Generate Install Scripts from current Nodes, Views, Fields in Drupal

Question

I have theme with custom content types, views, etc. and i would like to package into a custom module so it can be easy installed in another Drupal instance via MODULE_install().

Currently, Module_install() looks something like this:

function MODULE_install(){
    $t = get_t();
    foreach (_jobs_installed_fields() as $field) {
        field_create_field($field);
        drupal_set_message($t('Field type: '.$field['field_name'] . ' created'));
    }

    foreach (_jobs_installed_field_instances() as $field) {
        field_create_instance($field);
        drupal_set_message($t('Field instance: '.$field['label'].' initiated and added to User Profile'));
    }

    drupal_set_message($t('Finished adding fields to User profile'));
}

function _jobs_installed_fields() {
    return array(
        'field_name' => array(
           ...
        ),
        'field_name2' => array(
           ...
        ),
     );
}


function _jobs_installed_field_instances() {
    return array(
        'field_name' => array(
           ...
        ),
        'field_name2' => array(
           ...
        ),
     );
}

The content of _jobs_installed_field_instances and _jobs_installed_fields functions is generated via PHP Execute Script Dev module block from the current instance content and then copy/paste in the install script.

$entity_type = 'user';
$field_name = 'field_name';
$bundle_name = 'user';

$info_config = field_info_field($field_name);
$info_instance = field_info_instance($entity_type, $field_name, $bundle_name);
unset($info_config['id']);
unset($info_instance['id'], $info_instance['field_id']);
include_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/utility.inc';
$output = "field_create_field(" . drupal_var_export($info_config) . ");\n";
$output .= "field_create_instance(" . drupal_var_export($info_instance) . ");";
drupal_set_message("<textarea rows=30 style=\"width: 100%;\">" . $output . '</textarea>')

This can be lot of work for larger Themes and i cannot rerun it later once the change is introduced. I was thinking creating some Php scripts that would generate me the install script from the current nodes, views, etc so i can rerun as like in future. Is there anything like this already available? What would be your approach to this problem? Thank you

Answer 1

Looks like Features module is what you really want:

The features module enables the capture and management of features in Drupal. A feature is a collection of Drupal entities which taken together satisfy a certain use-case.

Features provides a UI and API for taking different site building components from modules with exportables and bundling them together in a single feature module. A feature module is like any other Drupal module except that it declares its components (e.g. views, contexts, CCK fields, etc.) in its .info file so that it can be checked, updated, or reverted programmatically.

With addition of UUID Features Integration:

The UUID Features Integration module provides a mechanism for exporting content (nodes, taxonomy, fields) into a features module. What's that you say? You thought features was only for configuration? This module is meant to be used in the cases where certain pieces of content straddle the line between pure content and configuration.

Of course you will probably only use a subset of it's capabilities, but it should cover all your needs with content types, nodes, and views definitions.