CCK-formatters make up the code and are thus capable of displaying the fields the way a coder wants it. Website developers often come short of formatters, when performing tasks. In this article I will offer a review of creating the formatter for node refence field, which will simply be adding anchor to the link.
First, we are to announce the formatter by causing the hook_field_formatter_info ():
/**
* Implements of hook_field_formatter_info().
*
* Here we define an array with the options we will provide in display fields page
* The array keys will be used later in hook_theme and theme_
*/
function example_field_formatter_info() {
$formatters = array(
'nodereference_anchor' => array(
// The name that the user will choose in the display fields configuration page.
'label' => t('Link(with anchor)'),
// An array with the types of cck fields that the formatter supports.
'field types' => array('nodereference'),
'description' => t('Displays a link to the referenced node with anchor.'),
),
);
return $formatters;
}
The hook returns an array to all arrays of all declared formatters in this module. Next, theming function in hook_theme() is to be announced and that will look after the field withdrawal:
/**
* Implements hook_theme().
*
* We declare our theme functions according to the array keys in hook_field_formatter_info.
*/
function example_theme() {
return array(
'example_formatter_nodereference_anchor' => array(
'arguments' => array('element' => NULL),
),
);
}
Well, here is the theming function itself:
/*
* Theming functions for our formatter.
*
* And here we do our magic. You can use dsm($element) to see what you have to play with (requires devel module).
*/
function theme_example_formatter_nodereference_anchor($element) {
$output = '';
if (!empty($element['#item']['nid']) && is_numeric($element['#item']['nid']) && ($title = _nodereference_titles($element['#item']['nid']))) {
$output = l($title, 'node/'. $element['#item']['nid'], array('fragment' => 'example-anchor'));
}
return $output;
}
As you see, all is simple and clear. This simplicity, however, will spare you the trouble of writing loads of code in tempate.php, and still more trouble of further supporting it.
