Creating new options for Magento attributes

Question

I'm having problems trying to create new options in the "Manage Options" tab. When you create an attribute, I know how to save the data correctly in the database. I'm replacing Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Catalog_Product_Attribute_Edit_Tab_Options with my module to create custom fields.

My module:

config.xml

<config>
        <blocks>
            <adminhtml>
                <rewrite>
                     <catalog_product_attribute_edit_tabs>Ceicom_Swatches_Block_Adminhtml_Tabs</catalog_product_attribute_edit_tabs>
                     <catalog_product_attribute_edit_tab_options>Ceicom_Swatches_Block_Adminhtml_Options</catalog_product_attribute_edit_tab_options>
                 </rewrite>
             </adminhtml>
        </blocks>
</config>

Ceicom/Swatches/Block/Adminhtml/Options.php

class Ceicom_Swatches_Block_Adminhtml_Options extends Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Catalog_Product_Attribute_Edit_Tab_Options
{
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
        $this->setTemplate('ceicom/attribute/options.phtml');
    }
}

in the Phtml file placed in the custom fields:

Apparently to do this needs adding new columns in the table eav_attribute_option. For example]: field_1, field_2.

To save additional fields I need to rewrite: Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Entity_Attribute::_saveOption().

Any tips on how to do this without changing the CORE, just as I did above using rewrite, and how to load the data bank for inputs to edit the attribute?

Answer 1

This is a possible workaround:

At the beggining I tried to override the eav class Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Entity_Attribute, but I didn't work. After looking closer to the code I found that the _saveOption method is called by another class that extends Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Entity_Attribute. So if you override Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Entity_Attribute with your custom class I wont have any effect in the saving option process. I also realized that there are another clases that extends Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Entity_Attribute

That clases are:

• Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Attribute
• Mage_Eav_Model_Mysql4_Entity_Attribute
• Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Attribute (abstract)

In order to be able to override the method in the attribute option save process you will have to:

1) Created a class that extends Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Entity_Attribute and override the method

class My_Module_Model_Eav_Resource_Entity_Attribute extends Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Entity_Attribute{ protected function _saveOption(Mage_Core_Model_Abstract $object){ //your custom logic here } }

Dont override Mage_Eav_Model_Resource_Entity_Attribute in your module config, the above class will serve as parent of our main target class Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Attribute which is the one that take part in the saving process.

2) Override in your module configuration the class Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Attribute with a new class that will extends you previous created class My_Module_Model_Eav_Resource_Entity_Attribute

Your config will look like this

<global>
      <models>
            <!-- Overrides Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Attribute -->
            <catalog_resource>
                <rewrite>
                    <attribute>My_Module_Model_Catalog_Resource_Attribute</attribute>
                </rewrite>
            </catalog_resource>
        </models>
       <!-- The rest of global config section -->
</global>

Now you will see your custom __saveOption method being executed when you save an attribute.