Creating Prestashop back-office module with settings page - prestashop

Question

I'm creating a back-office module for Prestashop and have figured out everything except the best way to display the admin page. Currently I'm using the renderView() method to display the content of view.tpl.
I would like to display a table with values and an option to add a new row. Should I just create it in the view.tpl or is there a better way? I've seen the renderForm() method but haven't figured out how it works yet.
The biggest question I have is, how do I submit content back to my controller into a specific method?

Answer 1

ModuleAdminController is meant for managing some kind of records, which are ObjectModels. Defauly page for this controller is a list, then you can edit each record individually or view it's full data (view).
If you want to have a settings page, the best way is to create a getContent() function for your module. Besides that HelperOptions is better than HelperForm for this module configuration page because it automatically laods values. Define the form in this function and above it add one if (Tools::isSubmit('submit'.$this->name)) - Submit button name, then save your values into configuration table. Configuration::set(...).
Of course it is possible to create some sort of settings page in AdminController, but its not meant for that. If you really want to: got to HookCore.php and find exec method. Then add error_log($hook_name) and you will all hooks that are executed when you open/save/close a page/form. Maybe you'll find your hook this way. Bettter way would be to inspect the parent class AdminControllerCore or even ControllerCore. They often have specific function ready to be overriden, where you should save your stuff. They are already a part of execution process, but empty.
Edit: You should take a look at other AdminController classes, they are wuite simple; You only need to define some properties in order for it to work:
public function __construct()
{
// Define associated model
$this->table = 'eqa_category';
$this->className = 'EQACategory';
// Add some record actions
$this->addRowAction('edit');
$this->addRowAction('delete');
// define list columns
$this->fields_list = array(
'id_eqa_category' => array(
'title' => $this->l('ID'),
'align' => 'center',
),
'title' => array(
'title' => $this->l('Title'),
),
);
// Define fields for edit form
$this->fields_form = array(
'input' => array(
array(
'name' => 'title',
'type' => 'text',
'label' => $this->l('Title'),
'desc' => $this->l('Category title.'),
'required' => true,
'lang' => true
),
'submit' => array(
'title' => $this->l('Save'),
)
);
// Call parent constructor
parent::__construct();
}
Other people like to move list and form definitions to actual functions which render them:
public function renderForm()
{
$this->fields_form = array(...);
return parent::renderForm();
}
You don't actually need to do anything else, the controller matches fields to your models, loads them, saves them etc.
Again, the best way to learn about these controller is to look at other AdminControllers.