Passing variables into a CMS block

Question

I have a cms block that is added to a page via layout xml.

<block type="cms/block" name="my_cms_block" as="my_cms_block">
    <action method="setBlockId">
        <block_id>my_cms_block</block_id>
    </action>
</block>

It is then used on a page with the following snippet.

<?php echo $this->getChildHtml('my_cms_block'); ?>

Now what I would like to do is be able to pass variables into this block from the page that can be used in the cms block itself via {{var something}}

For example we have a cms block that we want to use across a selection of product pages but in this block we want to be able to use a product attribute say name or anything really.

Can you give a real example of what you are trying to achieve? — Marius
– Marius, Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 9:27

Marius · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-19 10:00:14Z

I don't have a solution for passing variables to the block, but I have an other solution involving custom {{...}} directives.

Here is a way to achieve what you need in your real scenario.

You need to put this in the block content

{{attribute attribute="name"}}

change name to what ever attribute code you need.

Now you need to create the attribute directive. You can basically use anything as the directive name, but make sure it is one work without any uppercase letters. So {{attr}} is ok {{productAttr}} does not work.

The cms blocks are parsed using the Mage_Widget_Model_Template_Filter, so you need to rewrite that class and add a new method:

public function attributeDirective($construction) //handles {{attribute ....}}
{
    if (!isset($construction[2])) { //if no parameters are passed ({{attribute}}) do nothing
        return '';
    }
    if (!Mage::registry('current_product')) { //if not on product context
        return '';
    }
    $params = $this->_getIncludeParameters($construction[2]);
    if (!isset($params['attribute'])) { //if no attribute code is passed
        return '';
    }
    $attributeCode = $params['attribute']; //get the attribute code
    $product = Mage::registry('current_product'); //get the current product
    $value = $product->getData($attributeCode); //get the value of the attribute
    /** @var Mage_Catalog_Helper_Output $helper */
    $helper = Mage::helper('catalog/output'); //get the output helper. The attribute might allow HTML so that needs to be parsed also.
    return $helper->productAttribute($product, $value, $attributeCode); //return the processed attribute value
}

Do you happen to know the flow of these Directive functions? when do they get called and maybe also why adding a new one just works by magic. I am lazy and cannot be bothered to xdebug it myself — David Manners
– David Manners, Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 13:20
@DavidManners When calling the filter method on the block content, you end up in Varien_Filter_Template::filter. This method handles first the directives {{if..}} and {{depend..}}. Apparently these are important (don't know why). Then it magically maps every {{something...}} directive to the method somethingDirective. If the method exists, and passes to it the params you pass to the directive {{something p1=v1 p2=v2}}. The response of the method replaces the directive in the template. — Marius
– Marius, Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 13:39

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