Replacing "product name" with "Item + productId" when product is added in Magento via admin panel - magento

Question

I want to auto generate product names in Magento.
When I'm going to add a product, for the product name I will type some string.
When I save the product, I want the product name to be automatically generated such that the product name becomes Item."productId".

Answer 1

Answering assuming that OP wants to incorporate the auto-increment value from the entity table into business data. This is generally not a great idea.
This is an interesting task which can be easily accomplished with Magento's EAV implementation - particularly when working in the catalog module. First, some background.
When an EAV entity is saved, it has a nice, neat array of key => value pairs which represent the attributes and attribute values for that entity:
Mage_Catalog_Model_Product->_data['attribute_code'] = 'attribute value';
During the save process, the EAV resource model takes this array and iterates over it. For each attribute, identified by its code (attribute_code in the above example) and its entity (catalog_product in the case of products), the configuration for the attribute itself is loaded. Of particular importance is the "backend model" for an attribute, as it is invoked to do pre- and post-processing of/relating to the value.
In the current case, there is a piece of information which will not be present when we are saving the attribute, at least, not in a way in which we can use it: the new product id. This can be used to adjust the original value as part of the save process.
It's always nice to have an example from the core, so, refer to the price attribute and its backend model, Mage_Catalog_Model_Product_Attribute_Backend_Price which can be seen in the eav_attribute table:
SELECT `attribute_code`, `backend_model`
FROM `eav_attribute`
LEFT JOIN `eav_entity_type` USING (`entity_type_id`)
WHERE `attribute_code` = 'price';
#+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
#| attribute_code | backend_model |
#+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
#| price | catalog/product_attribute_backend_price |
#+----------------+-----------------------------------------+
#1 row in set (0.00 sec)
When a product is saved, the price attribute's backend_model is instantiated and (in this case) the afterSave() method is called. Incidentally, this method is what updates pricing by conversion rate for website-scoped pricing. This same approach can be used to modify the name attribute.
The following setup script will add the backend model:
<?php
$installer = Mage::getResourceModel('catalog/setup','default_setup');
$installer->startSetup();
$installer->updateAttribute(
'catalog_product',
'name',
'backend_model',
'custom/product_attribute_backend_name'
);
$installer->endSetup();
The corresponding afterSave() method should do the trick:
public function afterSave($object)
{
$value = $object->getData($this->getAttribute()->getAttributeCode());
$origData = $object->getOrigData();
$origValueExist = $origData && array_key_exists($this->getAttribute()->getAttributeCode(), $origData);
//don't do this in case of update
if ($object->getStoreId() != 0 || !$value || $origValueExist) {
return $this;
}
//append autoinc id
$newValue = $value .'.'. $object->getId(); // or whatever
//assume global store, otherwise the stated need is getting weird!
$object->addAttributeUpdate($this->getAttribute()->getAttributeCode(), $newValue, 0);
return $this;
}

Answer 2

If you're doing this from the admin panel product edit screen, you're going to have to remove the "Required" class from the "Name" field so you can save it without the name. This means overriding the Edit form to replace that field specifically. Then you'll have to overload the save-related methods on the product model (or you can do it from the controller), but the child will have to generate the name on save before it goes to the database.
For example:
class Module_Catalog_Model_Product extends Mage_Catalog_Model_Product
{
protected function _beforeSave()
{
parent::_beforeSave();
$productName = 'Item' . $this->getId();
if (!$this->getId() && !$this->getName())
{
$this->setName('Item Unnamed');
} elseif ($this->getId()) && strcasecmp($this->getName(), $productName) <> 0)
{
$this->setName($productName);
}
}
}
The only problem with this is that it requires two saves. If you want to have it work on the fly, you'll have to do a second save using the _afterSave() method. Or, once again, you can do it from the controller.

Answer 3

I would use a Magento Event to do this:
Since Models in Magento have an event prefixes (just take a look at Mage_Catalog_Model_Product and look for $_eventPrefix, for our current model the eventPrefix is set to catalog_product.
If you now take a look at Mage_Core_Model_Abstract and search for _eventPrefix. You see that eventPrefix are found in _beforeLoad, _afterLoad, _beforeSave, _afterSave and a few others. In these methods you can see an event is dispatched using something as below:
Mage::dispatchEvent($this->_eventPrefix.'_save_before', $this->_getEventData());
This means you have an event available called catalog_product_save_before. With this event you can hook into Magento at that time and do your thing, change the field in this case, and Magento handles the rest.
Take a look at http://www.magentocommerce.com/wiki/5_-_modules_and_development/0_-_module_development_in_magento/customizing_magento_using_event-observer_method for more information how to use these events and turn them into a module. If you don't know how to build modules for Magento and want to learn, there are some awesome on-demand video's for free: http://www.magentocommerce.com/training/on-demand

Answer 4

First I want to thanks to all users which write in the topic. Thanks a lot of guys!
I did it, but I make it easier. (because I have very basic knowledge in Magento and it would toke more time)
So... With my colegues decided to make it with php/jquery/ajax.
First we create one single php file, which return the last id:
<?php
header('Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *');
require_once 'app/Mage.php';
umask(o);
Mage::app('default');
Mage::getSingleton('core/session', array('name'=>'frontend'));
$model = Mage::getModel('catalog/product'); //getting product model
$collection = $model->getCollection(); //products collection
foreach ($collection as $product) //loop for getting products
{
$id=$product->getId();
}
if($id)echo $id+1; //id of product
else{
echo 0;
}
?>
After step one I set the value of input (i.e. I auto generate the name):
if($j('#name').val()=='' && window.location.href.indexOf("admin/catalog_product/new/") > -1) {
$j.post('http://www.website.com/file.php', function(data) {
$j('#name').val('Item №'+data);
});
}
Thanks again for help.
Best Regards,
Jordan!