Get the custom field of a Group - which API call is the best?

[stephang]

Hi,

I am struggling with the CiviCRM API and I'm not sure whether I'm using the right functions.

I have a group which has a custom field (id: custom_5, name: Ownership). What I want is to get the custom fields for one group. I use the following code so far:

$results=civicrm_api(
  "CustomValue", "get",
  array ('version' => '3', 'entity_id' => $group_id, 'entity_type' => 'group', 'entity_table' => 'civicrm_group')
  );

The result is quite what I need, however, CustomValue returns a warning.

Notice: Undefined offset: 2 in civicrm_api3_custom_value_get() (Zeile 171 von DRUPALROOT/sites/all/modules/civicrm/api/v3/CustomValue.php).

I also tried the API function Group.get, but this function does not return custom fields.

Thus, my questions are:

• Do I use the right API call and the right parameters? How do I get rid of the warning?
• Is there a better alternative? One that for instance returns all groups and their custom fields?

Does anyone have an idea?

Thanks for your help
Stephan

[Erik Hommel]

Yes, you use the righy API and parameters but it looks like there is still a little coding to be done.....I would ignore the warning if it gives you the right result. I do not think the group API returns custom fields, but I am not sure. Give it a try?

Here is the latest documentation on the API : http://civicrm.org/blogs/eileen/api-civicrm-41-under-hood

Let me know how you get on! You can also check if xavier_d, eileen, totten or me (erik_h or ErikHommel) are online on our IRC channel if you need help.

[stephang]

Erik, thanks for your reply. I think the group API doesn't return any custom fields (a pity though). I tried Group.get with custom_5 as a return value, but no success. So I'll pursue my approach and let you know.

[xavier]

Would be great if you could add the feature to retrieve custom fields (probably to handle the return param) on the api.group.get

X+

[Erik Hommel]

Agree with X, would be great if you could add the ability to retrieve custom fields to the group API!

[Eileen]

So,

if you  look at some of the other API that DO return custom fields you'll see this line

      _civicrm_api3_custom_data_get($activities[$activityId], 'Activity', $activityId, NULL, $values['activity_type_id']);
 
- so putting the right variant of that function in the right place in the group function would be the place to start & then you can raise a ticket & submit a patch (if any of those things sound tricky jump on our IRC channel for help)

[stephang]

I submitted a patch here: http://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-10035 
The patch works for me. I'll be glad to get your feedback on the jira issue.

With the patch, I can use a much nicer API call

$results=civicrm_api(
  "Group",
  "get",
   array ('version' =>'3', 'id' =>$group_id)
);

[Erik Hommel]

Thanks for submitting!

[xavier]

I'd really like avoiding that *by default* the request is more complex than needed. Ie if I just want the name of the groups and their id, that'd be a shame to fetch as well to do an extra sql (or several) to fetch all the custom data, waste memory/bandwidth to store stuff I won't use anyway.

We have started using a param return (for contact.get for instance), where you can be specific about what you want.

$results=civicrm_api(
  "Group",
  "get",
   array ('version' =>'3', 'id' =>$group_id, return=array ('id', 'name', 'custom_42'))
);


So by default it doesn't fetch the custom fields, and if you need them, that's still a clean call.

@eileen,

_civicrm_api3_custom_data_get doesn't see the param so we have to check on each calling api if it's needed to get the custom data (if in return).

Should we add a _civicrm_api3_return_custom ($params that checks if there is a custom_X in $params[return] and if (_civicrm_api3_return_custom($params))  {
_civicrm_api3_custom_data_get (...)}
?

[stephang]

$results=civicrm_api(
  "Group",
  "get",
   array ('version' =>'3', 'id' =>$group_id, return=array ('id', 'name', 'custom_42'))
);

So by default it doesn't fetch the custom fields, and if you need them, that's still a clean call.

@xavier: I agree that is makes sense to query custom fields only with explicit return parameters. However, the call you suggest doesn't work. I get an Exception ("DB Error: syntax error"). It is thrown in civicrm_api3_group_get(), line 110: $groupObjects = CRM_Contact_BAO_Group::getGroups( $params, $returnProperties );

So it seems to me that Group.get does not accept return parameters as an array?

[Eileen]

stephang - The syntax Xavier describes should work in 4.2 (some work has been done) but is inconsistent in 4.1 & earlier. You can probably use 'return.custom_42' => 1 in 4.2 & earlier.

Xavier - just the custom field get could do with work - ideally we'd find a way of including it in the get query - but then we are starting to duplicate the query object so not sure that's the right path.

But, yes, passing in the params & reducing the get would help