In case database triggers aren't supported, update target_id_int within Drupal as well

Created on 22 April 2022, over 2 years ago

Updated 10 September 2024, 3 months ago

Problem/Motivation

target_id_int is kept synchronized with target_id by a database trigger. Per #3204103-12: Use virtual index instead of triggers → , this is useful in case any code writes to the DER field's database tables directly, without going through Drupal's Entity API.
However, per #2930423: MySQL triggers aren't supported on all hosting platforms → , database triggers aren't supported on all hosting platforms.
Futhermore, writing to Drupal's entity or field tables without going through Drupal's Entity API is problematic for plenty of other reasons, such as then various hooks don't get called. Therefore, many sites don't do this.

Steps to reproduce

Proposed resolution

Change DynamicEntityReferenceItem to also keep target_id_int in sync via Drupal. I think that all that needs to be done for this is:

DynamicEntityReferenceItem::schema() would need to add target_id_int as another column.
DynamicEntityReferenceItem would need to override __get() such that when target_id_int is passed, it returns the integer value of target_id, otherwise call the parent getter.

This could be in addition to leaving the existing trigger approach in place, so that sites where triggers are supported continue to get the benefit of the column staying synchronized even when target_id is updated in the database via something other than the Entity API. But this would enable sites where triggers aren't supported to also be able to use DER 4.x, so long as those sites don't update DER's database values without using the Entity API.

Remaining tasks

The latest patch has duplicate code creating the int column. It's now part of the field item schema, but the IntColumnHandler classes still create it too. So we need to remove the column creation from the IntColumnHandler classes while leaving the trigger creation in place.
The latest patch still needs a hook_update_N() function written in order to make the update path tests pass.

User interface changes

API changes

Data model changes

✨ Feature request

Status

Needs work

Version

4.0

Component

Code

Created by

🇺🇸United States effulgentsia

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Comment 6 months ago →
🇺🇸United States rraney
Has there been a resolution or change to this since 2022? I'm not certain, but we may have an issue with triggers as it relates to our hosting platform. I see a "failed testing" for most or all of the patches.
Comment 6 months ago →
🇨🇦Canada jibran Toronto, Canada
I'd say #3204103: Use virtual index instead of triggers → is the way forward here. I'm planning to work on it in a couple of weeks time.
Comment 3 months ago →
🇺🇸United States rraney
Hello, I'm running out of time due to changes in MySQL. We've had a workaround in place that is no longer working. It the only working solution to downgrade to 1.x(3.x in D10)?

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