rules: load related entities, entity fields unavailable

I have been running into this issue since I started using the relation module. Stellar job on the relation module btw!

I've found several problems with the Loads related entities action. The first is that it returns a generic entity list so rules has no idea what fields might be available to it. The second is that the values in the list it does return are not the entity objects themselves, but the wrapped entity metadata structures. So even if you did specify the type of the returned entity list attempts to access the data would fail on execution. At least that is what I've found.

I've created a patch to fix both these problems. So an optional entity type parameter has been added. I've tested it on existing rules that use the Loads related entities action and it seems to upgrade just fine. I don't think changing the return format from the wrapper to the entity object will affect any existing rules since they weren't working before, but it may if anybody has written custom code to extract the info from the returned list. I would say this is a beware for people upgrading, but probably not all that common. By specifying an entity type to return it now allows you to access the functions directly in rules.

I'm attaching a second patch that includes both the above fixes and a new action Fetch relation endpoints to return related entities of a specific type found in a particular relation. This is needed as often I want to alter data on an existing relation or operate on its endpoints. The Loads related entities function doesn't allow you to be relation specific, nor would the endpoints [token] field. The coolest thing (IMHO) about this function is that it returns a single entity if you only select 1 in the How Many parameter or a list of entities of a specific type otherwise.

This also, address all the requests by @Itangalo in #1260262: More Rules actions! minus #4.

This is in fact a bug, upping it to major only because I image many people are having this frustration and are hitting a wall if they are not a developer.

btw, the above patches are against the latest dev as of today.

#1: relation-loads-related-entities-fix-1361796.patch queued for re-testing.

#1: relation-loads-related-entities-fix-plus-bonus-action-1361796.patch queued for re-testing.

When using the "Loads related entities" after applying the 2nd patch, I get the following when going to pick the relation type:

An AJAX HTTP error occurred.
HTTP Result Code: 500
Debugging information follows.
Path: /system/ajax
StatusText: error
ResponseText: Recoverable fatal error: Argument 2 passed to ctools_export_crud_load_multiple() must be an array, string given, called in /test.dev/sites/all/modules/relation/relation.module on line 453 and defined in ctools_export_crud_load_multiple() (line 102 of /test.dev/sites/all/modules/ctools/includes/export.inc).

@7wonders: which version did you apply the patch against. The patches I created were to be applied against dev back when I first posted them. Its likely they have diverged again and a new patch will be needed.

Against the latest dev

Re-uploading the patch, it seemed to apply for me.

So, at least this passes tests (which means little cos the bot doesnt run the rules tests). acrazyanimal, 7wonders please report back whether it still works.

@chx: I just applied the patch against the latest dev and received the same error reported by 7wonders when editing an existing rule already configured to use the "Loads related entities".

I will investigate further...

THanks for the report! It's unlikely I can find the time to debug this any time soon so special thanks for investigating further.

Got it. Missing array []. Not sure how that happened, it was done right on my initial copy. I must have messed it up before making the patch somehow??? weird.

Anyway, try testing this version out.

yep, that did the job ;)

#13: relation-loads-related-entities-fix-plus-bonus-action-1361796_6.patch queued for re-testing.

Oh crap I accidentally committed the previous one with the UI separation! Fixing.

Committed, thanks.

bollocks! chx you messed up my authorship cred ... its cool, accidents happen. Thanks for committing. ;)

I did? How so?

The patch I gave you was git commit aware and had my author info included in it. You committed the changes along with your 'Separate API and UI modules' changes and no cred was attributed to me whatsoever for actually doing the work to fix the 'Loads related entities' and adding the new 'Fetch relation endpoints' action. Stings a little to put effort into something, but not get the credit due. I'm sure you understand.

Commit c04134c on 7.x-1.x
by chx
Separate API and UI modules.

You did add my name to the commit after it for fixing the [], but still no authorship.

Adding a commit author

I will take more care of this. Believe me, I understand more than you'd think how much this matters.

I have re-committed this so that you got your credit. Thanks for your work.

Thanks chx, I appreciate the effort. :) I also appreciate this amazing module! Good work guys.

First, thanks to everyone involved in the creation and following development of this module, I've been having fun using it, although I recently ran into a problem related to what's been talked here:

I created a rule that relates a user with an OG group (relation type: "is tutor of"). Now I want to provide another rule for when that person stops being a tutor for that group, so I go to rules and try to use "loads related entities" but there is no way to find the exact relation of the current user and his/her group.

In few words: how do you delete a relation from rules?

thanks again, hope I explained myself and that someone can help here.

nico

Please file a separate support issue.

i will

thanks