Entering inner fields after attaching a field collection entity programmatically

Question

CONTEXT

Adding a node with its field-collection field and inner fields programmatically. Saving the node. Then trying to reach the inner fields - bam! - they are not in the array!

MORE INFO

if I am adding the node manually (not by code) and then trying to get to the inner fields - they ARE there.

[Edit] - The same problem of undefined inner field happens if saving using VBO (Views Bulk Operations module). So, can it be that the structure is bad? However, I have built the collection field using the manual interface only, not by code.

CREATING A NODE WITH FIELD COLLECTION

$node = // Creating a node
$fc_item = entity_create('field_collection_item', array('field_name' => $field_machine_name));
$fc_item->{$field_machine_name}[$node->language][$index][$value_column_name] = $field_value;
$fc_item->setHostEntity('node', $node, $node->language);
$fc_item->save(TRUE);
$node = node_submit($node);
node_save($node);

TRYING TO GET INSIDE FIELD COLLECTION JUST MADE

$value = $node->field_coll_print_authors['und'][0];
print_r($value);

I get:

Array
(
    [value] => 278 // This is the field collection item id
    [revision_id] => 1533
)

However, what I would have expect, and what I actually DO HAVE when adding a node of the same type by hand is:

Array
( 
    [field_print_author_last_name] => Array 
    (
        [und] => Array 
        (
            [0] => Array 
            (
                [value] => amir // This is the value I need
            ) 
        ) 
    )

HELP

Well, is there any function I have not called in order to attach the field collection item properly to the node? Or something else is missing?

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Field collections are not stored in full with the Loaded node access via node_load(); only their entity ID.

The data does sometimes look like that, for example in a node form (because it actually has to create fields for them) and in a rendered node via node_view()(depending how you have set it in the view mode settings).

But you can load them easy enough and get the values that way.

Here is an example :

Dynamically creating a node with multiple field collections :

  global $user;
  $type = 'floor_staff_checklist';
  $event_id        = 12345;

  $chk_node        = new stdClass();
  $chk_node->type  = $type;
  $chk_node->title = '';
  node_object_prepare($chk_node);
  $chk_node->uid                           = $user->uid;
  $chk_node->nid                           = 0;
  $chk_node->status                        = 1;
  $chk_node->promote                       = 0;
  $chk_node->field_event[LANGUAGE_NONE][0] = array(
    'target_id'   => $event_id,
    'target_type' => 'node',
  );

  if ($type == 'floor_staff_checklist') {
    $time = strtotime("01-01-2000 19:30:00");
    for ($i = 0; $i < 22; $i++) {
      $strtime = date("H:i", $time);
      $time += 1800;
      $flrchhk_fc = entity_create('field_collection_item', array('field_name' => 'field_floor_check'));
      $flrchhk_fc->setHostEntity('node', $chk_node);
      $flrchhk_fc->field_check_time[LANGUAGE_NONE][0]['value'] = $strtime;
      $flrchhk_fc->save();
    }
  }

  $chk_node = node_submit($chk_node);
  node_save($chk_node);
  drupal_goto("node/$chk_node->nid");
}

In this situation, I am creating a node, and creating 24 field collections within it, one for every hour, then saving the node.

And if you want to view the data :

$entity = entity_load_single($chk_node->nid);
if (isset($entity->field_floor_check[LANGUAGE_NONE]) && !empty($entity->field_floor_check[LANGUAGE_NONE])) {
  $fcs = array_column($entity->field_floor_check[LANGUAGE_NONE], 'value');
  $items = entity_load('field_collection_item', $fcs);
  foreach ($items as $item) {
    dpm($item);
  }
}

This will load the node, access its references to the field collections, load them, and loop through them printing the contents through Krumo (Devel module).

Answer 2

You have to load the field collection entity. You could use:

$field_colection = entity_load('field_collection_item', array($node->field_coll_print_authors['und'][0]['value']));

print_r($field_collection);

the $field_collection object will contain all data you need ;)