Using Stash to get data from 1 of 2 fields

Question

I'm currently using a template that displays an entry that could come from one of two channels like so;

{exp:channel:entries
    channel="channel1|channel2"
    status="open"
    limit="1"
    require_entry="yes"
}
    {exp:stash:set parse_tags="yes" parse_depth="3" save="yes" scope="site"}
        {stash:place_shortdesc}{cf_channel1_shortdescription}{cf_channel2_shortdescription}{/stash:place_shortdesc}
        {stash:place_desc}{cf_channel1_description}{cf_channel2_description}{/stash:place_desc}
    {/exp:stash:set}
{/exp:channel:entries}

I'm using Stash to create the variables, for example {stash:place_shortdesc} where the short description could come from 1 of 2 fields, depending on which channel the current entry is from.

I was wondering if this is the best way to approach this, particularly for performance? or whether it needs something like conditional loading of fields based on channel?

Thanks.

Answer 1

There's no need for conditionals as the fields are mutually exclusive. With Stash on the inside of channel:entries tags there's also no need for parse_tags or parse_depth since the enclosed content contains no tags. (The custom fields are variables, not tags). Otherwise it should still be fine the way you have it. Personally I prefer putting Stash on the outside of tags, and generally use set_list even for single entries, since this allows you to store a single named cache entry instead of lots of separate ones for each variable. I also find it simplifies any future parse order issues a bit:

{exp:stash:set_list name="cached-data-{segment_2}" parse_tags="yes" save="yes" scope="site"}
    {exp:channel:entries
        channel="channel1|channel2"
        status="open"
        limit="1"
        require_entry="yes"
    }        
        {stash:place_shortdesc}{cf_channel1_shortdescription}{cf_channel2_shortdescription}{/stash:place_shortdesc}
        {stash:place_desc}{cf_channel1_description}{cf_channel2_description}{/stash:place_desc}        
    {/exp:channel:entries}
{/exp:stash:set_list}

Answer 2

I would just use a conditional for which tags to use in the stash:set:

{exp:channel:entries
    channel="channel1|channel2"
    status="open"
    limit="1"
    require_entry="yes"
}
    {exp:stash:set 
        parse_tags="yes" 
        parse_conditionals="yes" 
    }
        {if channel == 'channel1'}
            {stash:place_shortdesc}{cf_channel1_shortdescription}{/stash:place_shortdesc}
            {stash:place_desc}{cf_channel1_description}{/stash:place_desc}
        {/if}
        {if channel == 'channel2'}
            {stash:place_shortdesc}{cf_channel2_shortdescription}{/stash:place_shortdesc}
            {stash:place_desc}{cf_channel2_description}{/stash:place_desc}
        {/if}
    {/exp:stash:set}
{/exp:channel:entries}

I don't think performance would be an issue as you're only dealing with a single entry. One thing that would help though is not using additional parse_depth unless it's needed for stash set. Also, pretty sure you need to add parse_conditionals="yes" to the set parameters.