Custom Data (Pro)

The page below describes the Custom Data feature for View. You can read about the Custom Data feature for Card here.

About the feature

Custom variables for extra data

Advanced Views automatically loads data from the selected fields into the View template. In most general cases, this will be sufficient to generate the desired output. However, there may be specific cases where you need to include additional data that is not available in the plugin's list of fields.

To address this need, you can take advantage of the Custom Data feature, which is available the Advanced Views Framework: Pro Edition. This feature allows you to retrieve any necessary data using a PHP code snippet and then use these extra variables in your template.

You can find the 'Custom Data' field under the 'Template' tab in the View settings. In this field, you can insert any PHP code and use WordPress functions as needed.

Custom Data snippet

The field with the snippet can be found in the Template tab of your View.

The snippet is a PHP code, which must return an instance of the Custom_View_Data class.

• using the get_variables() method you can pass custom variables to the View template

• using the get_ajax_response() method you define the Ajax callback for the block. Read more

• using the get_object_id() method you can get the id of the displaying object

• using the get_custom_arguments() method you can access the custom arguments passed to the shortcode. The field is available in the both methods above.

• using the get_default_variables() method you can access to the default twig variables (that filled out automatically by the plugin)

• using the get_container() method you can access the PHP-DI Container (see the related chapter of this page)

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Org\Wplake\Advanced_Views\Pro\Bridge\Views\Custom_View_Data;

return new class extends Custom_View_Data {
    /**
     * @return array<string,mixed>
     */
    public function get_variables(): array
    {
        return [
            // "custom_variable" => get_post_meta($this->get_object_id(), "your_field", true),
            // "another_var" => $this->get_custom_arguments()["another"] ?? "",
        ];
    }
    /**
     * @return array<string,mixed>
     */
    public function get_variables_for_validation(): array
    {
        // it's better to return dummy data here [ "another_var" => "dummy string", ]
        return $this->get_variables();
    }
    
     /**
     * @return array<string,mixed>
     */
    public function get_ajax_response(): array
    {
        // $message = $this->get_container()->get(MyClass::class)->myMethod();
        return [
	   // "message" => $message,
	];
     }
};

Tip: if you pass custom variables using the get_variables() method, we recommend to change the get_variables_for_validation() method and return dummy data there.

Advanced Views has the built-in automatic template validation, which called on the Save action. There is no sense to return real data in this case, and it's better to return dummy data, to avoid potential issues with missing functions.

For example, if you use WP functions inside, they may be front-end only, and aren't available in the wp-admin area, which will lead to the failed validation.

PHP-DI support

PHP-DI is a well-known dependency injection container. If you haven't used it, we recommend checking it out and harnessing its capabilities.

Advanced Views supports PHP-DI out-of-the-box. To simplify access to your theme's PHP class instances inside the Custom_Data instances, you can employ the PHP-DI container. To do this, you need to define the container in your theme using the advanced_views/container hook. Then, you can access it using the get_container() method in any method of the Custom_Data class.

Example

A simple example is below:

1. Define a container in your theme:

<?php

use DI\Container;

$container = new Container();

add_filter( 'acf_views/container', function () use ( $container ) {
	return $container;
} );

3. Request Container inside the Custom_Data:

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Org\Wplake\Advanced_Views\Pro\Bridge\Views\Custom_View_Data;
use MyTheme\MyClass;

return new class() extends Custom_View_Data {
    /**
     * @return array<string,mixed>
     */
    public function get_variables(): array {
       $container = $this->get_container();

       if ( null === $container ) {
          return array();
       }

       $my_class = $container->get( MyClass::class );

       return array(
          'my_var_with_complex_calculation' => $my_class->get_var(),
       );
    }
};

If you're unfamiliar with PHP-DI concepts, the benefits of the code above may be unclear to you. We could replace $container->get with new MyClass() and it would work perfectly. However, the container is a powerful tool, especially for more complex cases.

You won't see a significant benefit if your MyClass has no dependencies. But let's say the class has 2-3 constructor arguments (e.g., a logger and a theme object). To get the MyClass instance, you would need to create those instances initially. Furthermore, one of those arguments may have its own arguments, and your creation code will turn into a multi-line creation.

With PHP-DI, you don't need to worry about the constructor, as PHP-DI will use PHP's reflection feature to get the necessary instances and pass them to the constructor on the fly.

An additional benefit is that the ->get method, unlike ->make, creates the instance only once, reusing it for other calls. This way, you get a smart 'global' variables pool, allowing you to handle dependencies easily and efficiently.

Unlike the singleton pattern, which is considered an anti-pattern, it doesn't turn your code into single-instance classes. You still define constructors, clearly specifying class dependencies, while avoiding the hassle of manual creation.

Additionally, PHP-DI supports and encourages the use of interfaces, so you can call

->get(MapInterface::class)->calculate() in your code, while defining which exact class should be used for each interface in the container configuration.

How to use it

Go to Edit your View.

Switch to the Template tab.

Scroll down until you see the Custom Template Variables field.

Add your PHP code.

Click on the Update button to save your View.