Expose a custom view filter based on custom field in another node

Question

I want an user configurable boolean view filter, displaying child nodes in an hierarchy based on a value, canDisplayOthers, in the master node. The master/children are joined by a field setID.

I tried to do a self-join, adding a view relationship based on setID, but setID is not in the list of relationship fields.

Using Php, the recipe in:

https://ohthehugemanatee.org/blog/2013/12/26/44497-people-are-wrong-how-to-never-use-views-php/

says to use a handler. My handler would return a boolean, something like:

class mymodule_handler_field_isDisplayable extends views_handler_field {
  /**
  * Render the name field.
  */
  public function render($values) {
    $value = $this->get_value($values);
    /*   
       How can I get current node ID (nid) here?

    */
  }
}

and a hook_views_data something like:

function mymodule_views_data() {
  // Basic table information.
  $data['mymodule_ToDisplay'] = array(
    'table' => array(
      'group' => t('Global'),
      'base' => array(
        'title' => t('ToDisplay')
        ),
      ),
    'name' => array(
      'title' => t('ToDisplay'),
      'field' => array(
        'handler' => 'mymodule_handler_field_isDisplayable',
      )
    ),
    'filter' => array(
    'handler' => 'views_handler_filter_boolean',
    )
  ); 
  return $data;
}

I can't figure out:

1. in mymodule_views_data, what is this thing called 'table'?
2. how do I get the setID or current nodeID into the mymodule_handler_field_isDisplayable function?

In curiosity; - what is the minimal hook_views_data? - Where is a good place to find where hook_views* parameters are explained?

I am using drupal7 and views 3

ADDITION 15 July 2014

Geoff, below, kindly mentioned that the problem would be easier if I created a master node content type. I created a masterNodeType content type, containing the fields:

• setID
• canDisplay

Now, masterNodeType and childNodeType have the common field, setID, but I can't see setID when I configure the view relationship. How do I get setID, and/or masterNodeType into the view relationship? What is the criteria for those view relationship components?

Answer 1

I'm not sure if this is the best solution, but it is fairly easy and code free. I needed to display some "associated nodes" for a certain content type and so I added the views_field_view project (https://www.drupal.org/project/views_field_view), a module that lets you embed one view into another. In this case, you can create a view of nodes, formatted as you like, and display it in the master view, and it will always sync up related data.

For an explanation of how to use this great little project, see: http://www.webomelette.com/view-within-view-fields-module https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUoL_ARPLcI (Drupal 6 but still helpful)

Answer 2

Thanks to the clues provided by Geoff above, I found the answer.

My mistake, (doing too much work), was to create my own foreign key, test_set_id. Drupal uses node_reference fields for such joins. Using node reference, associated content can be directly accessed after adding the relationship in the set-up view screen, without any code.

I also ended up creating an additional master parent content type, to hold some generic test_set information, and to give the child nodes something to point to.

Thanks for all the help!