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  5. Options API

Options API ​

Options in MiniShop3 follow the EAV pattern (Entity-Attribute-Value) and consist of three models:

  • msOption — option definition (key, caption, type)
  • msCategoryOption — option-to-category link (active, required, position)
  • msProductOption — option value for a specific product
msOption (color, "Color", comboMultiple)
    ├── msCategoryOption (option → category "Clothing", active=true)
    │       ├── msProductOption (product=10, key=color, value="Red")
    │       ├── msProductOption (product=10, key=color, value="Blue")
    │       └── msProductOption (product=11, key=color, value="Green")
    └── msCategoryOption (option → category "Shoes", active=true)
            └── msProductOption (product=20, key=color, value="Black")

OptionService (facade) ​

Main service for options. Wraps the three sub-services.

php
$optionService = $modx->services->get('ms3_option_service');

Reading product options ​

php
// All option values for a product
$values = $optionService->getProductOptionValues($productId);
// ['color' => ['Red', 'Blue'], 'size' => ['L', 'XL']]

// Specific options
$values = $optionService->getProductOptionValues($productId, ['color']);
// ['color' => ['Red', 'Blue']]

Loading for templates ​

loadOptionsForProduct returns values together with metadata — for Fenom templates:

php
$options = $optionService->loadOptionsForProduct($productId);
// [
//     'color' => ['Red', 'Blue'],
//     'color.caption' => 'Color',
//     'color.type' => 'comboMultiple',
//     'color.description' => 'Select color',
//     'color.category_name' => 'Product properties',
//     'size' => ['L', 'XL'],
//     'size.caption' => 'Size',
//     ...
// ]

// Without metadata (keys and values only)
$options = $optionService->loadOptionsForProduct($productId, false);

Batch loading ​

For catalogs use batch loading — it avoids N+1 queries:

php
$allOptions = $optionService->loadOptionsForProducts([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]);
// [
//     1 => ['color' => ['Red'], 'size' => ['L']],
//     2 => ['color' => ['Blue', 'Green']],
//     ...
// ]

Saving options ​

php
// Save options (default removeOther=true — removes unspecified)
$optionService->saveProductOptions($productId, [
    'color' => ['Red', 'Blue'],
    'size' => ['L', 'XL'],
    'material' => ['Cotton'],
]);

// Add options without removing existing
$optionService->saveProductOptions($productId, [
    'brand' => ['Nike'],
], false);  // removeOther = false

On save, values are normalized: trimmed, deduplicated, and empty strings dropped.

Available option keys ​

php
// Which options are available for the product (from its categories)
$keys = $optionService->getAvailableOptionKeys($productId);
// ['color', 'size', 'material']

Assigning options to categories ​

php
// Assign option to several categories
$assigned = $optionService->assignOptionToCategories($optionId, [5, 12, 18]);
// [5, 12, 18] — category IDs the option was assigned to

// Assign with parameters
$optionService->addOptionToCategory(
    $optionId,
    $categoryId,
    '',       // default value
    true,     // active
    0         // position
);

// Remove option from category
$optionService->removeOptionFromCategory($optionId, $categoryId);

// Force remove (removes values even if option is active in other categories)
$optionService->removeOptionFromCategory($optionId, $categoryId, true);

Auto-assignment to products

When an option is assigned to a category it is automatically added to all products in that category (including products in additional categories). On remove — values are kept if the option is active in another category of the product.

Accessing sub-services ​

php
$loader = $optionService->getLoader();     // OptionLoaderService — read
$sync = $optionService->getSync();         // OptionSyncService — write
$category = $optionService->getCategory(); // OptionCategoryService — categories

msOption model ​

Option definition is stored in table ms3_options.

msOption fields ​

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
keyvarchar(191)''Unique key (letters, digits, hyphen, underscore)
captionvarchar(191)''Display name
descriptiontextnullDescription
measure_unittinytextnullUnit of measure
option_group_idinteger | nullnullOption group ID (msOptionGroup); null — no group
typevarchar(191)''Option type (comboMultiple, textfield, numberfield, etc.)
propertiesjsonnullExtra properties

Key validation ​

The model map holds two validation rules for key. The first is a regex — /^(?!\W+)(?!\d)[a-zA-Z0-9\x2d-\x2f\x7f-\xff-_]+(?!\s)$/ — which means a key must:

  • Not start with a digit, and not start with a non-word character
  • Not end with a space
  • Otherwise consist of Latin letters, digits, -, ., /, _ or bytes in the \x7f-\xff range — so a Cyrillic key passes too

The second rule rejects reserved field names: id, type, price, weight, image, published and the other modResource and product columns.

