Documentation missing for #object in Field API [#1310164]

In the Field API documentation at http://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/modules--field--field.module/group/field/7 #object is not documented.
It is, however, causing errors for me, so it would be good to document what #object refers to, and whether it is mandatory or optional (i.e. if it can be removed without any adverse side-effects.)

Comment	File	Size	Author
#6	doc-field-API-render-info-1310164-6.patch	548 bytes	sven.lauer
#6

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Comments

Comment #1

jhodgdon

she/her

English

CreditAttribution: jhodgdon commented 14 October 2011 at 21:59

Version:	7.8	» 8.x-dev
Status:	Active	» Postponed (maintainer needs more info)

Um. What is #object, and where/how is it causing you problems?

Comment #2

Mark_L6n CreditAttribution: Mark_L6n commented 14 October 2011 at 22:56

Version:

8.x-dev

» 7.8

I don't know what it is, it's not documented! But the Field render arrays I have examined with dpm() have it, with a value of 'stdClass'. I have tried printing them out to see what is inside but have failed so far. I was wondering if they were pointers to an enclosing object for context purposes, but that's only a wild guess.
As for the error, I am copying fields from a node to a QuickTabs tab inside that node and receiving an 'Uncaught exception thrown in session handler.' error message. Unsetting '#object' takes care of the message, but I don't know if doing this could have any bad side-effects. I'm asking about this at http://drupal.org/node/1310152

As an aside, I hope I am posting to the right place for documentation requests--I read to not post in the comments section but in the documentation issue queue. Please advise if I should post elsewhere. (Edit: I changed version # to 7.8, thinking I had made an error, but then saw you had changed it to 8. Apologies.)

Comment #3

jhodgdon

she/her

English

CreditAttribution: jhodgdon commented 14 October 2011 at 23:11

Oh, the field *render* arrays. That is not what is documented on the Field API page, and I don't know off-hand what they contain, or where they are documented (if anywhere actually).

And yes, this is the right place to post for documentation on api.drupal.org.

Comment #4

sven.lauer CreditAttribution: sven.lauer commented 16 October 2011 at 03:44

Status:

Postponed (maintainer needs more info)

» Needs review

This actually IS documented at field_attach_view(), where a "sample structure" is given, containing:

  '#object' => the fieldable entity being displayed,

http://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/modules--field--field.attach.inc/functi...

Works as designed? Or should we link to this information from somewhere? It is not obvious for someone theming an entity etc. that this would be documented at field_attach_view() ...

Comment #5

jhodgdon

she/her

English

CreditAttribution: jhodgdon commented 16 October 2011 at 20:04

Status:

Needs review

» Active

Thanks for the detective work!

It makes sense to me that after the description of the $field and $instance arrays, we could add a line saying something like "See field_attach_view() for documentation of the render array for formatting a field." (or maybe you can come up with better wording)