Podio PHP: category is empty when no value for item

Question

We are using the Podio PHP library to create forms for our users. These forms load their data from Podio trough the Podio PHP library. A form is linked to a specific Podio Item ID for this.

With this ID we get the fields and their possible values. Most of them are Category fields. We get the values for this trough:

<?php

   $item_data = PodioItem::get_basic( $podio_item_id );

   $car_types = $item_data->fields["car-type"]->config['settings']['options'];

   var_dump( $car_types );

?>

But the curious thing is, if the item in Podio has no value selected for this category, getting the options fail. It's empty. It doesn't exists.

How do we populate a form with values even if the item has no options selected for it?

Answer 1

Podio doesn't store empty value, it's empty, it doesn't exist, so there is nothing to store. In fact, what you are probably looking for is Application definition, which has list fields. Then category field has config with list of possible values and id's and colors. Like this:

"fields": [
      {
      "status": "active",
      "type": "category",
      "field_id": 81772,
      "label": "Status",
      "config": {
        "required": true,
        "label": "Status",
        .....some other config values .....
        "settings": {
          "multiple": false,
          "options": [
            {
              "status": "deleted",         <= example of deleted category option
              "text": "Not groomed",
              "id": 13,
              "color": "DCEBD8"
            },
            {
              "status": "active",          <= example of active category option
              "text": "Open",
              "id": 1,
              "color": "FFD5C2"
            },
            ....                           <= other category options goes here

---

You can read more about Apps here: https://developers.podio.com/doc/applications/get-app-22349