Magento Adminhtml – Fix Can’t Override Magento Adminhtml Block

adminhtmlblocksmagento-1.8overrides

Sysnopsis

I am trying to change a tab on the admin products page (grouped); However for some obscure reason I cannot get my module to work. The problem seems to be my module is completely ignored.

Code

app/etc/modules/Vendor_Catalog.xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <Vendor_Catalog>
            <active>true</active>
            <codePool>local</codePool>
        </Vendor_Catalog>
    </modules>
</config>

Vendor/Catalog/etc/config.xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <Vendor_Catalog>
            <version>1.0.0</version>
        </Vendor_Catalog>
    </modules>
    <global>
        <blocks>
            <vendor_catalog>
                <class>Vendor_Catalog_Block</class>
            </vendor_catalog>
            <adminhtml>
                <rewrite>        
                    <catalog_product_edit_tabs_grouped>Vendor_Catalog_Block_Adminhtml_Catalog_Product_Edit_Tabs_Grouped</catalog_product_edit_tabs_grouped>
                </rewrite>
            </adminhtml>
        </blocks>
    </global>
</config>

Vendor/Catalog/Block/Adminhtml/Catalog/Product/Edit/Tabs/Grouped.php:

<?php
class Vendor_Catalog_Block_Adminhtml_Catalog_Product_Edit_Tabs_Grouped
    extends Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Catalog_Product_Edit_Tabs
{
}

Best Answer

During my sleep I must have subconsciously thought of the solution; it would appear that I was overriding the wrong block for this scenario.

Also it appears to me that Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Catalog_Product_Edit_Tabs_Grouped is either deprecated or just not used any more.

Nevertheless I added a die; statement inside the cores' protected function _prepareLayout() method - lo and behold nothing stopped processing. So I consult my best friend grep and found the following:

$ grep -r -e 'Associated Products' "app/code/core/Mage/"

A core block Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Catalog_Product_Edit_Tab_Super_Group which I then decided to override - this worked (source attached for anyone else that has this problem).

Vendor/Catalog/etc/config.xml:

<config>

    ...

    <global>
        <blocks>
            <vendor_catalog>
                <class>Vendor_Catalog_Block</class>
            </vendor_catalog>
            <adminhtml>
                <rewrite>
                    <catalog_product_edit_tab_super_group>Vendor_Catalog_Block_Adminhtml_Catalog_Product_Edit_Tab_Super_Group</catalog_product_edit_tab_super_group>
                </rewrite>
            </adminhtml>
        </blocks>
    </global>

    ...

</config>

Vendor/Catalog/Block/Adminhtml/Catalog/Product/Edit/Tab/Super/Group.php:

<?php

class Vendor_Catalog_Block_Adminhtml_Catalog_Product_Edit_Tab_Super_Group
    extends Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Catalog_Product_Edit_Tab_Super_Group
{
    public function getTabUrl()
    {
        // Override the tab Url with my controller/action.
        return $this->getUrl('*/vendor_catalog_product/superGroup', array('_current' => true));
    }
}

Related Solutions

Magento 1.8 – Override Adminhtml Block and Review Model

You have a few errors in your rewrites. The following code should work. You do not need the full name after the <rewrite> think of it in terms of Mage::getModel('first/second_part') with the <rewrite> as the /

local/Efk/Review/etc/config.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <Efk_Review>
            <version>1.0</version>
        </Efk_Review>
    </modules>
    <global>
        <models>
            <review>
                <rewrite>
                    <resource_review>Efk_Review_Model_Resource_Review</resource_review>
                </rewrite>
            </review>
        </models>
    </global>
</config>

local/Efk/Adminhtml/etc/config.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <Efk_Adminhtml>
            <version>1.0</version>
        </Efk_Adminhtml>
    </modules>
    <global>
        <blocks>
            <adminhtml>
                <rewrite>
                    <review_edit_form>Efk_Adminhtml_Block_Review_Edit_Form</review_edit_form>
                </rewrite>
            </adminhtml>
        </blocks>
    </global>
</config>

Magento – Rewrite core classes or override

Your customizations should be as easy to maintain as possible - especially for upgrades. This is likely best accomplished by identifying the best integration points and customizing core functionality when necessary.

When you rewrite a class via the configuration, you are changing the class instantiated, assumedly to customize a part of some core class behavior. This is more appropriate from a programmatic standpoint than owning the entire definition.

Rewrites won't work for parent classes or for library classes (e.g. Varien_Data_Collection_Db), so changes to these must be implemented by transferrance to local code pool. I'm very curious to know what you want to change with the DB collection superclass.

While blocks, helpers, and models all have a similar xpath for rewriting, e.g.

global>[blocks|helpers|models]>[class group]>rewrite>[class id]

resource models require a slightly different mapping. I can tell you are using a pre-MDBM release of Magento (CE <1.6), so your rewrite mappings would be as follows:

<global>
    <models>
        <catalog>
            <rewrite>
                <layer_filter_attribute></layer_filter_attribute>
            </rewrite>
        </catalog>
        <catalog_resource_eav_mysql4>
            <rewrite>
                <layer_filter_attribute></layer_filter_attribute>
                <product_collection></product_collection>
            </rewrite>
        </catalog_resource_eav_mysql4>
    </models>
</global>

As I said, I am quite curious to know your reasons for rewriting the resource models.