Saving entry with grid field isn’t working

Question

I’m creating an ExpressingEngine extension that upon activation, automatically creates a channel with fields. One of the fields the extension creates is a grid field. I create the field like this:

$floor_plans_field = array(
    'field_name' => 'floor_plans',
    'field_label' => 'Floor Plans',
    'field_type' => 'grid',
    'field_order' => 30,
    'field_instructions' => 'The floor plans for the property',
    'field_required' => 'n',
    'field_search' => 'n',
    'field_is_hidden' => 'n',
);

$field = array_merge($floor_plans_field, array(
    'group_id' => $group_id,
    'site_id' => 1,
));

$field_id = $this->EE->api_channel_fields->update_field($field);

$file_column = array(
    'field_id' => $field_id,
    'content_type' => 'channel',
    'col_order' => 1,
    'col_type' => 'file',
    'col_label' => 'File',
    'col_name' => 'file',
    'col_instructions' => 'A floor plan.',
    'col_required' => 'y',
    'col_search' => 'n',
    'col_settings' => json_encode(array(
        'field_content_type' => 'all',
        'show_existing' => 'y',
        'field_required' => 'y',
    )),
);

$query = $this->EE->db->insert('grid_columns', $file_column);

It creates the grid field for floor plans, and a single column for file (so the user can add multiple floor plans to the entry).

However, when I save the entry I get the following error:

A Database Error Occurred Error Number: 1054

Unknown column 'col_id_5' in 'field list'

INSERT INTO `exp_channel_grid_field_457` (`col_id_5`, `entry_id`, `row_order`) VALUES ('{filedir_1}banner1.jpg',62,0)

Filename: models/grid_model.php

Line Number: 767

It seems as though the ID of the grid column isn’t getting replaced.

Why is this? What am I doing wrong? Any help here would be appreciated as documentation on the grid field is… sparse.

Answer 1

Please note this is UNTESTED but written from the actual code files so should play fair...

//load up the grid model for later use
ee()->load->model('grid_model');

//first we create our field using the channel_field_api (your code)
$floor_plans_field = array(
    'field_name' => 'floor_plans',
    'field_label' => 'Floor Plans',
    'field_type' => 'grid',
    'field_order' => 30,
    'field_instructions' => 'The floor plans for the property',
    'field_required' => 'n',
    'field_search' => 'n',
    'field_is_hidden' => 'n',
);

$field = array_merge($floor_plans_field, array(
    'group_id' => $group_id,
    'site_id' => 1,
));

$field_id = $this->EE->api_channel_fields->update_field($field);

//now we have field ID we create our data table using the grid model
if ( ee()->grid_model->create_field($field_id, 'grid') == false ) {
    //handle error here
}

//next we add some columns (one in this case) again with the grid model
$file_column = array(
    'field_id' => $field_id,
    'content_type' => 'channel',
    'col_order' => 1,
    'col_type' => 'file',
    'col_label' => 'File',
    'col_name' => 'file',
    'col_instructions' => 'A floor plan.',
    'col_required' => 'y',
    'col_search' => 'n',
    'col_settings' => json_encode(array(
        'field_content_type' => 'all',
        'show_existing' => 'y',
        'field_required' => 'y',
    )),
);
$new_col_id = ee()->grid_model->save_col_settings($file_column, FALSE);

Give this a try, be sure to read the comments in Grid_Model.php as you go, and also check the return values and the database as you go through :)

Answer 2

Have you had a look at the Grid Model that is in the system folder? Specifically /system/expressionengine/models/grid_model.php

This model has methods for creating new Grid Fields (create_field on line 140), add and update columns (save_col_settings on lone 235) and saving data into the grid (save_field_data on line 689). Is this the API you are looking for?

Surfice to say, this Model shows you the code to create grids, columns and data. With a little searching you could probably find the code that calls these model functions for examples on how to use (appologies I don't have a test enviroment to post actual code for you atm) I suspect in the /system/expressionengine/fieldtypes/ft.grid.php is a good place to start for this. Another place is the apply_settings function on line 606 of /system/expressionengine/fieldtypes/libraries/Grid_lib.php

In order to load and use the model, all you need to do in your model is :

//load the Grid Model
ee()->load->model('grid_model');

//create a new Grid field (PSEUDO)
$settings = array(
    'settings_for_grid' => true
);
$new_field = ee()->grid_model->create_field($settings, 'grid');

//create a column on the new grid
$col_id = 1;
$col_settings = array(
    'settings_for_column' => true
);
$col_ids[] = ee()->grid_model->save_col_settings($col_settings, $col_id = 1, 'grid');

Seems straight forward enougth, although determining your settings (for the columns look to like 645 ;) ) might be a pain it should work, after all this is how the admin CP creates the fields!

Let us know how you get on mate!

---

**Edit - Added Column creation code for comment below

// Add the fieldtype's columns to our data table
ee()->api_channel_fields->setup_handler($column['col_type']);
ee()->api_channel_fields->set_datatype(
    $col_id,
    json_decode($column['col_settings'], TRUE),
    array(),
    TRUE,
    FALSE,
    $this->_get_ft_api_settings($column['field_id'], $content_type)
);

The code above is fromthe Grid_Model's save_col_settings function. After it creates the entry in the grid_columns table, where $col_id is the returned column_id (iterate youd $col_ids[]) it creates the "fieldtype's column" as they call it, which will hold the data value.

That'll be what your missing! Assuming you are indeed missing the columns in the data table.