Neither rule is enforced on save

Both live in the map as validation rules, so they run only when code calls $option->validate(). Neither POST /api/mgr/options nor a plain $option->save() calls it: the controller only trims the key, replaces a dot with _ and checks uniqueness.

So a key like 1c_code or a reserved color passes through the Manager API without a complaint. In templates a reserved key is then shadowed by the product's own field (#841).

Programmatic usage ​

php
use MiniShop3\Model\msOption;

// Create option
$option = $modx->newObject(msOption::class);
$option->set('key', 'material');
$option->set('caption', 'Material');
$option->set('type', 'comboMultiple');
$option->save();

// Get option
$option = $modx->getObject(msOption::class, ['key' => 'color']);

// Assign to categories
$assigned = $option->setCategories([5, 12, 18]);

// Get all options
$options = $modx->getIterator(msOption::class);

msCategoryOption model ​

Option–category link. Table ms3_category_options.

msCategoryOption fields ​

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
option_idinteger0Option ID (part of PK)
category_idinteger0Category ID (part of PK)
positioninteger0Sort order
activebooleanfalseWhether option is active in category
requiredbooleanfalseWhether option is required
captionstring | nullnullOption caption in this category; null — falls back to msOption
descriptionstring | nullnullOption description in this category; null — falls back to msOption
valuetextnullDefault value

Composite primary key

msCategoryOption uses composite PK of option_id + category_id.

Cascade behavior ​

On save of msCategoryOption the option is automatically added to all products in the category that don’t have it yet.

On remove of msCategoryOption, msProductOption values are deleted only for products where the option is not active in any other category. This avoids data loss when a product belongs to multiple categories with the same option.

Programmatic usage ​

php
use MiniShop3\Model\msCategoryOption;

// Assign option to category
$link = $modx->newObject(msCategoryOption::class);
$link->set('option_id', $optionId);
$link->set('category_id', $categoryId);
$link->set('active', true);
$link->set('position', 0);
$link->save();
// On save() option is auto-added to all products in the category

// Get category options
$categoryOptions = $modx->getIterator(msCategoryOption::class, [
    'category_id' => $categoryId,
    'active' => true,
]);

// Deactivate option in category
$link = $modx->getObject(msCategoryOption::class, [
    'option_id' => $optionId,
    'category_id' => $categoryId,
]);
$link->set('active', false);
$link->save();

// Remove option from category (cascade deletes product values)
$link->remove();

msProductOption model ​

Option value for a product. Table ms3_product_options. One row per value. For multi-value options (comboMultiple) multiple rows with the same key are created.

msProductOption fields ​

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
product_idintegernullProduct ID
keyvarchar(191)nullOption key
valuetext''Value

Use OptionService

Always use OptionService for product options. Creating msProductOption directly bypasses sync with msProductData JSON fields (tags, color, size) and category cascade logic.

CategoryOptionService ​

Handles options on the category side — the manager builds the category options list through it.

php
use MiniShop3\Model\msCategory;

$categoryOptionService = $modx->services->get('ms3_category_option_service');

// Get category option keys
$category = $modx->getObject(msCategory::class, $categoryId);
$keys = $categoryOptionService->getOptionKeys($category);
// ['color', 'size', 'material']

// Get full field configs
$fields = $categoryOptionService->getOptionFields($category);

// Clear options cache
$categoryOptionService->clearCache($categoryId);
// Or full cache
$categoryOptionService->clearCache();

OptionService sub-services ​

OptionLoaderService ​

All option read operations.

php
$loader = $optionService->getLoader();

// Load options for one product (with metadata)
$data = $loader->loadForProduct($productId, true);

// Load options for multiple products (no metadata)
$data = $loader->loadForProducts([1, 2, 3], false);

// Get field configs for manager
$fields = $loader->getFieldsForProduct($productId, $parentId);

// Get keys only
$keys = $loader->getOptionKeys($productId, $parentId);

OptionSyncService ​

Writing and syncing option values.

php
$sync = $optionService->getSync();

// Save options
$sync->saveProductOptions($productId, [
    'color' => ['Red', 'Blue'],
], true);

// Read current values
$values = $sync->getForProduct($productId);

// Rename option key across all products
$sync->updateOptionKey('old_key', 'new_key');

Renaming key

updateOptionKey() runs a bulk UPDATE on all ms3_product_options rows. Use only when renaming an option in settings.

