Force MODX to save a TV's default value to database

mrcycling · May 7, 2021, 5:06am

It seems that when a Template Variable has a default value, that default value is not stored in the database table: site_tmplvar_contentvalues for each page. Rather I am guessing it gets grabbed from: site_tmplvar at build time, whenever an alternate value was not entered for that page?

Is there a way to force MODX to save the TV even when it will have the default value? We would like to be able to access this data directly from the database for external PHP build functions.

halftrainedharry · May 11, 2021, 5:06pm

I don’t think this is possible.

Maybe you could write a custom plugin for the event OnDocFormSave that adds all the missing database entries (but you would work against the system as every time you’d save a resource, rows from modx_site_tmplvar_contentvalues would be deleted that you had to create then again).

bobray · May 12, 2021, 4:36am

One solution might be to set a dummy default value that would never be used (e.g, ‘XXX’), then create a plugin that would automatically set the TV’s value to the “real” default value in, maybe in OnDocFormSave (or maybe OnBeforeDocFormSave) if it’s attached to the resource’s template and no value is already set. MODX will only use the dummy default value if the TV has no value for the page.

mrcycling · May 12, 2021, 5:53am

Thanks.

At this point, if MODX doesn’t have that built in, then it is probably just as easy to set the default value in our build script and then replace it if the database returns a value.

bruno17 · May 12, 2021, 7:55am

to get the value of a TV including the default-value, you can use

github.com

modxcms/revolution/blob/a267c7eb6c2aaaec606ed594b8a97aefee7eab91/core/model/modx/modtemplatevar.class.php#L187


}


/**
 * Get the value of a template variable for a resource.
 *
 * @access public
 * @param integer $resourceId The id of the resource; 0 defaults to the default_text field for the tv.
 * @return mixed The raw value of the template variable in context of the
 * specified resource or the default_text for the tv.
 */
public function getValue($resourceId= 0) {
    $value= null;
    $resourceId = intval($resourceId);
    if ($resourceId) {
        if (is_object($this->xpdo->resource) && $resourceId === (integer) $this->xpdo->resourceIdentifier && is_array($this->xpdo->resource->get($this->get('name')))) {
            $valueArray= $this->xpdo->resource->get($this->get('name'));
            $value= $valueArray[1];
        } elseif ($resourceId === (integer) $this->get('resourceId') && array_key_exists('value', $this->_fields)) {
            $value= $this->get('value');
        } else {
            $resource = $this->xpdo->getObject('modTemplateVarResource',array(

if you need the processed value, use

github.com

modxcms/revolution/blob/a267c7eb6c2aaaec606ed594b8a97aefee7eab91/core/model/modx/modtemplatevar.class.php#L256


}


/**
 * Returns the processed output of a template variable.
 *
 * @access public
 * @param integer $resourceId The id of the resource; 0 defaults to the
 * current resource.
 * @return mixed The processed output of the template variable.
 */
public function renderOutput($resourceId= 0) {
    $value= $this->getValue($resourceId);


    /* process any TV commands in value */
    $value= $this->processBindings($value, $resourceId);


    $params= array ();
    /**
     * Backwards support for display_params
     * @deprecated To be removed in 2.2
     */

which is also called by

github.com

modxcms/revolution/blob/a267c7eb6c2aaaec606ed594b8a97aefee7eab91/core/model/modx/modresource.class.php#L930


}


/**
 * Gets the value of a TV for the Resource.
 *
 * @access public
 * @param mixed $pk Either the ID of the TV, or the name of the TV.
 * @return null/mixed The value of the TV for the Resource, or null if the
 * TV is not found.
 */
public function getTVValue($pk) {
    $byName = !is_numeric($pk);


    /** @var modTemplateVar $tv */
    if ($byName && $this->xpdo instanceof modX) {
        $tv = $this->xpdo->getParser()->getElement('modTemplateVar', $pk);
    } else {
        $tv = $this->xpdo->getObject('modTemplateVar', $byName ? array('name' => $pk) : $pk);
    }
    return $tv == null ? null : $tv->renderOutput($this->get('id'));
}

mrcycling · May 12, 2021, 11:12am

Thanks. That looks more like an “inside of MODX” type solution, whereas our needs are for a totally independent system.

In a nutshell, we are using MODX as the M in JAMStack, generating static html pages to serve, plus json files for navigation by partial page hydration. And some of the TV values need to fetched independently as part of the json build process.

bruno17 · May 12, 2021, 12:50pm

Well, at some point you need to build your stuff. Do you not use MODX to help with that?

mrcycling · May 12, 2021, 1:40pm

Yes we use MODX to create the pages. Then a separate system fetches the pages, saves a copy and extracts the changed content, saving that separately. Then everything gets uploaded to a CDN.

Some of the TVs are used in determing some of the extraction and build steps, so it helps when they can be easily pulled.