Drupal Search: Core API; CCK & Views (second half)

The notes from my presentation are organized into book pages here. There is a short 2 minute video embedded on page 3. You can also watch a 15 minute demonstration of the site that I put together for the client here.

See also: OSCMS description here

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Slide 1 - Contrib Modules

• views – merlinofchaos – great module!
• views_fastsearch
• views_filterblock
• daterange
• everything is available in D4.7 & D5

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Slide 2 - General Overview

• Create View
  • Provide Page View
  • Add Filters
    • Search: Fast Index
    • Node: Created Time Between (or other daterange)
    • Any other existing filter, such as taxonomy or node type
    • Create a custom filter
• Add Block Views Filterblock.0
  • Configure Block to use view
  • Place block anywhere, on (or not on) any page

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Slide 3 - Live Client Demo

Flash video - watch it here (Drupal.org doesn't allow embedded objects)

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Slide 4 - Creating a Search

• Download, Install & Enable Modules
• Enable search module
• Create View (admin/build/views)
• Add & Expose Filters
• Place views_filterblock in left sidebar
• Configure views_filterblock (admin/build/blocks/configure/views_filterblock/0)
• cron needed to create search indexes

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Slide 5 - Standard Filters

• Node: Author Name, Author is Anonymous, Author is Current User, Created Time, Current User Authored or Commented, Has New Content, Title, Type, Updated Time Between
• Comment: Count, Last Changed Time, Last Comment Time, Pending approval
• Role: Author Role
• Search: Index
• Taxonomy: Term, Term for Something, Vocbulary Name

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Slide 6 - Views Filter

• Additional Filters
• Node: Created Date Between, Modified Date Between (daterange)
• Search: Fast Index (views_fastsearch)
• Any module can create a new filter
• usernode module to search by user

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Slide 7 - Creating an Exposed Filter

function searchdemo_views_tables() {
  $tables['searchdemo_users'] = array(
    'name' => 'users',
    'join' => array(
      'left' => array('table' => 'node', 'field' => 'uid'),
      'right' => array('field' => 'uid'),
    ),
    'filters' => array(
      'name' => array(
        'name' => t('Node: Author Name contains'),
        'operator' => 'views_handler_operator_like',
        'handler' => 'views_handler_filter_like',
        'help' => t('filter by a particular user.'),
      ),
    )
  );
  return $tables;
}

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Slide 8 - Creating a (more compliced) Exposed Filter

Change from previous slide:

'handler' => 'views_handler_filter_picture',

Then add:

function views_handler_filter_picture($op, $filter, &$filterinfo, &$query) {
  $query->add_table('users', false, 1, array(
      'left' => array('table' => 'node', 'field' => 'uid'),
      'right' => array('field' => 'uid'),
    ));
  $sqlops = array(0 => '=', 1 => '<>');
  $query->add_where('users.picture'. $sqlops[$filter['value']] ."''");
}

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Slide 9 - Gotchas!

• Views displays nodes
  • not everything is a node, but many things can be nodified (i.e., usernode module)
• Taxonomy exposed filters are select lists, not checkboxes
  • Form_alter
  • extend views_filterblock to handle this as an option
• Node: Author filter is a select list, not a textfield
  • create your own exposed filter
• Searching relies on cron
  • node_cron_last, node_cron_last_nid can get out out-of-sync

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