Hook to modify article content

[kvnband]

Hi there. I need to modify the article content output for our articles based on preset criteria. I believe the hook I need is vbcms_article_populate_start, but 'pagetext' is protected so I can't modify it.

Where should I be looking in order to accomplish what I need?

[kh99]

I don't have much experience with the CMS, but maybe try something like

$pagetext = $this->content->getPageText();
// do stuff to $pagetext here
$this->content->setProperty('pagetext', $pagetext);

[kvnband]

Ah - I didn't know about setProperty. I'll investigate that in a bit.

Thanks!

--------------- Added [DATE]1352487282[/DATE] at [TIME]1352487282[/TIME] ---------------

Unfortunately, setProperty is also protected and I can't do anything with it.

Fatal error: Call to protected method vB_Item::setProperty() from context 'vBCms_Content_Article'

Sorry for what are surely stupid questions - This is my first time hooking into the CMS and it's very new to me.

[kh99]

Yeah, I just decided I should try it myself and got the same error. Don't worry, they aren't stupid questions, but unfortunately I don't know the answers. I'll see if I can figure out something else - it might be possible to replace the content object with a new one.

[kh99]

Edit: oh, no, you might not want to do the setInfo thing I posted - it seems to be changing the articles even after I disable the plugin. It might just be a cache, I'm not sure, but I don't want you to risk changing anything permanently.

Yep, the code I posted here then deleted seems to have permanently changed the content of some of my articles (but it's just a test system). That may or may not be a problem for you, maybe it's OK with you if they're chnaged in the db.

[kh99]

OK, I really hope none of your articles got messed up by the last thing I posted, but I think this works: try using hook vbcms_article_populate_end and something like this:

// Make changes to $pagetext var, then
$view->pagetext = $pagetext;

[kvnband]

I actually figured that one out right before you posted it. The problem is that it loses all bbcode formatting when I use it. I'mn trying to walk through the PHP code where it renders the bbcode, but so far haven't come up with what I need.

We're definitely on the right path though.

--------------- Added [DATE]1352490271[/DATE] at [TIME]1352490271[/TIME] ---------------

It looks like

$this->rendered['pages'][$this->parameters['page']];

is the rendered view, but that doesn't do any good. I think we need to get the raw pagetext (Stored in $pagetext), do our processing to it, and then run it through the renderer and assign it to $view->pagetext. I just don't know how we can parse the bbcode, line breaks, smileys, etc....

Is there a built-in vb function that does all of that parsing that we can just call?

[kh99]

Yeah, sorry again. I tried it with an article that only had one sentence so I didn't notice the bbcode problem. But you obviously need someone who knows about it instead of someone to help you guess at things. It might take a while though, I don't think everyone visits here every day.

[kvnband]

Well you've definitely been a huge help, for sure. Hopefully someone else can chime in soon with the solution or I can figure it out with some more head banging

[kh99]

OK, I did think of another possible approach: use hook template_render_ouput and do something like:

if ($this->template == 'vbcms_content_article_page')
{
    // do something to $pagetext here.
}

At that point $pagetext will be html.