Magento – Using $_product->getMsrp() in price.phtml Template

priceproductproduct-attributetemplate

I am struggling to understand why the msrp attribute is unavailable in
~/template/catalog/product/price.phtml

I can access it fine from within product/view.phtml

I have defined a custom attribute for a product and have no problem accessing it with (for example):

$_product->getAttributeText('custom_attribute');

However:

$_product->getAttributeText('msrp');

and

 $_product->getMsrp();

both return null.

I would really appreciate figuring out how to

a) access this value but more importantly

b) know why some attributes seem to be available via standard getters, while others aren't

EDIT: So attribute is actually available in price.phtml when viewing single product pages, however in this case i'm calling a category list view.

Best Answer

Product collections by default load a subset of the products' attributes, unlike $product->load() which loads all product attributes. You have to make sure that the msrp attribute is loaded by the product collection you're using. See Mage/Catalog/etc/config.xml, the config/frontend/product/collection/attributes node:

In your module's config.xml you can add msrp:

<config>
...
    <frontend>   
        <product>
            <collection>
                <attributes>
                    <msrp />
                </attributes>
            </collection>
        </product>
    </frontend>
...
<config>

Alternatively, you can tap into the block that loads the product collection and do a $productCollection->addAttributeToSelect('msrp');. Another option is to also add an observer to the product collection load before event and again add the attribute to the select.

/Edit: If System -> Configuration -> Catalog -> Frontend -> Use Flat Catalog Product is enabled, product collections on the frontend read from the flat tables. That means that the attribute has to be one of the attributes indexed this way otherwise it will be silently ignored (addAttributeToSelect does nothing). An attribute to be indexed in the flat tables has to meet a few conditions that I don't remember exactly right now. I think the attribute has to be Used in product listing, Use in Layered Navigation and something else.

Cheers

/Edit: adding information from the comments

getAttributeText() should be used only for Dropdown and Multiple Select attributes. I'm pretty sure MSRP is a price type attribute. getAttributeText() eventually calls getOptionText() which returns false for regular attributes.

See Mage_Catalog_Model_Product::getAttributeText() and Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Attribute_Source_Abstract::getOptionText()

Product price display

The method getPriceHtml() is defined in the block class Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_Abstract.

The method uses a price renderer which depends on the product type:

$type_id = $product->getTypeId(); // e.g. simple, configurable, bundle, grouped, ...
$this->_preparePriceRenderer($type_id)

The price renderer is a block with an associated template. Both depend on the product type.

If there is no block or template defined for the specified product type, it defaults to the catalog/product_price block and the catalog/product/price.phtml template.

Where are the price renderers and templates for product types defined?

The price blocks and renderers usually are specified using layout XML, so modules which add new product types can easily add their own renderers, too. For example. the bundled product adds it's price renderer as follows in the bundle.xml layout file:

<default>
    <reference name="catalog_product_price_template">
        <action method="addPriceBlockType">
            <type>bundle</type>
            <block>bundle/catalog_product_price</block>
            <template>bundle/catalog/product/price.phtml</template>
        </action>
    </reference>
</default>

Custom price templates or renderers

Using the same mechanism it's also possible to override the default renderers. If you want to just change the template, and keep the default price block type, simply call addPriceBlockType in the layout file with the default block (see above) and your template.

Rendering the price block

The code to actually render the price block looks like this:

$this->_preparePriceRenderer($type_id)
    ->setProduct($product)
    ->setDisplayMinimalPrice($displayMinimalPrice)
    ->setIdSuffix($idSuffix)
    ->toHtml();

The $displayMinimalPrice and $idSuffix variables are optional arguments to the getPriceHtml method.

public function getPriceHtml($product, $displayMinimalPrice = false, $idSuffix = '')

The $idSuffix is used in the price template to complete the CSS id of the <span> tag surrounding the actual price, for example:

<span class="price" id="price-excluding-tax-<?php echo $_id ?><?php echo $this->getIdSuffix() ?>">

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Magento – Custom price.phtml file for product view template

Rendering of price.phtml in Catalog Product Listing Page

Product price display

Where are the price renderers and templates for product types defined?

Custom price templates or renderers

Rendering the price block

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