[development] Accessing CCK field data (single, multiple, or shared) from another module

[Karen Stevenson]

To find the right table for a field for a SQL query, use the API, like this:

$db_info = content_database_info($field);
$table = $db_info['table'];

That will always return the right table for the requested field. 

$field needs to be the complete field array, not just the field name, so if you only have the field name, you would do:

$field = content_fields(my_field_name);
$db_info = content_database_info($field);
$table = $db_info['table'];

content_database_info($field) also contains info about the columns declared by the field so you know what field names to use in a SQL query. It returns an array that looks like:

Array (
    [table] => content_type_story
    [columns] => Array (
            [value] => Array  (
                    [type] => varchar
                    [length] => 50
                    [not null] => 1
                    [default] => ''
                    [sortable] => 1
                    [column] => field_phone_value
                )
            [value2] => Array (
                    [type] => int
                    [length] => 10
                    [unsigned] => 1
                    [not null] => 1
                    [default] => 0
                    [column] => field_phone_type
                )
        )
)


----- Original Message ----
From: Rob Barreca <rob at electronicinsight.com>
To: development at drupal.org
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 7:55:31 PM
Subject: Re: [development] Accessing CCK field data (single, multiple, or shared) from another module

>
> Is there a function for getting the data that you can just give a node
> type and a field name and it handles the rest? 
This is something I've just run into as well. I have a hardcoded to 
query the DB for the multiple field table, but have a TODO in there to 
find the right API call.

Rob Roy Barreca
Founder and COO
Electronic Insight Corporation
http://www.electronicinsight.com
rob at electronicinsight.com



Benjamin Melançon wrote:
> Gracious developers, CCK people especially...
>
> I wrote an access control module that works with the node relativity
> module to cascade permissions to all nodes lower in a hierarchy.  I
> hard-coded a query for a userreference field on a custom content type
> as one way to give a user access to a node (and its descendants).
>
> In generalizing this, the current stumbling block is the way CCK
> stores single instances in the content data table and shared instances
> of a field in a separate table.
>
> Is there a function for getting the data that you can just give a node
> type and a field name and it handles the rest?
>
> Or is there a place to check what the case is for a particular field?
> (Even a "column_exists()" function would do it for me, but haven't
> found one in PHP...)
>
> It's being developed in Drupal 5 and fixing this (as well as saving
> explicitly permitted users when creating a new node) is all that's
> needed for posting the project for general use.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> ben
>
> Agaric Design Collective
> Open Source Web Development
> http://AgaricDesign.com/
>
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