exposed filter - override a textfield with a select field via hook_form_alter?

peter,
it looks like you are onto something with this, i couldn't figure it out and i gave up. i found a similar way with taxonomies. in which i let users define words in a vocabulary and then i could expose the taxonomy and choose a select box for filtering the results.
however, i would still prefer to understand the real way, so maybe you have sparked some inspiration to see if i can help with what you've got.
please let us all know if you get something as in my opinion the community would benifit a lot.

take care,
steve

<?php
  function MODULENAME_form_alter(&$form, &$form_state, $form_id) {
    switch($form_id) {
      case 'views_exposed_form':
        if (isset($form['qmf'])) {
          $content_field = content_fields('field_product_manufacturer');
          $db_info = content_database_info($content_field);
          $result = db_query("SELECT DISTINCT " . $db_info['columns']['value']['column'] . " FROM {" . $db_info['table'] . "}");
          
          $options[""] = "<Any>";
          while($row = db_fetch_array($result)) {
            $value = $row[$db_info['columns']['value']['column']];
            $options[$value] = $value;
          }
           
          $field = &$form['qmf'];
          unset($field['#size']);
          $field['#type'] = "select";
          $field['#options'] = $options;
          $field['#default_value'] = $content_field['widget']['default_value']['value'];
          
          $form['submit']['#value'] = t('Search');
        }          
      break;       
    }
  }  
?>

Replace all occurrences of "MODULENAME" with the name of your module...

I don't expect this to work in every possible situation. It could be a lot smarter. Or have an interface.. or do your dishes.. for now, just change the values in the MODULENAME_rewrite_field_list to match the identifiers in your views exposed filter and cck fields.

Ultimately, we need this concept *IN* CCK, maybe using CCK widgets appropriately. Until then..

<?php 

  function MODULENAME_menu() {
    $items["MODULENAME/autocomplete/%"] = array(
      'title' => 'Autocomplete for custom module',
      'page callback' => 'MODULENAME_autocomplete',
      'page arguments' => array(2, 3),
      'access arguments' => array('access content'),
      'type' => MENU_CALLBACK,
    );
    return $items;
  }

  function MODULENAME_rewrite_field_list() {
    $fields['qmf'] = array(
      'name' => 'field_product_manufacturer',
      'type' => 'dropdown',  
    );

    $fields['qc'] = array(
      'name' => 'field_product_color',
      'type' => 'autocomplete',
    );

    return $fields;
  }

  function MODULENAME_form_alter(&$form, &$form_state, $form_id) {
    switch($form_id) {
      case 'views_exposed_form': 
        $field_list = MODULENAME_rewrite_field_list();

        foreach($field_list as $field => $field_data) {
          if (isset($form[$field])) {
            $content_field = content_fields($field_data['name']);
            $db_info = content_database_info($content_field);
            $result = db_query("SELECT DISTINCT " . $db_info['columns']['value']['column'] . " FROM {" . $db_info['table'] . "}");

            // Dropdown Field
            if ($field_data['type'] == "dropdown") {
              $options[""] = "<Any>";
              while($row = db_fetch_array($result)) {
                $value = $row[$db_info['columns']['value']['column']];
                $options[$value] = $value;
              }
                   
              unset($form[$field]['#size']);
              $form[$field]['#type'] = "select";
              $form[$field]['#options'] = $options;
            }

            // Autocomplete Field
            else if ($field_data['type'] == "autocomplete") {
              $form[$field]['#autocomplete_path'] = 'MODULENAME/autocomplete/' . $field;
            }
            
            $form[$field]['#default_value'] = $content_field['widget']['default_value']['value'];
       
            // Change the name of the "Apply" button      
            $form['submit']['#value'] = t('Search');
          }
        }
      break;
    }
  }

  function MODULENAME_autocomplete($field, $value) {
    $field_list = MODULENAME_rewrite_field_list();
    if (count($field_list[$field])) {
      $matches = array();

      $content_field = content_fields($field_list[$field]['name']);

      $db_info = content_database_info($content_field);
      $column = $db_info['columns']['value']['column'];   
      $sql = "SELECT DISTINCT `" . $column . "` FROM {" . $db_info['table'] . "} WHERE `" . $column . "` LIKE '%%%s%%'";
      $result = db_query($sql, $value);
      while($row = db_fetch_array($result)) {
        $matches[$row[$column]] = check_plain($row[$column]);
      }
      
      drupal_json($matches);
      exit;
    }

  }
?>

of course, if this was a cck textfield and you created a select list by entering a list of values when configuring the field - then when you added a views filter that was the "allowed values" version of the filter for that field, you could expose the filter and it would also be a select list.. :)

Thanks for idea fixed my problem too.

For me it worked with;

<?php
$quartiers[""]= t("<Any>");
?>