Correct way to render entity fields?

Question

According to Rendering Drupal 7 fields (the right way), the correct way to render fields is with code similar to the following one.

$node = node_load($nid);
$field = field_get_items('node', $node, 'field_name');
$output = field_view_value('node', $node, 'field_name', $field[$delta]);

This is for rendering node fields.

I am using the Paragraphs module which lets you create custom bundles in the predefined "paragraph" entity. I could use entity.tpl.php to override the output of Paragraph module fields.

I want to print my fields that are stored in the entity, but the above code won't work because it is for nodes.

What is the code for a generic entity's field?

Answer 1

The equivalent to the sample code you posted from the article, but for an entity type other than node would be the following one.

$entities = entity_load('ENTITY_TYPE_NAME', array($YOUR_ENTITY_ID));
$entity = $entities[$YOUR_ENTITY_ID];
$field = field_get_items('ENTITY_TYPE_NAME', $entity, 'field_name');
$output = field_view_value('ENTITY_TYPE_NAME', $entity, 'field_name', $field[$delta]);

If you're doing this in a template, the entity fields should have already been retrieved by template_preprocess_entity() and made available under the $content variable, so you shouldn't have to do all these steps in an overridden entity template.

Answer 2

There is a function for that: field_attach_view().

I had to use it to get a renderable array from Paragraph entities. You can render this array with render().

$paragraphEntity = entity_load("paragraphs_item",array($paragraph['value']));
$renderableParagraphBundle = field_attach_view(
  "paragraphs_item",
  $paragraphEntity[$paragraph['value']], "full",
  $GLOBALS['language']->language,
  array()
);

print render($renderableParagraphBundle);