redaxo-metainfo-fields

name

redaxo-metainfo-fields

description

Defining and managing REDAXO metainfo fields (cat_*, art_*, med_*) – the SELECT/RADIO/CHECKBOX `params` separator rules (| between options, : inside an option), the SQL-query escape hatch, the rex_metainfo_add_field idempotency caveat, and filtering categories by metainfo via rex_navigation::addFilter. Use when the user adds a metainfo field, sees broken/extra options in a metainfo dropdown, writes idempotent setup scripts that touch metainfo, or filters navigation by category metainfo.

REDAXO Metainfo Fields

Metainfo fields extend the standard structure tables (rex_article, rex_clang_article, rex_category) with custom columns. They show up in the article/category/media edit forms in the backend and are read with rex_article::getValue('art_<name>'), rex_category::getValue('cat_<name>'), rex_media::getValue('med_<name>').

The params separator gotcha (SELECT / RADIO / CHECKBOX)

When defining metainfo SELECT/RADIO/CHECKBOX fields via rex_metainfo_add_field(...) (or via the backend "Meta Infos" UI), the params string uses two separators that are easy to confuse:

• | separates options
• : separates a single option's key:label

A literal comma is part of the option string — it is not a separator.

// ✅ Correct — Yes/No dropdown with empty placeholder
$params = ':–|1:Ja';
//          └┬┘ └┬─┘
//           │   └── option 2: key=1, label="Ja"
//           └────── option 1: key="", label="–"

// ✅ Correct — three options
$params = '1:Tag|2:Woche|3:Monat';

// ❌ Wrong — comma is treated as part of the label
$params = '|–,1|Ja';  // produces 3 broken options: "", "–,1", "Ja"

Source of truth: addons/metainfo/lib/handler/handler.php — the parser does explode('|', $params) then explode(':', $valueGroup, 2).

SQL-query escape hatch

If params parses as a SELECT ... query, REDAXO loads options from the DB instead of treating it as a literal list. Useful for dynamic dropdowns:

$params = 'SELECT id, name FROM ' . rex::getTable('team_role') . ' ORDER BY name';

The first column becomes the option key, the second becomes the label.

Function signature

rex_metainfo_add_field() has a non-obvious parameter order — the target table is derived from the field name's prefix (art_* → articles, cat_* → categories, med_* → media, clang_* → languages), there's no explicit table argument.

rex_metainfo_add_field(
    string  $title,         // backend label
    string  $name,          // column name WITH prefix, e.g. 'cat_in_navi_top'
    int     $priority,      // display order in the backend form
    string  $attributes,    // raw input attributes, e.g. 'class="form-control"'
    int     $type,          // type_id — see table below
    string  $default,       // default value (still a string)
    ?string $params   = null, // SELECT/RADIO/CHECKBOX options OR a SELECT-query
    ?string $validate = null,
    string  $restrictions = '',
    ?string $callback = null,
);

Idempotent setup pattern

rex_metainfo_add_field() only adds — it silently no-ops if a field with that name already exists, and it doesn't update params/default/etc. on subsequent runs. For setup scripts that should be safe to re-run:

$tableName = rex::getTable('metainfo_field');
$existing  = rex_sql::factory()->getArray(
    'SELECT id, params FROM ' . $tableName . ' WHERE name = :name',
    ['name' => 'cat_in_navi_top']
);

if (empty($existing)) {
    rex_metainfo_add_field(
        'In top navi',         // $title (backend label)
        'cat_in_navi_top',     // $name (must start with cat_/art_/med_/clang_)
        100,                   // $priority
        '',                                  // $attributes
        rex_metainfo_default_type::SELECT,   // $type
        '',                                  // $default
        ':–|1:Ja',             // $params (option list)
    );
} elseif ($existing[0]['params'] !== ':–|1:Ja') {
    // UPDATE the row directly to fix params on an existing field
    rex_sql::factory()
        ->setTable($tableName)
        ->setWhere(['id' => $existing[0]['id']])
        ->setValue('params', ':–|1:Ja')
        ->update();
}

Filtering navigation by category metainfo

rex_navigation has addFilter() for narrowing the rendered tree to categories matching a metainfo value:

$nav = rex_navigation::factory();
$nav->addFilter('cat_in_navi_top', 1, '=');  // matches stored value '1'
$nav->get(0, 1, true, true);

addFilter does a strict == against $category->getValue('cat_in_navi_top') — so the empty option (key "") naturally filters out, only categories with value '1' pass through.

Common pitfalls

• Using a comma to separate options – ends up as part of the label, dropdown looks broken.
• Forgetting the leading colon-pipe (:–|) for the empty placeholder – the dropdown has no "blank" first option, so categories without a chosen value can't show "(none)".
• Calling rex_metainfo_add_field() twice with the same name and expecting the second call to update – it silently no-ops if the field exists.
• Defining a SELECT with a SQL params value that returns more than 2 columns – everything past the second column is ignored.
• Filtering navigation with addFilter('cat_x', 1) (no operator) when stored values are strings – 1 != '1' in some configurations. Pass the value as the same type as stored, or use = operator.
• Using metainfo for fields that should be a real relation – be_manager_relation (via YForm) is more powerful for FK relationships. Reserve metainfo for simple, structure-page-level annotations.

Type IDs reference

Source of truth: rex_metainfo_default_type (addons/metainfo/lib/default_type.php). Prefer the constants over the raw integers — they survive any future re-ordering.

type_id	Constant	Field type
1	rex_metainfo_default_type::TEXT	Text
2	rex_metainfo_default_type::TEXTAREA	Textarea
3	rex_metainfo_default_type::SELECT	Select
4	rex_metainfo_default_type::RADIO	Radio
5	rex_metainfo_default_type::CHECKBOX	Checkbox
6	rex_metainfo_default_type::REX_MEDIA_WIDGET	Media picker (single)
7	rex_metainfo_default_type::REX_MEDIALIST_WIDGET	Media picker (multi)
8	rex_metainfo_default_type::REX_LINK_WIDGET	Link picker (single)
9	rex_metainfo_default_type::REX_LINKLIST_WIDGET	Link picker (multi)
10	rex_metainfo_default_type::DATE	Date
11	rex_metainfo_default_type::DATETIME	Datetime
12	rex_metainfo_default_type::LEGEND	Legend (display-only separator)
13	rex_metainfo_default_type::TIME	Time