use case for getProductAdditionalInformationBlock in magento - magento

Question

I'd like to put some additional info under each item in the cart. I have this info already saved in table "sales_flat_quote_item" in "additional_info" field. So the question is only how to show it globally at all places where the items are shown.
I saw in several places under item name there is a structure like this:
<?php if ($addtInfoBlock = $this->getProductAdditionalInformationBlock()):?>
<?php echo $addtInfoBlock->setItem($_item)->toHtml() ?>
<?php endif;?>
For example in this files:
/app/design/frontend/base/default/template/checkout/cart/item/default.phtml
/app/design/frontend/base/default/template/checkout/onepage/review/item.phtml
So I suppose this is the place I should use for such task.
What I figured out is that:
I have to add my own block definition to for example:
<checkout_cart_index>
<block type="core/text_list" name="additional.product.info" translate="label">
<label>Additional Product Info</label>
<block type="various/itemrendererdefault" name="glass.additional" as="glass" template="checkout/cart/glass_additional.phtml"/>
</block>
</checkout_cart_index>
This is no problem so far. My class is loaded
class Site1_Various_Block_Itemrendererdefault extends Mage_Core_Block_Template {
public function setItem(Varien_Object $item) {
$this->setData('item', $item);
return $this;
}
public function getItem() {
return $this->_getData('item');
}
}
and the template checkout/cart/glass_additional.phtml is called.
But inside the template I have no idea how to get the info about what $item should I process. I tried:
$_item = $this->getItem();
print_r($_item);
$_item = $this->getData();
print_r($_item);
but it returns nothing.
So my question is: How to get $item data inside my template.
Can I access the data set in?
...
$addtInfoBlock->setItem($_item)->toHtml();
...

Answer 1

Krystian, the OP, already self-answered his question.
Quote:
I just solved the issue by setting my block as "additional.product.info"
<checkout_cart_index>
<block type="various/itemrendererdefault" name="additional.product.info" translate="label" template="checkout/cart/glass_additional.phtml"></block>
</checkout_cart_index>
Note: It's absolutely OK to self-answer your own question. Please just post it as an real answer, but not in a question or comment. Posting as real answer helps to keep the "Unanswered" list more clear (avoids making other people wasting their time).

Answer 2

I think to get the item instance you have to try this:
class Site1_Various_Block_Itemrendererdefault extends Mage_Core_Block_Template {
public function setItem(Varien_Object $item) {
$this->setData('item', $item);
return $this;
}
public function getItem() {
$parent = $this->getParentBlock();
if ($parent) {
$item = $parent->getItem();
}
}
}
Thanks !

Answer 3

I was having issues with this as well until I used a block type of core/template and a call to getParentBlock() in my custom template file. This might work for any custom block type but I didn't test.
In your layout/local.xml file:
<checkout_cart_index>
<reference name="additional.product.info">
<block type="core/template" name="additional.product.info.your_template" as="your_template" template="checkout/cart/item/your-template.phtml"/>
</reference>
</checkout_cart_index>
The $addtInfoBlock->setItem($_item)is called on the additional.product.info block, which would be the parent of any blocks you add underneath it. Because of this, you can call $this->getParentBlock() in your template to get access to it's data.
So now, in your checkout/cart/item/your-template.phtml:
$_item = $this->getParentBlock()->getItem();
/* get access to all product attributes, with a performance hit. */
$_product = $_item->getProduct()->load();
/* Some product attributes */
echo $_product->getName();
echo $_product->getSku();