Magento category attributes dependency

There is no default way to create dependent category attributes in magento admin. Dependency can be easily added to system configuration inputs or custom magento forms, but not for category attributes.

We are going to create simple attribute dependency by adding new input renderer for attribute. It will work this way:
You have several attributes:
– my_attribute
– my_attribute_text
– my_attribute_select

Note that they all start from my_attribute.
First attribute has boolean type. When it is set to true – other attributes that start from my_attribute is visible.

Source can be found on Github

1. How to add category attribute ?

Adding new category attribute is pretty easy task, but it require several steps.

First you need to tell magento that your extension will use install script. Add this code in extension config app/code/community/Company/Extension/etc/config.xml

<config>
	...
	<global>
		...
		<resources>
			<company_extension_setup>
				<setup>
					<module>Company_Extension</module>
					<class>Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Setup</class>
				</setup>
				<connection>
					<use>core_setup</use>
				</connection>
			</company_extension_setup>
		</resources>
	</global>
	...
</config>

Second you need to create install script and add following code
app/code/community/Company/Extension/sql/company_extension_setup\mysql4-install-1.0.0.php

<?php
$this->startSetup();
...
$this->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'feature', array(

	'group' => 'My group',
	'position' => 300,

	'type' => 'int',
	'input' => 'select',
	'source'   => 'eav/entity_attribute_source_boolean',
	
	'label' => 'Feature status',
	'note' => "Attribute comment here",

	'backend' => '',
	'visible' => 1,
	'required' => 0,
	'visible_on_front' => 1,
	'wysiwyg_enabled' => 1,
	'is_html_allowed_on_front'	=> 1,
	'global' => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_STORE,

));

$this->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'feature_text', array(

	'group' => 'My group',
	'position' => 300,

	'type' => 'text',
	'input' => 'textarea',
	
	'label' => 'Feature text',
	'note' => "Attribute comment here",

	'backend' => '',
	'visible' => 1,
	'required' => 0,
	'visible_on_front' => 1,
	'wysiwyg_enabled' => 1,
	'is_html_allowed_on_front'	=> 1,
	'global' => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_STORE,

));
...
$this->endSetup();

More information about creating category attributes can be found here:
http://www.atwix.com/magento/add-category-attribute/
http://inchoo.net/magento/how-to-add-new-custom-category-attribute-in-magento/

2. Add our input renderer

Now we will create new input renderer class to inject our javascript.
app/code/community/Company/Extension/Block/Adminhtml/Catalog/Category/Dependency.php

<?php

class Company_Extension_Block_Adminhtml_Catalog_Category_Dependency extends Varien_Data_Form_Element_Select
{
	/**
	 * Retrieve Element HTML fragment
	 *
	 * @return string
	 */
	public function getElementHtml()
	{
		$this->setData('after_element_html', sprintf('<script>new categoryAttributeDependency("%s");</script>', $this->getHtmlId()));
		return parent::getElementHtml();
	}
}

3. Create dependency javascript class and add it to admin layout.

Create new file called js/company/category_attribute_dependency.js
It will create new class that will track for attribute state and show / hide other attributes based on main attribute value.

categoryAttributeDependency = Class.create();

categoryAttributeDependency.prototype = {

	initialize: function (htmlId) {
		this.element = $(htmlId);
		this.dependentElements = $$("[id^="+htmlId+"]");
		this.refreshView();
		this.bindEvents();
	},

	bindEvents: function () {
		Event.observe(this.element, "change", this.refreshView.bind(this));
		Event.observe(this.element, "keyup", this.refreshView.bind(this));
		Event.observe(this.element, "keydown", this.refreshView.bind(this));
	},

	refreshView: function () {
		var that = this;
		this.dependentElements.each(function(el){
			if (that.element.id != el.id) {
				if (that.element.value == '1') {
					el.up(1).show();
				} else {
					el.up(1).hide();
				}
			}
		});
	}
};

4. Add javascript to admin layout

– declare our layout xml updates in extension config

	<adminhtml>
		<layout>
			<updates>
				<extension>
					<file>company/extension.xml</file>
				</extension>
			</updates>
		</layout>
	</adminhtml>

– create app/design/adminhtml/default/default/layout/company/extension.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<layout version="0.1.1">

	<adminhtml_catalog_category_edit>
		<reference name="head">
			<action method="addJs"><file>company/category_attribute_dependency.js</file></action>
		</reference>
	</adminhtml_catalog_category_edit>

</layout>

5. Update install script to add our input renderer

$this->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'feature', array(

	'group' => 'My group',
	'position' => 300,

	'type' => 'int',
	'input' => 'select',
	'source'   => 'eav/entity_attribute_source_boolean',
	'input_renderer' => 'extension/adminhtml_catalog_category_dependency',
	
	'label' => 'Feature status',
	'note' => "Attribute comment here",

	'backend' => '',
	'visible' => 1,
	'required' => 0,
	'visible_on_front' => 1,
	'wysiwyg_enabled' => 1,
	'is_html_allowed_on_front'	=> 1,
	'global' => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_STORE,

));

6. Cache issues

You might now see your new attributes on category edit page. In this case you can manually run reindex ( System > Index Management ). Or you can modify install script to reindex data programmatically

//reindex new attributes
$process = Mage::getModel('index/indexer')->getProcessByCode('catalog_category_flat');
$process->reindexAll();

More info on magento reindex process can be found here
http://www.kennydeckers.com/magento-programatically-reindexing-indexes/
http://www.codetweet.com/magento/reindexing-magento-programmaticaly/

Congratulations

You’re done. Source can be found on Github

Troubleshooting

If you want to reinstall the extension or remove category attributes – you can use following SQL

DELETE from `eav_attribute` where attribute_code like 'feature%';
DELETE from `core_resource` where code = 'company_extension_setup';

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