OptionCategoryService ​

Option–category links.

php
$categoryService = $optionService->getCategory();

// Assign option to categories
$assigned = $categoryService->assignToCategories($optionId, [5, 12]);

// Add with parameters
$categoryService->addToCategory($optionId, $categoryId, '', true, 0);

// Remove from category
$categoryService->removeFromCategory($optionId, $categoryId);

// Get products in category
$productIds = $categoryService->getProductsInCategory($categoryId);

// Find products that already have the option
$withOption = $categoryService->getProductsWithOption($productIds, 'color');

// Batch insert option for products
$categoryService->batchInsertOptions($productIds, 'color', 'Red');

// Batch remove from categories
$categoryService->removeFromCategories($optionId, [5, 12, 18]);

REST API ​

Since v1.10.0-beta1

Legacy processors Processors/Settings/Option/* and Processors/Category/Option/* were removed together with the ExtJS UI — 22 files, ~2600 lines. All operations go through two REST controllers: OptionsController and CategoryOptionsController.

Option management — /api/mgr/options/* ​

Controller MiniShop3\Controllers\Api\Manager\OptionsController, permission mssetting_save.

MethodPathDescription
GET/api/mgr/optionsList options with filters: query, option_group_id, category_id, categories[]. option_group_id=0 selects options without a group
GET/api/mgr/options/{id}One option + linked categories map
POST/api/mgr/optionsCreate: normalizes key, checks uniqueness, links to categories
PUT/api/mgr/options/{id}Partial update; on key change resyncs msProductOption via OptionSyncService::updateOptionKey
DELETE/api/mgr/options/{id}Delete. Cascade: msOption::remove → msCategoryOption → msProductOption
DELETE/api/mgr/options/bulkBulk delete: ids[]
POST/api/mgr/options/bulk/assignAssign options[] to categories[]
GET/api/mgr/options/typesType list with localized names
GET/api/mgr/options/treeResource tree for linking options to product categories, lazy by parent. Since 1.11.0 msCategory nodes are selectable, while modResource/modDocument/modWebLink with isfolder=1 are navigation only; every node carries a selectable: bool flag. The checked flag marks categories where the option is already assigned (if option_id is passed)
GET/api/mgr/options/suggestionsUnique msProductOption.value values by key for comboOptions autocomplete on the product card

Since 1.11.0 the GET /api/mgr/options/modcategories endpoint has been removed. Option grouping goes through msOptionGroup — see "Option groups" below.

Option groups — /api/mgr/option-groups/* ​

Controller MiniShop3\Controllers\Api\Manager\OptionGroupsController, permission mssetting_save. Added in 1.11.0 — replace grouping via modCategory.

MethodPathDescription
GET(root)Group list. Params: start, limit (0 = all), query (search by name / description). Every group in the response carries options_count — the number of options in it
GET/{id}One group + options_count
POST(root)Create group: name (required), description, sort_order
PUT/{id}Update: name, description, sort_order
DELETE/{id}Delete group. Options are not deleted — option_group_id is cleared, so they move to "No group"
PUT/positionsSave new order: either positions: { id: position, ... } or ids: [id, id, ...] (ordered list)
DELETE/bulkBulk delete: ids[]. Options are unlinked (not deleted), then groups are removed

Category options — /api/mgr/categories/{category_id}/options/* ​

Controller MiniShop3\Controllers\Api\Manager\CategoryOptionsController, permission mscategory_save.

MethodPathDescription
GET(root)Options linked to the category. Each row returns the effective caption and, next to it, global_caption/global_description plus the category_caption/category_description overrides
POST(root)Link option to category: option_id, value, active, required, caption, description
PUT/{option_id}Partial update of link: value, active, required, position, caption, description
DELETE/{option_id}Remove link. Product values are deleted only if the option is not active in any other product category
POST/sortSave new order (option_ids[])
POST/bulkBulk actions: activate / deactivate / require / unrequire / remove for option_ids[]
POST/duplicateCopy links from category_from; links that already exist in the current category are skipped

Schema API — msOptionType::getSchema() ​

Since v1.10.0-beta1

Every type class in Controllers/Options/Types/ can describe its field in two ways: as a JS string for the old ExtJS manager (getField()) or as an array (getSchema()):

php
abstract class msOptionType
{
    abstract public function getField($field);
    public function getSchema(array $field): array;
}

Neither description reaches the Vue manager

getSchema() is declared on msOptionType and mirrored on the msOption model, but nothing in the package calls it: OptionLoaderService::getFieldsForProduct() does not put the schema into option_fields, and no Vue component asks for it.

getField() is still called — CategoryOptionService and AdminOptionFields fill ext_field from it, through the msOption::getManagerField() wrapper — but that value is a leftover of the ExtJS manager, and the Vue code does not read ext_field either.

Both paths are therefore dead ends today: the Vue product card builds the field from type alone, and overriding getSchema() in your own option type changes nothing.