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WP_Query with meta_value impossible on cloned data fields (array) ?

Support › General › WP_Query with meta_value impossible on cloned data fields (array) ?

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  • March 26, 2015 at 12:02 AM #696
    PascalGenestPascalGenest
    Participant

    Hi, Is there a way to store metadata value from a cloned field, in multiples entries into the DB, instead of only one entry with values into an array ? I would like the same effect as if I would have used 'add_metadata( $meta_type, $object_id, $meta_key, $meta_value, $unique )' with the '$unique' parameter set to FALSE.

    I would need this because when we build a WP_Query that search for a value on a cloned field, it can find the value because the values are stored as an array serialized instead of multiple entries in the post_meta table in the MySql Database. And I can't use the 'IN' compare argument....

    $args = array(
    'post_type' => 'MyPosType',
    'meta_key' => 'color',
    'meta_value' => 'blue');

    $query = new WP_Query( $args );

    The only way that I have is to search only on 'meta_key' and then after use 'in_array' function trough a 'foreach' loop... but this is not really a efficient solution...

    March 26, 2015 at 11:10 PM #698
    Anh TranAnh Tran
    Keymaster

    Hi,

    This is an good question about how the plugin store post meta in the database. The short answer for your question is "no" and here is why:

    When the "clone" feature wasn't born, the plugin stores all meta data in the data base in a WordPress-compatible way, e.g. if field has single value, it will be saved in single row of postmeta table; if field has multiple values (set by 'multiple' => true), each value will be saved in single row of that table. This way you can use add_post_meta or update_post_meta field post's custom fields to retrieve meta value.

    But when the "clone" feature is born, it's confusing to store each cloned value in a single row of postmeta table. Because we don't know these are values of clones, or values of the field with multiple = true. In order to make it work for all field types and for consistency, I decided to store cloned values in an array and store that array in single row in the postmeta table.

    So, we can't use WP_Query to query based on value of a cloned field directly. I think your solution with foreach loop is a good solution for now.

    March 26, 2015 at 11:52 PM #700
    PascalGenestPascalGenest
    Participant

    OK, I see.
    I think it would be interesting to add a option to some fields params, that would use multiple rows for clones. Example :

    array(
    'name'=> ' the name',
    'id'=> "thefield",
    'desc'=> "some description",
    'type'=> 'text',
    'clone_advanced' => true,
    )

    People that would use these parameter would certainly have the knowledge to use the appropriate function/query to retrieve the data, and would be aware that if they add custom fields with the same ID, the data would be grouped in the same field/clone area. I'm not sure but I think you have your own functions to retrieve the data. I suggest that you could write an additional function to get data form 'advanced clone fields'.

    this would give a lot of power and flexibility to your great plugin. 🙂

    ),

    March 27, 2015 at 9:26 AM #702
    Anh TranAnh Tran
    Keymaster

    Thanks for your idea. It's a good solution for this purpose. I will think about it, maybe I will add hooks which allows us to do that. I will add more details and let's see how it goes.

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