Cannot retrieve custom fields inside exp:store:checkout tag

Question

Following Store official documentation I'm trying to include the content of some custom fields inside my {exp:store:checkout}{/exp:store:checkout} tags. According to the docs:

Inside the {items} loop, you can use the following variables.

entry_id

The entry id of this item. If you need to access other custom fields associated with this item, you can feed the entry id into a channel entries loop:

{items} {exp:channel:entries entry_id="{entry_id}"} {my_custom_field} {/exp:channel:entries} {/items}

So I tried to use the following code:

{items}
            <tr class="item_row">
                <td class="item">
                {exp:channel:entries channel='books' entry_id='{entry_id}'} 

                {book_author}


                {/exp:channel:entries}      
                    <h4><a href="{path='store/product'}/{url_title}">{title}</a> </h4>

                </td>
                <td class="price">{price}</td>
                <td class="qty"><input name="items[{key}][item_qty]" value="{item_qty}" class="input-mini" /></td>
                <td style="text-align:right" >{item_subtotal}</td>
            </tr>
        {/items}

but the content of the {book_author} custom field doesn't show up. Switching the template debug on I can see that the entry_id is retrieved:

 `{exp:channel:entries channel='books' entry_id='30'}
(0.075356 / 7.57MB) Closing Tag Found
(0.075517 / 7.59MB) Tag: {exp:channel:entries channel='books' entry_id='35'}
(0.075568 / 7.57MB) Closing Tag Found`

so everything looks ok, but a few lines below I read:

(0.093014 / 9.06MB) Calling Class/Method: Channel/entries
(0.093276 / 9.06MB) -> Class Called: Channel
(0.095509 / 9.22MB) -> Method Called: entries
(0.116360 / 10.72MB) Returning No Results Content
(0.116438 / 10.72MB) -> Data Returned

I also tried to use CE_image plug-in to put a tumbnail inside the checkout page, but the plug-in tag is not processed, and the plugin's own debug details don't show-up either.

All the other product details show-up so the {exp:store:checkout} tag seems to work, that is all the details that are not called inside the exp:channel:entries loop.

Is there a reason why the code above doesn't work?

Answer 1

Generally speaking, I've noticed that order can be really important with placing a channel entries loop inside of another tag. I believe the {exp:channel:entries} info should come right after the {item} tag. I'm not certain if you need the channel='books' tag. It should be fine, but try it without first, then if that works, go back and add it.

Having it, generally reduces the number of queries the channels tag needs to make, but since the items embedded, it could cause issues. So start without, then add.

{items}
    {exp:channel:entries entry_id='{entry_id}'} 
    <tr class="item_row">
        <td class="item">
            <h4><a href="{path='store/product'}/{url_title}">{title}</a> </h4>
            {book_author}
        </td>
        <td class="price">{price}</td>
        <td class="qty"><input name="items[{key}][item_qty]" value="{item_qty}" class="input-mini" /></td>
        <td style="text-align:right" >{item_subtotal}</td>
    </tr>
    {/exp:channel:entries}   
{/items}

Otherwise, it's just that you need the full record outputted for the {items} tag, which includes the price, quantity, and subtotal lines. Otherwise, your breaking the order.

Give that a try and see what happens.

Answer 2

I had similar issue and solution was to add status="not closed" to the exp:channel:entries tag from where I had pulled custom fields (GRID in my case)

Simple code:

{exp:store:checkout form_class="form-horizontal"}

                {items}
                    *Some code here*
                     {exp:channel:entries channel="products" status="not closed" dynamic="no" entry_id="{entry_id}"}
                      *Custom field code here*
                      {/exp:channel:entries}
                {/items}

{/exp:store:checkout}

Answer 3

It's quite likely this is a problem with parse order.

The easiest way to check for/avoid parse order issues is to use an embed:

{items}
    {embed="store/.checkout_item" entry_id="{entry_id}"}
{/items}

and in your store/.checkout_item template:

{exp:channel:entries entry_id="{embed:entry_id}"}
    {book_author}
{/exp:channel:entries}      

This works because embed tags are parsed after everything else in the template (so you can be sure the {entry_id} will be passed to that tag correctly). The store/.checkout_item template is parsed completely separately, so you won't run into any issues caused by nesting too many tags.