How to reference a custom entity using BaseFieldDefinition::create('entity_reference')

Question

Similar to how you can reference a user or a node, I would like to reference a custom entity:

      $fields['department_id'] = BaseFieldDefinition::create('entity_reference')
      ->setLabel(t('Department'))
      ->setDescription(t('Select the department for this business.'))
      ->setSettings(array(
        'target_type' => 'department_register'
      ))
      ->setSetting('handler', 'default')
      ->setDisplayOptions('view', [
        'label' => 'inline',
        'type' => 'department',
        'weight' => -10,
      ])
      ->setDisplayOptions('form', [
        'type' => 'entity_reference_autocomplete',
        'settings' => [
          'match_operator' => 'CONTAINS',
          'match_limit' => 10,
          'size' => 60,
          'placeholder' => ''
        ],
        'weight' => -10,
      ])
      ->setDisplayConfigurable('form', TRUE)
      ->setDisplayConfigurable('view', TRUE);

Where 'target_type' => 'department_register' is my custom department entity

I'm stuck in how to connect my department entity. How can I setup the right plugin configuration for my autocomplete form field which should be able to select the name of the department?

Answer 1

Not using bundles, entity_reference_autocomplete needs to know which field to use for it's autocomplete functionality, so did you add the:

"label" = "name",

to your business_register(target entity) entity_keys={...} ? (in the annotations) Where 'name' is the target column. (label = title when using bundles)