, extending its highest-level function set (i.e., lib/Varien/Data/Form/Element/File.php).
If you want to override the Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Catalog_Category_Tab_Attributes block, then you should extend that block in your module and then reference the new one. You may wish to extend the block using an event observer rather than an XML rewrite, for compatibility purposes.

how to add more simple products into configurable products using magento API

How can I simply add new simple products incrementally to configurable products?
or do I still need to retrieve the 2 original arrays of the pre-defined configurable product (getConfigurableAttributesData and getConfigurableProductsData) first, append the new arrays and set them again? Is it worked for my case just as the first-time creation?
And if the new simple product owns a new attribute / attribute options, do I also need to create /edit the attribute first before adding?
Thanks in advance!
The API as it stands does not have the functionality to do this.
Your options are:
Extend the API. (Hours of fun)
Do it with Magento methods in your own module or standalone code that includes Mage.php.
SQL script mixed in with your existing API code.
Buy someone's module - (Hope your German is good)
The approach you take also depends on your SKU naming scheme, if you have a simple BASECODE-SIZE-COLOUR type of scheme then the SQL option can work a treat, and in next to no time, but will be heavily scorned on by Magento evangelists.
That means you are probably going to have to write your own code. Here is a very useful site that should help get you started:
http://www.ayasoftware.com/
As well as being able to import configurables (by a variety of means including SQL) there are also snippets of code useful for updating superattribute price differentials. No readymade complete solution, but, you may need to roll your own anyway depending on your SKU naming scheme.
Whilst you are at it you may also want to write some code to find simple products that are not hooked up to anything when they should be, i,e. the ones with no visibility.

CakePHP, organize site structure around groups

So, I'm not quite sure how I should structure this in CakePHP to work correctly in the proper MVC form.
Let's, for argument sake, say I have the following data structure which are related in various ways:
Team
Task
Equipment
This is generally how sites are and is quite easy to structure and make in Cake. For example, I would have the a model, controller and view for each item set.
My problem (and I'm sure countless others have had it and already solved it) is that I have a level above the item sets. So, for example:
Department
Team
Task
Equipment
Department
Team
Task
Equipment
Department
Team
Task
Equipment
In my site, I need the ability for someone to view the site at an individual group level as well as move to view it all together (ie, ignore the groups).
So, I have models, views and controls for Depart, Team, Task and Equipment.
How do I structure my site so that from the Department view, someone can select a Department then move around the site to the different views for Team/Task/Equipment showing only those that belong to that particular Department.
In this same format, is there a way to also move around ignoring the department associations?
Hopefully the following example URLs clarifies anything that was unclear:
// View items while disregarding which group-set record they belong to
http://www.example.com/Team/action/id
http://www.example.com/Task/action/id
http://www.example.com/Equipment/action/id
http://www.example.com/Departments
// View items as if only those associated with the selected group-set record exist
http://www.example.com/Department/HR/Team/action/id
http://www.example.com/Department/HR/Task/action/id
http://www.example.com/Department/HR/Equipment/action/id
Can I get the controllers to function in this manner? Is there someone to read so I can figure this out?
Thanks to those that read all this :)
I think I know what you're trying to do. Correct me if I'm wrong:
I built a project manager for myself in which I wanted the URLs to be more logical, so instead of using something like
http://domain.com/project/milestones/add/MyProjectName I could use
http://domain.com/project/MyProjectName/milestones/add
I added a custom route to the end (!important) of my routes so that it catches anything that's not already a route and treats it as a "variable route".
Router::connect('/project/:project/:controller/:action/*', array(), array('project' => '[a-zA-Z0-9\-]+'));
Whatever route you put means that you can't already (or ever) have a controller by that name, for that reason I consider it a good practice to use a singular word instead of a plural. (I have a Projects Controller, so I use "project" to avoid conflicting with it.)
Now, to access the :project parameter anywhere in my app, I use this function in my AppController:
function __currentProject(){
// Finding the current Project's Info
if(isset($this->params['project'])){
App::import('Model', 'Project');
$projectNames = new Project;
$projectNames->contain();
$projectInfo = $projectNames->find('first', array('conditions' => array('Project.slug' => $this->params['project'])));
$project_id = $projectInfo['Project']['id'];
$this->set('project_name_for_layout', $projectInfo['Project']['name']);
return $project_id;
}
}
And I utilize it in my other controllers:
function overview(){
$this->layout = 'project';
// Getting currentProject id from App Controller
$project_id = parent::__currentProject();
// Finding out what time it is and performing queries based on time.
$nowStamp = time();
$nowDate = date('Y-m-d H:i:s' , $nowStamp);
$twoWeeksFromNow = $nowDate + 1209600;
$lateMilestones = $this->Project->Milestone->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('Milestone.project_id' => $project_id, 'Milestone.complete'=> 0, 'Milestone.duedate <'=> $nowDate)));
$this->set(compact('lateMilestones'));
$currentProject = $this->Project->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('Project.slug' => $this->params['project'])));
$this->set(compact('currentProject'));
}
For your project you can try using a route like this at the end of your routes.php file:
Router::connect('/:groupname/:controller/:action/*', array(), array('groupname' => '[a-zA-Z0-9\-]+'));
// Notice I removed "/project" from the beginning. If you put the :groupname first, as I've done in the last example, then you only have one option for these custom url routes.
Then modify the other code to your needs.
If this is a public site, you may want to consider using named variables. This will allow you to define the group on the URL still, but without additional functionality requirements.
http://example.com/team/group:hr
http://example.com/team/action/group:hr/other:var
It may require custom routes too... but it should do the job.
http://book.cakephp.org/view/541/Named-parameters
http://book.cakephp.org/view/542/Defining-Routes
SESSIONS
Since web is stateless, you will need to use sessions (or cookies). The question you will need to ask yourself is how to reflect the selection (or not) of a specific department. It could be as simple as putting a drop down selection in the upper right that reflects ALL, HR, Sales, etc. When the drop down changes, it will set (or clear) the Group session variable.
As for the functionality in the controllers, you just check for the Session. If it is there, you limit the data by the select group. So you would use the same URLs, but the controller or model would manage how the data gets displayed.
// for all functionality use:
http://www.example.com/Team/action/id
http://www.example.com/Task/action/id
http://www.example.com/Equipment/action/id
You don't change the URL to accommodate for the functionality. That would be like using a different URL for every USER wanting to see their ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, or BILLING INFO. Where USER would be the group and ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER< and BILLING INFO would be the item sets.
WITHOUT SESSIONS
The other option would be to put the Group filter on each page. So for example on Team/index view you would have a group drop down to filter the data. It would accomplish the same thing without having to set and clear session variables.
The conclusion is and the key thing to remember is that the functionality does not change nor does the URLs. The only thing that changes is that you will be working with filtered data sets.
Does that make sense?

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