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AB Entry IDs documentation

AB Entry IDs works like the {exp:query} module where you would give it an SQL query and get a result. The difference is that instead of looping the results AB Entry IDs will return a single variable: {ab_entry_ids}. This variable contains a |-separated list of entry_ids and can be used as a parameter in other tags (ie. the {exp:channel:entries} tag. It will usually be more efficient than using {exp:query} in conjunction with {exp:channel:entries} - as only two queries will be run, instead of one query + one query for each loop iteration.

Installation

Download and unzip ab_entry_ids.ee2_addon.zip
Copy the contents of system/expressionengine/third_party/ from the zip to system/expressionengine/third_party/ on your EE install
In the backend, navigate to Addons -> Modules and then activate the "AB Entry IDs" addon.
Voilá! The {exp:ab_entry_ids} tag is now ready for use.

Basic usage


{exp:ab_entry_ids sql="SELECT entry_id FROM exp_channel_titles WHERE channel_id=1"}



{if ab_has_results}

    <ul>

    {exp:channel:entries entry_id="{ab_entry_ids}"}

            <li>{title}</li>

    {/exp:channel:entries}

    </ul>



{if:else}

    <span>Sorry, no results.</span>

{/if}



{/exp:ab_entry_ids}

Use with AB Pagination

We built this addon to help users of AB Pagination who wanted to use {exp:query} but still control their pagination.

Here's an example of how it would be used with AB Pagination (as an alternative to {exp:query}):




{exp:ab_entry_ids sql="SELECT entry_id FROM exp_channel_titles WHERE title LIKE '%this%'"}

{exp:channel:entries entry_id="{ab_entry_ids}" limit="2"}

        <li>{title}</li>

{paginate}

    {if abp_has_previous}

        <a class="next" href="{abp_previous_link}">&larr; prev</a>

    {if:else}

        <span class="atStart">&larr; prev</span>

    {/if}

    {abp_pages padding="no"}

        {if abp_is_current}

            <span class="this-page">{abp_num}</span>

        {if:else}

            <a href="{abp_link}">{abp_num}</a>

        {/if}

    {/abp_pages}

    {if abp_has_next}

        <a class="next" href="{abp_next_link}">next &rarr;</a>

    {if:else}

        <span class="atStart">next &rarr;</span>

    {/if}

    <div class="results">({abp_total_entries} uploads)</div>

{/paginate}

{/exp:channel:entries}

{/exp:ab_entry_ids}

Parameters

sql - required, the sql you wish to run
separator - optional, defaults to the standard EE separator: |
col_name - optional, defaults to "entry_id" - using this you can get any other col returned as a separated list
results_tag_name - optional, defaults to "entry_ids" - it makes sense to change this if you change the col_name (ie. if you want to get a comma separated list of screen names you'd probably rename this to "screen_names" and use {ab_screen_names} in your template
tag_prefix - use this if you wish to replace the default "ab_" tag prefix with something else.

Variables

AB Entry IDs has one conditional: {ab_has_results}. In addition to this it returns the results of your sql query in the {ab_entry_ids} variable.

Troubleshooting

Not working?

Run your SQL in a tool such as phpMyAdmin. Are you getting results returned? If not, there is something wrong with your SQL.
Remeber that you must SELECT the entry_id column. So your SQL must begin with "SELECT entry_id FROM"... of course if you have changed "col_name" (to select something else then entry_id) this must also be reflected in your SQL.