EntityReferenceSelection plugin ignored

Question

I am trying to create a simple time tracking app and for this purpose, I need an entity reference field with some additional filtering of referenced entities (only active projects can be selected).

I read some guides and it seems that what I need is to

1. create entity reference field

This is done in the buildForm() function of the src/Form/TimesheetForm.php class like this:

    $form['project'] = [
  '#type' => 'entity_autocomplete',
  '#title' => $this->t('Project'),
  '#weight' => '0',
  '#target_type' => 'project_entity',
  '#selection_handler' => 'default:active_projects',
  '#selection_settings' => [

  ],
  '#tags' => FALSE,
];

2. create custom plugin

This is done in src/Plugin/ActiveProjectsSelection.php like this:

    <?php

    namespace Drupal\timesheet\Plugin\EntityReferenceSelection;

use Drupal\node\Plugin\EntityReferenceSelection\NodeSelection;

/**
 * Provides specific access control for the node entity type.
 *
 * @EntityReferenceSelection(
 *   id = "active_projects",
 *   label = @Translation("Active projects selection"),
 *   entity_types = {"project_entity"},
 *   group = "default",
 *   weight = 3
 * )
 */

class ActiveProjectsSelection extends NodeSelection {

  /**
   * @param null $match
   * @param string $match_operator
   *
   * @return \Drupal\Core\Entity\Query\QueryInterface
   */
  protected function buildEntityQuery($match = NULL, $match_operator = 'CONTAINS') {
    \Drupal::logger('timesheet')->debug('buildEntityQuery');
    $query = parent::buildEntityQuery($match, $match_operator);
    //$query->condition('project_start_date', time(), '<');
    //$query->condition('project_end_date', time(), '>');
    return $query;
  }

}

However, even when I commented out all the logic, the autocomplete does not work. When I type in the field, no autocomplete popup appears. Not even the debug message is logged when I try to trigger the autocomplete.

I have also tried to extend DefaultSelection instead of the NodeSelection as I am using a custom entity which is not a node, but the result was the same.

It looks like my plugin is not even reached, but I do not know why.

I cleared the cache, my local site is in dev mode.

Answer 1

So, with help from Clive (see his comment below the original question) I have identified two issues:

1. The correct path for the ActiveProjectsSelection.php file should be src/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/ActiveProjectsSelection.php.

2. The id of the plugin in the annotation should be default:active_projects.

3. (not related to the original problem) The correct timestamp for the date comparison is DrupalDateTime::createFromTimestamp(time()).

With these changes, my code works perfectly. Also, it does not matter whether I extend NodeSelection or DefaultSelection, it works with either of them.