Render a field in node_preprocess

Question

I need to order my field in a node_preprocess to display it in a ul.

I have this field:
body,
field_cover[image],
field_gallery[2 imgs with title..],
field_video [a link list.. rendered with videojs module],
field_video_desc [a text field..]

I need to render they in 2 lists:

function mytheme_preprocess_node(&$variables){

  $rendered_field = mytheme_field_HTML($variables);

  $element = array (
     $rendered_field['field_cover'], 
     $rendered_field['field_gallery_0'], 
     $rendered_field['field_gallery_1'], 
     $rendered_field['video'] );  

  $text = array (
     $rendered_field['body'], 
     $rendered_field['field_gallery_0_title'], 
     $rendered_field['field_gallery_1_title'], 
     $rendered_field['video_desc'] ); 

  $variables['elements'] = theme_item_list(array('items' => $element, 'type' => 'ul'));
  $variables['texts'] = theme_item_list(array('items' => $text , 'type' => 'ul'));
}

but I need to write mytheme_field_HTML() function and I don't understand how, using Field API, I can retrive the HTML according the default field display used in the current node.

How can I achieve this?

Answer 1

What about leaving the rendering of fields by Drupal and putting your list directly in the template?

Depending the condition about your node rendering, can be based on 1 particular node, or by content type, ... you can use a separate tpl file. For example, if its for a content type gallery, you can create a node--gallery.tpl.php in the templates folder of your activated theme.

Inside the tpl, you can create an HTML structure like this:

<!-- content node part -->
<div class="content"<?php print $content_attributes; ?>>
    <ul>
        <li><?php print render($content['field_cover']); ?></li>
        <li><?php print render($content['field_gallery_0']); ?></li>
        <li><?php print render($content['field_gallery_1']); ?></li>
        <li><?php print render($content['video']); ?></li>
    </<ul>
    <ul>
        <li><?php print render($content['body']); ?></li>
        <li><?php print render($content['field_gallery_0_title']); ?></li>
        <li><?php print render($content['field_gallery_1_title']); ?></li>
        <li><?php print render($content['video_desc']); ?></li>
    </<ul>

    <!-- remaining unrendered fields -->
    <?php print render($content); ?>
</div>