CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

The format of custom field name is following (used when we are returning the value of specific custom field): custom_X_Y, where X is an id from civicrm_custom_field table and Y is row id from specific table where actual value of custom field is stored.

Example, to explain it better:

Let's say we're getting "custom_5_15" in our $params. In the database, we will have entry in civicrm_custom_field table with id = 5:

mysql> select id, custom_group_id, name, label, column_name from civicrm_custom_field where id = 5;
+----+-----------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| id | custom_group_id | name                    | label                   | column_name               |
+----+-----------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
|  5 |               3 | Known_areas_of_interest | Known areas of interest | known_areas_of_interest_5 |
+----+-----------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Through custom_group_id, pointing to civicrm_custom_group, we are finding out what table the value for this custom field is stored:

mysql> select id, table_name from civicrm_custom_group where id = 3;
+----+-----------------------------------+
| id | table_name                        |
+----+-----------------------------------+
|  3 | civicrm_value_donor_information_3 |
+----+-----------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Now, we are getting the value of custom field: "select * from civicrm_value_donor_information_3 where id = 15" and that's the value that we are getting in $params.

Turning that example around and coming back to purpose, we need it to be able to modify custom data records more effectively.

Thx,
m