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Support › MB Custom Table › Faulty 'text_list' updateResolved
Hello!
I created a table like this (relevant columns shown only):
MB_Custom_Table_API::create( "{$wpdb->prefix}_characters", array(
'height_known' => 'BOOLEAN',
'height_imperial' => 'TEXT',
'height_metric' => 'DECIMAL(5, 2) UNSIGNED NOT NULL',
), array() );
And then I created a metabox like this (relevant custom fields only):
$meta_boxes[] = array(
'title' => esc_html__( 'Characters Extra Info', 'my_text_domain' ),
'id' => 'characters-extra-info',
'post_types' => array( CHARACTER_CPT_SLUG ),
'context' => 'normal',
'priority' => 'high',
'autosave' => true,
'storage_type' => 'custom_table',
'table' => "{$wpdb->prefix}_characters",
'fields' => [
[
'id' => 'height_known',
'type' => 'switch',
'name' => esc_html__( 'Height known?', 'my_text_domain' ),
'std' => 0,
'style' => 'square',
'on_label' => 'Yes',
'off_label' => 'No',
'columns' => 4,
'tab' => 'biological-tab',
],
[
'id' => 'height_imperial',
'type' => 'text_list',
'name' => esc_html__( 'Imperial height', 'my_text_domain' ),
'options' => [
'ft' => '',
'in' => '',
],
'columns' => 4,
'tab' => 'biological-tab',
'visible' => [
'when' => [['height_known', '=', 1]],
'relation' => 'and',
],
],
[
'id' => 'height_metric',
'type' => 'text',
'name' => esc_html__( 'Metric height', 'my_text_domain' ),
'placeholder' => esc_html__( 'cm', 'my_text_domain' ),
'columns' => 4,
'readonly' => 1,
'tab' => 'biological-tab',
'visible' => [
'when' => [['height_known', '=', 1]],
'relation' => 'and',
],
],
],
'tab_style' => 'default',
'tab_wrapper' => true,
'tabs' => array(
'biological-tab' => [
'label' => 'Biological',
'icon' => 'dashicons-admin-users',
],
),
Here's the problem: the first time I set the 'height_imperial' field, everything is fine. The database column is NULL and it all works out nicely. For values "5 feet 7 inches", the database column will be:
a:2:{i:0;s:1:"5";i:1;s:1:"7";}
The next time I update the post, regardless of whether I change the values or not, the database changes to:
a:3:{i:0;s:0:"";i:1;s:1:"5";i:2;s:1:"7";}
That extra "0" at the beginning of the array causes the values to shift and the field is not displayed properly anymore, and it's saved wrongly from now on.
I was able to confirm with the filter 'rmwb_height_imperial_value' that the values passed on is correct, namely array(5,7) AND that it all works out perfectly if I disable the custom table storage.
I found the problem!
Since the 'text_list' field has the parameter 'multiple' set to true automatically by MetaBox, in the file /meta-box/inc/field.php, in the function 'save', the "Save cloned fields as multiple values instead serialized array" block is being called (lines 314-321).
Inside that function, there is a call to $storage->delete( $post_id, $name ).
Now, moving back to the MetaBox Custom Table plugin, in the function /inc/class-rwmb-table-storage.php there is the function "delete" around line 100. Inside, there is an "if" check for "$delete_all || ! $meta_value || $row[ $meta_key ] === $meta_value" and in there there is an assignment: $row[ $meta_key ] = "";
Because of that assignment to "", the function "add" a few lines above fails. Namely, when it calls $this->get( $object_id, $meta_key ) because there is an array conversion happening. The exact line is (array) $this->get( $object_id, $meta_key );
In this case, the "" value gets converted to [""] which is NOT an empty array. All the other values from the text_list get appended and thus the first value is always wrong.
The solution is one of two:
a) in the "delete" function, instead of assigning "", assign an empty array [] if the field accepts multiple entries
b) in the "add" function, rewrite the line $values = (array) $this->get( $object_id, $meta_key ) to:
$values = $this->get( $object_id, $meta_key );
if ( $values === '' ) {
$values = array();
} else {
$values = (array) $values;
}
Hi,
Thank you for your effort. I will send all information to the developer team to cover this case.