make record ids available to an outside application

[Nisbet]

good morning all


I have set up a link to an external application using the methods described in the following post:

Creating an HTML link in an Account

What I would like to do is pass the record id to the application I am linking to. I have tried adding the variable to the query string , but so far haven't had any luck


example:


array (
'name' => 'test_link_c',
'label' => 'LBL_TEST_LINK',
'customCode' => '<a href="extl_apps/ext_manager.php?key={$_REQUEST[record]}" target="_blank">Key Management</a>',
),


I have tried several this several ways, but haven't been able to push the record id to th external application. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could get this to work?


I am running the community edition Version 5.0.0b (Build 3150)
On Linux with Apache/PHP/MySQL


Thanks

[datasponge]

I'm interested in doing this as well and I'm on the same platform.

I'll play with it and we can compare notes.

Phil

[andopes]

Hi, Nisbet

Can you provide us the generated html for the field you are trying to set a link?

Cheers

--
André Lopes
Lâmpada Global Services
Rua Bela Cintra, 299 conjunto. 51
São Paulo, SP 01415-000
tel1. 55 11 3237-3110
cel. 55 11 7636-5859
e-mail: info@lampadacrm.com.br

[datasponge]

OK, I got it working, but I'm not sure what changed.

At first it behaved exactly as you described with the field value not getting filled in. Specifically, I put a raw URL page, then attempted to fill in the field value and it took the URL, but did not fill in any field value.

Then I played with several things and it worked great, but I don't know exactly what changed.

Here is the php code that defines a panel with two different ways of defining the link taken directly from custom/modules/Accounts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php. I copied the definition for an entire new panel where I put two test links, thus the PANEL 2 label and the array with 0 and 1. Both links work with this code:

        'PANEL 2' =>
        array (
          0 =>
          array (
            0 =>
            array (
              'name' => 'ut_number_c',
              'label' => 'LBL_UT_NUMBER',
              'customCode' => '<a href="http://HOSTNAME/UTOrgAdd.asp?number={$fields.ut_number_c.value}" target="_blank">{$fields.ut_number_c.value}</a>',
            ),
            1 =>
            array (
              'name' => 'ut_link_c',
              'label' => 'LBL_UT_LINK',
              'customCode' => '<a href="{$fields.ut_link_c.value}" target="_blank">UT Link</a>',
            ),
          ), 
  

WARNING: Using SugarCRM Admin panel to edit Layouts blows away the customized line defining the link -- at least if you move the link field.

Also note that I had to clear the cache from the admin panel before any changes would take effect.

Phil

[Nisbet]

here is the generated html:

<td width='37.5%' class='tabDetailViewDF' >
<a href="ext_apps/ext_app.php?key_id=" target="_blank">Key Management</a>
&nbsp;
</td>

[Nisbet]

I was also able to get it working using the method described by datasponge(thanks by the way!)

[datasponge]

More research clarified most behaviors and shows how to do this right to save it across Layout changes.

In my earlier post I said:

OK, I got it working, but I'm not sure what changed.

and

taken directly from custom/modules/Accounts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php.

and

WARNING: Using SugarCRM Admin panel to edit Layouts blows away the customized line defining the link -- at least if you move the link field.

The first thing that changed was that the original post said to edit the file custom/working/modules/Accounts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php not the one I reference above. I found that one using grep to search to see how my edits were propagated by the rebuilds.

Having noticed the two different paths I could do some experiments and note the effect, so here's what I found:
1. Save & Deploy for Accounts Detail view Layout propagates the changes from custom/working/modules/... to custom/modules/...
2. Changes made to working path are not lost
3. The link works just fine after Save & Deploy
4. Changes made ONLY to custom/working/modules/... never took effect without a later Save & Deploy through Admin Studio

My recollection was that I initially changed only the working folder path, then cleared the cache and saw the link, but without the field getting filled in. I was unable to reproduce this behavior, so this is the only remaining question mark.

I tried deleting the customCode line from custom/modules/Accounts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php and leaving the same line in custom/working/modules/..., then clearing cache and no link at all showed up. I then opened the layout and clicked Save & Deploy and the link worked great again.

But the missing step appears to have been that you must re-save the Layout AFTER editing custom/working/modules/Accounts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php, which propagates the customCode line to custom/modules/Accounts/metadata/detailviewdefs.php making the link work perfectly.

Hope that helps someone out there.

Phil