Mar 31, 2009

Howto: Repackageable custom extension development in Magento – Part 8 – CRUD – Update

Author: gaweee | Filed under: development, howto

Download the source for this entire series here!

CRUD – Update

Very similar to the Create phase, this phase basically requires the Form and Form Container blocks, and the controller to save them. Thats all!

  1. Repeat the file structure goodness: 
    app/
  etc/
    modules/
      - SavantDegrees_All.xml (Or what ever your company name might be)
  code/
    local/
      SavantDegrees/ (Or what ever your company name might be)
        Twits/ (Or whatever your module name might be)
          Block/
            Admin/
              - Main.php
              Main/
                - Grid.php
              - Edit.php
              Edit/
                - Form.php
              - New.php
              New/
                - Form.php
            - HelloWorld.php
          controllers/
            - AdminController.php
            - IndexController.php
          etc/
            - config.xml
          Helper/
            - Data.php
          Model/
            - Tip.php
            Mysql4/
              - Tip.php
              Tip/
                - Collection.php
          sql/
            twits_setup/
              - mysql4-install-0.2.0.php
              - mysql4-upgrade-0.1.0-0.2.0.php

    Here we’ve added the block for the Edit container and Form

  2. Looking at the Edit.php code: 
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    <?php
class SavantDegrees_Twits_Block_Admin_Edit extends Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Widget_Form_Container
{
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
 
        $this->_blockGroup = 'twits';
        $this->_mode = 'edit';
        $this->_controller = 'admin';
 
        if( $this->getRequest()->getParam($this->_objectId) ) {
            $tip = Mage::getModel('twits/tip')
                ->load($this->getRequest()->getParam($this->_objectId));
            Mage::register('frozen_tip', $tip);
        }
    }
 
    public function getHeaderText()
    {
        return Mage::helper('twits')->__("Edit Tip'%s'", $this->htmlEscape(Mage::registry('frozen_tip')->getName()));
    }
}

    The additional code loads the right Tip data based on the Request parameter, then stores that data in the Mage registry. We’ll be using that data on the Form page again later to populate the form.
    Notice that the saving code is Mage::register and the retrieving code is Mage::registry

  3. Then the accompanying Edit/Form.php code 
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    <?php
class SavantDegrees_Twits_Block_Admin_Edit_Form extends Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Widget_Form
{
	protected function _prepareForm()
    {
        $form = new Varien_Data_Form();
 
        $fieldset = $form->addFieldset('edit_tip', array('legend' => Mage::helper('twits')->__('Tip Details')));
 
        $fieldset->addField('title', 'text', array(
            'name'      => 'title',
            'title'     => Mage::helper('twits')->__('Title'),
            'label'     => Mage::helper('twits')->__('Title'),
            'maxlength' => '250',
            'required'  => true,
        ));
 
        $fieldset->addField('author', 'text', array(
            'name'      => 'author',
            'title'     => Mage::helper('twits')->__('Author'),
            'label'     => Mage::helper('twits')->__('Author'),
            'maxlength' => '250',
            'required'  => true,
        ));
 
        $fieldset->addField('contents', 'textarea', array(
            'name'      => 'contents',
            'title'     => Mage::helper('twits')->__('Contents'),
            'label'     => Mage::helper('twits')->__('Contents'),
            'style'     => 'width: 98%; height: 200px;',
            'required'  => true,
        ));
 
 		$form->setMethod('post');
        $form->setUseContainer(true);
        $form->setId('edit_form');
        $form->setAction($this->getUrl('*/*/save'));
        $form->setValues(Mage::registry('frozen_tip')->getData());
 
        $this->setForm($form);
    }
}
  4. Then lastly the adminController with its editAction and saveAction to load and save the form respectively

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    <?php
class SavantDegrees_Twits_AdminController extends Mage_Adminhtml_Controller_Action
{
	public function indexAction()
    {
		$this->loadLayout()
			->_addContent($this->getLayout()->createBlock('twits/admin_main'))
			->renderLayout();
    }
 
	public function deleteAction()
    {
        $tipId = $this->getRequest()->getParam('id', false);
 
        try {
            Mage::getModel('twits/tip')->setId($tipId)->delete();
            Mage::getSingleton('adminhtml/session')->addSuccess(Mage::helper('twits')->__('Tip successfully deleted'));
            $this->getResponse()->setRedirect($this->getUrl('*/*/'));
 
            return;
        } catch (Exception $e){
            Mage::getSingleton('adminhtml/session')->addError($e->getMessage());
        }
 
        $this->_redirectReferer();
    }
 
    public function newAction()
    {
        $this->loadLayout()
        ->_addContent($this->getLayout()->createBlock('twits/admin_new'))
        ->renderLayout();
    }
 
    public function postAction()
    {
        if ($data = $this->getRequest()->getPost()) {
            $tip = Mage::getModel('twits/tip')->setData($data);
            try {
                $tip->save();
                Mage::getSingleton('adminhtml/session')->addSuccess(Mage::helper('twits')->__('Tip successfully saved'));
                $this->getResponse()->setRedirect($this->getUrl('*/*/'));
                return;
            } catch (Exception $e){
                Mage::getSingleton('adminhtml/session')->addError($e->getMessage());
            }
        }
        $this->getResponse()->setRedirect($this->getUrl('*/*/'));
        return;
    }
 
    public function editAction()
    {
        $this->loadLayout();
        $this->_addContent($this->getLayout()->createBlock('twits/admin_edit'));
        $this->renderLayout();
    }
 
    public function saveAction()
    {
        $tipId = $this->getRequest()->getParam('id', false);
        if ($data = $this->getRequest()->getPost()) {
            $tip = Mage::getModel('twits/tip')->load($tipId)->addData($data);
            try {
                $tip ->setId($tipId)->save();
 
