Workaround: block translation using flexinode and i18n

Hi,

Using flexinode.module and i18n.module I have managed to create multilingual blocks.

Here's what I've done and I'm looking forward to some comments, as I want to know how useful this workaround might be and what kind of polishing it needs :) I'm not a programmer, so please keep your comments simple and understandable...

It started with my wish to have some kind of news / sidenotes / links in the sidebar of my website. Therefore I needed: title, link, date, content.

First I created a flexinode called "sidenote", which got id 2, so let's say flexinode-type 2. As flexinodes are connected with their nodedata, I already had a title and a date. Therefore I defined two additional flexinode fields: link (which was given id 16) and content (which was given id 18). Now I was able to enter the necessary content just as easy as stories, blogposts, et cetera.

Second I had to create some php for the block. Using php I wanted to take care for both logic and themeing. First time ever... But I got it done, wooohaaa! For explaining the basic idea, I will suffice with quoting my code, as the comment lines will explain the logic. I implemented this code as part of a new block, which has been made visible in the right sidebar. Now all content of type sidenote (type 2) is showed as short stories with a title, link, date and content in the right sidebar and, moreover, in the right language as well! I also added a link at the bottom of the sidebar, which links to an overview page using taxonomy terms (this part needs some polishing definitely...).

The result can be found here:

• www.newoceans.nl (dutch version)
• www.newoceans.nl (english version)

NOTE
At the bottom of the code there are a lot of comment lines; these are for future use, when I want to show certain sidenotes in certain sections, using sections.module.

As said before: I'm looking forward to some feedback, thanks in advance!

Marc

<?php

// determination of the site's language using i18n.
$site_language 				= _i18n_get_lang();

// definition of flexinode-type for creating content:
// -  2 = custom defined type for nodes in sidebar (sidenotes).
$flexinode_type				= 2;

// defintion of flexinode-type fields providing content:
// - 16 = custom defined field for storing weblink;
// - 18 = custom defined field for storing content.
$flexinode_field_link	= 16;
$flexinode_field_body	= 18;

// initialization of sidebar's block.
$block_initialized 		= FALSE;

// query:
// selecting (flexi)node data
// where the flexinode-type is the one for sidenotes
// and the node's language is the site's language
// and the node's status is published
// sorted by date created.
$result_fn		= db_query
("	SELECT		*
		FROM			{node} 						n
		,					{flexinode_data} 	fn_d
		,					{flexinode_field}	fn_f
		,					{flexinode_type}	fn_t
		WHERE			fn_t.ctype_id 		= '$flexinode_type'
		AND				fn_t.ctype_id 		= fn_f.ctype_id
		AND				fn_f.field_id 		= fn_d.field_id
		AND				fn_d.nid 					= n.nid
		AND				n.language 				= '$site_language'
		AND				n.status 					= 1
		ORDER BY	n.created					DESC
");

// loop for every row of the query above.
// NOTE:	one node will have multiple rows, 
// 				namely one for every flexinode field.
//				rows for one node are next to each other,
//				because of ordering by date and time created.
//				the transition from one node to another
//				will be determined by comparing:
//				- $previous_node;
//				- $current_node.
while ($row = db_fetch_object($result_fn)) 
{
	if ($block_initialized == FALSE)
	{
		// at the start of the first loop, 
		// the block needs to be initialized:
		// row defines $current_node and $previous_node.
		$previous_node = $row->created;
		$current_node = $row->created;
		$block_initialized = TRUE;
	}
	else
	{
		// at the start of other loops, 
		// row defines $current_node only.
		$current_node = $row->created;
	}

	if ($current_node < $previous_node)
	{
		// if $current_node and $previous_node are not equal,
		// the query has just entered the data of another node,
		// so the gathered content needs to be printed
		// and $previous_node needs to be updated.
		print '<a href="/' . $link . '" target="_blank" title=" link naar ' . $titel . '"> ' . $titel . '</a>' . '<br /><small>' . $datum . ' - ' . $body . '<br /><br /></small>';
		$previous_node = $row->created;
	}

	// gathering content:
	// - date
	// - title
	// - weblink	(flexinodes textual data defined by:	$flexinode_field_link	= 16)
	// - content	(flexinodes textual data defined by:	$flexinode_field_link	= 18)
	// NOTE:	the gathering of content needs more than one loop,
	//				as every row contains one flexinode field
	//				which is stored in the textual data.
	//				so, for gathering the content of one node
	//				there are as many loops as there are flexinode fields.
	$datum = format_date($row->created, $type = 'custom', $format = 'j M Y', $timezone = NULL);
	$titel = $row->title;
  if ($row->field_id == $flexinode_field_link)
	{  $link = $row->textual_data;
	}
	if ($row->field_id == $flexinode_field_body)
	{  $body = $row->textual_data;
	}
}

// after finishing the last loop,
// the content of the concerning node needs to be printed as well.
print '<a href="/' . $link . '" target="_blank" title=" link naar ' . $titel . '"> ' . $titel . '</a>' . '<br /><small>' . $datum . ' - ' . $body . '<br /><br /></small>';

// addition of an extra link at the bottom
// to access an overview page in the right language.
// still needs some polishing :D
if ($site_language == "nl")
{	print '<a href="/nl/taxonomy/term/73" target="_top">' . t("all links") . '...</a>';
}
elseif ($site_language == "en-local")
{	print '<a href="/en-local/taxonomy/term/74" target="_top">' . t("all links") . '...</a>';
}

// from here some code that determines the section (using section.module),
// which might be useful when trying to create section dependent block content.
//
// $res = db_query("SELECT path, status, template FROM {sections_data} s");
// 
// while ($row = db_fetch_object($res)) 
// {     $path = drupal_get_path_alias($_GET['q']);
//       $regexp = '/^('. preg_replace(array('/(\r\n?|\n)/', '/\\\\\*/', '/(^|\|)\\\\<front\\\\>($|\|)/'), array('|', '.*', '\1\2'), preg_quote($row->path, '/')) .')$/';
//       if($row->status && preg_match($regexp, $path)) {
//        $sectie = $row->template;
//       }
// }
// print $sectie;

?>