flat-catalog
We have a bit of code that looks like this:
$products = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->getCollection();
$products->addAttributeToSelect('name');
$products->addAttributeToSelect('sellbydate');
$products->addAttributeToSort('sellbydate','ASC');
This has been working fine, but after enabling flat product data the items are no longer sorted. I have reindexed but there is no change.
Should I be using a different function?
Starting with Magento CE 1.8 the flat table indexes are only shown on the Index Management page if flat tables are enabled.
Enable flat tables in System > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog > Frontend:
Enjoy the flat table indexes in System > Index Management:
I've found a workaround which looks feasible in my case. But I guess what's happening here is not exactly the intended behaviour of Magento collections in (custom) layered models with flat tables enabled. The workaround is far away from fixing the general problem but it works in the specific situation:
I overwrote Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Layer_Filter_Price by placing a copy of it in app\code\local\Mage\Catalog\Model\Resource\Layer\Filter.
In _replaceTableAlias() right before the return I added the following code
if (Mage::helper('catalog/product_flat')->isEnabled()) {
$activePrefix = "";
if (strpos($conditionString, 'AND') !== false) {
$activePrefix = "AND ";
}
if (strpos($conditionString, 'special_price') !== false) {
return $activePrefix."1 = 1";
}
if (strpos($conditionString, 'special_to_date') !== false) {
return $activePrefix."1 = 1";
}
if (strpos($conditionString, 'special_from_date') !== false) {
return $activePrefix."1 = 1";
}
}
Kind of ugly but it does what it should and I don't expect complications as I don't think 'special_price' is something that should ever come up in the condition string other than in the case where I want to replace it. First tests seem to confirm that.
Best Answer
The function is correct and checks to see if the catalog is in flat mode. So do not worry about that. Make sure that your attribute is set correctly so that there is a column for it on the flat table.
I think setting
used_in_product_listingto yes via a set-up script or via the admin, then preform a reindex should solve this problem.