Exporting Beans to Features?

Thanks jeoffreyr,

This isn't functionality that I'll be putting into beans but it will go into boxes 2.x. Boxes 2.x will be the core of the beans module with a few addons.

I'm moving this issue over there for now.

@indytechcook - I don't really see much discussion about Boxes 2.x on the project page or even a lot of active development.

Based on your comments, it sounds like the Beans module is going to become the 2.x version of Boxes or that the 2.x branch is being rewritten to supersede Beans.- is the correct? Boxes and Beans definitely seem like they should be combined, but neither project seems to have discussed that. Is there an issue or documentation for that that I'm missing?

@rcross. since treehouse agency (beans owner) and phase2 (boxes owner) have merged companies so we have been discussing it heavily internally.

So the boxes 2.x branch is currently just the beans module with a different name. This is the starting point for what boxes 2.0 will be. Beans at the heart. We are trying to organize the issues so we phase2 can sponsor a major push for boxes 2.x.

A migration from beans to boxes 2.x is very important to me and it's more of a change for boxes then it is for beans. We choose the boxes namespace more due to the install base. (I did cry a little bit).

i think it might be good to get these plans out in the open more.

We've recently switched from boxes to beans during the middle of a build, and successfully used the conversion script that skwashd wrote. (https://github.com/skwashd/bean_boxes/) He has actively said he doesn't want to maintain it, but it would seem to me a good base to an upgrade/migration path.

@geoffreyr:

get Features to export/import Entities of arbitrary types. (I wouldn't be too surprised if someone has worked out a way

Possibly.

The use of the UUID module should permit Features capturing of Bean instances, in combination with (take your pick) either UUID Features Integration or Deploy.

I haven't achieved this yet, but it's going to be done during a current project. Just sharing my potential strategies according to the *current* state of the art.

Given that Bean works and Boxes 2.x does not, would you consider putting this into Bean in any case?

Apart from the fact that having to switch from bean to boxes will cause issues on existing sites, it would be nice to get this functionality without waiting for Boxes 2.x (Im sure it will be great, but its a big impediment).

EDIT: Im willing to reroll, test and debug the patch for Bean, if needed.

I think its valid for both Bean and Boxes 2.x to support this. There are sites out there using Bean today that need it. Would the best course of action be backporting it from Boxes 2.x to Bean?

Sounds perfect.

related: #1849668: Add support for Bean exporting (deployable bean instances).