Posted by NormPlum on Mon, Nov 18, 2024 - 3:46am

I'm using hook_node_presave() to set values for fields that were left empty when a node is created/updated. Text fields are easy enough ($node->field_name['und'][0]['value'] = 'Default text'), but image fields have got me stumped...

Image fields have lots of array values (e.g. fid, width, height, alt, etc.). I'm assuming there's a function I can call that'll create all the necessary values, but I can't seem to find it.

On top of all that, I have an external image URL that I'd like to programatically download and save to the image field. I'm using the Filefield Sources module to do this in the interface, but again, I need to know how to do this programatically instead.

Accepted answer

I think I found the solution:

file_get_contents() will allow you to 'download' a file from a URL. Passing the return value of this to file_save_data() will allow you to then save the file in Backdrop such that it has a File ID (fid), etc. Setting the fid value of the image field seems to then save it to the field in the same way as if you'd uploaded it manually.

Here's the working code I'm using: 

$file_data = file_get_contents($file_url);
$file = file_save_data($file_data, file_default_scheme() . '://' . $filename, FILE_EXISTS_RENAME);
$node->field_image['und'][0]['fid'] = $file->fid;

Comments

Mon, Nov 18, 2024 - 7:04pm by NormPlum

I think I found the solution:

file_get_contents() will allow you to 'download' a file from a URL. Passing the return value of this to file_save_data() will allow you to then save the file in Backdrop such that it has a File ID (fid), etc. Setting the fid value of the image field seems to then save it to the field in the same way as if you'd uploaded it manually.

Here's the working code I'm using: 

$file_data = file_get_contents($file_url);
$file = file_save_data($file_data, file_default_scheme() . '://' . $filename, FILE_EXISTS_RENAME);
$node->field_image['und'][0]['fid'] = $file->fid;

Thu, Nov 21, 2024 - 12:59am by stpaultim

Since you seem to have solved this already, I won't say much except if you have similar questions, try checking out some of the "sample content" modules insides of recipes. Or look at the default install profile for Backdrop CMS. These are good places to get sample code for creating content programmaticallly. 

Install file for Standard Install Profile:
https://github.com/backdrop/backdrop/blob/1.x/core/profiles/standard/standard.install

Install file for Digital Agency Recipe
https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/digital_agency/blob/1.x-1.x/digital_agency.install

Install file for Sample Content for Testimonial Recipe
https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/testimonial_recipe/blob/1.x-1.x/testimonial_sample_content/testimonial_sample_content.install