Load just one field from node

Question

I have x nodes with field named "thefield". My script is checking "thefield" and if he does so the right value is updated.

How can i get from node just one field for check and didnt load full entity (node_load)?

Answer 1

I would use a db_query to find all nodes that that field appears on and then update them with a node_load here is the code:

$result = db_query('SELECT f.entity_id FROM {field_data_field_thefield} f');
foreach ($result as $record) {
    $node = node_load($record->entity_id);
    // update node
}

Answer 2

You can either do it programmatically or using views.

Using Views : Create a view page and under the fields section add the following fields:

Node id and the specific field you would like to update.

Update the filter condition as follows: Node type = 'YOUR NODE TYPE' AND "Your required field" = NOT NULL

The output of this view will be the node ids of all those node which will be having a values assigned to the specific field.

If this didn't helped you, please let me know, will solve it in a different way

Thanks

Answer 3

$nid = 1;
$thefield = db_select('field_data_field_thefield', 'f');
  ->fields('f',array('entity_id'))
  ->condition('f.entity_id', $nid, '=');
  ->execute()
  ->fetchField();

if($thefield){
  Do Something...
}

You could use a db_query instead of db_select to make it even quicker

Answer 4

If you want to update any field in node , then better to use node_load() function. Because if you use any custom select or update query then

• first thing you need to update it in all the tables (main and revision tables).
• Second thing, drupal events will not trigger that is attached with updation.

If you still want to do it manually by db_select() and db_query()

Hope it will help!

Answer 5

The field API allows you to load/attach just one field in a list of entities with field_attach_load(). This approach is field storage agnostic, invokes field-level hooks, and reads from the field cache if possible.