                Mage::getSingleton('adminhtml/session')->addSuccess(Mage::helper('twits')->__('Tip successfully saved'));
                $this->getResponse()->setRedirect($this->getUrl('*/*/'));
                return;
            } catch (Exception $e){
                Mage::getSingleton('adminhtml/session')->addError($e->getMessage());
            }
        }
        $this->_redirectReferer();
    }
}
  5. Ok i admit the code is a tad inefficient. We have 2 separate functions that both does save. In fact, postAction and saveAction only differ that saveAction loads the right record via the ->load($tipId) function. Thats separates a CREATE from an UPDATE request.

    And we’re finally finally finally done! To test out the edit function, simply click on any row from the Grid! Thats assuming of course that you actually have some data.
    Magento Admin Form

» For frontend stuff, carry on … Fontend – List

Otherwise, if it works for you, leave a comment! =)


This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 4:27 am and is filed under development, howto. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

read users' comments (16)

16 Responses to “Howto: Repackageable custom extension development in Magento – Part 8 – CRUD – Update”

  1. gaweee Says:
    March 25th, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    Yup, i’ve cleaned up the article for Magento 1.41

  2. Col Says:
    March 25th, 2010 at 10:58 am

    Hi, thanks for a brilliant tutorial!
    I need a view action – I’ve found the Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Widget_View_Container class but can’t figure out how to use it properly – any pointers? Thanks again for your time writing this tutorial.
    Col.

  3. Meech Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    This is a fantastic!!!

    Does anyone know if the anything in the massive change list for magento 1.4 has affected the accuracy of this tutorial?

  4. Margots Says:
    January 2nd, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    Thank you a lot for spending time to write this very very useful tutorial!

  5. congtq Says:
    September 17th, 2009 at 12:53 am

    Thanks very much. What a nice tutorial.
    But perhaps Admin Panel coundn’t search/filter yet !?

  6. gaweee Says:
    August 2nd, 2009 at 1:51 am

    Hi Brendan
    frozen_twit is the object that is stored in Mage registry for access via different classes. Think of it as a better way of doing global
    To save something in the registry we use Mage::register
    and to retrieve it, we us Mage::registry

  7. Brendan Says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 6:54 am

    hi,

    really great tutorial.
    one question.

    what/how does the following code work?
    $form->setValues(Mage::registry(‘frozen_twit’)->getData());

    I dont understand the “frozen_twit”
    is this referencing a call somewhere else?

    brendan

  8. Jared Says:
    July 8th, 2009 at 1:33 pm

    Thanks so much for this tutorial. It really helped with beginning to understand Magento module Development.

  9. ravi Says:
    June 22nd, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    Thanks Jim. The tutorial was simply superb

  10. AJ Tarachanowicz Says:
    June 17th, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    Many thanks for such an informative tutorial. Have you thought about moving it over to the Magento Wiki so that it can get more exposure to the community?

  11. Manish Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    Wow,

    great tutorial. Followed to the end and able to create the admin component.

    This is the first first tutorial that successfully worked for me.

    Great for putting time and effort to write these 8 blogs.

  12. tight Says:
    April 21st, 2009 at 10:06 am

    Many thx for this howto :)

  13. gaweee Says:
    April 16th, 2009 at 4:23 am

    Hi Jim
    the addField is implmented in the Varien_Data_Form code. See the docs at http://docs.magentocommerce.com/Varien/Varien_Data/Varien_Data_Form_Abstract.html
    It adds a Varien Form Element. See the children of the varien form abstract element at http://docs.magentocommerce.com/Varien/Varien_Data/Varien_Data_Form_Element_Abstract.html

    If you feel up to it, you can view the source files at the /lib/Varien/Data/Form folder.

  14. jim Says:
    April 15th, 2009 at 6:35 am

    hi once again gawee

    Another thing, I’d be very interested in learing where you found the details on the addField function.. I have tried changing the format from text to date and get an error about other formatting it needs but finding any docs on magento regarding addField has been a nightmare :)

  15. jim Says:
    April 13th, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    hi again,

    o.k I have been searching around for this solution however still not got any closer…

    I notice that at the end of this tutorial I can see view the hello world on the screen by going store/twit …. so i tried this..

    1. created app/frontend/default/mytheme/templates/savantdegrees/twit/index.phtml and in it just entered “test”
    2. on my home page CMS content area added :
    lock type=”savantdegrees_twit/index” my_custom=”Test” template=”twit/index.phtml” />
    This didnt work, nothing displayed on my home page.. doh.. but no errors…

    Am I at all close? :)

    cheers again,
    Jimm

  16. jim Says:
    April 12th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    hi again gawee

    wow I got to the end.. a really great tutorial… you have put a lot of time in i can see, thanks.

    I do have a question though…. the whole setup of the documented twits module is geared towards displaying the twits in a grid within the admin pages…. do you have any information on displaying the twits outside of the grid format, within the front end of the store? Maybe, in block form in static blocks for example?

    Thanks again,
    Jimm!

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