base_custom_info

Base Custom Info

This module allows you to attach custom information to records without the need to alter the database structure too much.

Definitions

This module defines several concepts that you have to understand.

Templates

A template is a collection of properties that a record should have. Templates always apply to a given model, and then you can choose among the current templates for the model you are using when you edit a record of that model.

I.e., This addon includes a demo template called "Smart partners", that applies to the model res.partner, so if you edit any partner, you can choose that template and get its properties autofilled.

Properties

A property is the "name" of the field. Templates can have any amount of properties, and when you apply a template to a record, it automatically gets all of its properties filled, empty (unless they have a Default value), ready to assign values.

You can set a property to as required to force it have a value, although you should keep in mind that for yes/no properties, this would mean that only yes can be selected, and for numeric properties, zero would be forbidden.

Also you can set Minimum and Maximum limits for every property, but those limits are only used when the data type is text (to constrain its length) or number. To skip this constraint, just set a maximum smaller than the minimum.

Properties always belong to a template, and as such, to a model.

Properties define the data type (text, number, yes/no...), and when the type is "Selection", then you can define what options are available.

I.e., the "Smart partners" template has the following properties:

• Name of his/her teacher
• Amount of people that hates him/her for being so smart
• Average note on all subjects
• Does he/she believe he/she is the smartest person on earth?
• What weaknesses does he/she have?

When you set that template to any partner, you will then be able to fill these properties with values.

Categories

Properties can also belong to a category, which allows you to sort them in a logical way, and makes further development easier.

For example, the website_sale_custom_info addon uses these to display a technical datasheet per product in your online shop, sorted and separated by category.

You are not required to give a category to every property.

Options

When a property's type is "Selection", then you define the options available, so the value must be one of these options.

I.e., the "What weaknesses does he/she have?" property has some options:

• Loves junk food
• Needs videogames
• Huge glasses

The value will always be one of these.

Recursive templates using options

Oh dear customization lovers! Options can be used to customize the custom information template!

If you assign an additional template to an option, and while using the owner form you choose that option, you can then press reload custom information templates to make the owner update itself to include all the properties in all the involved templates. If you do not press the button, anyway the reloading will be performed when saving the owner record.

I.e., if you select the option "Needs videogames" for the property "What weaknesses does he/she have?" of a smart partner and press reload custom information templates, you will get 2 new properties to fill: "Favourite videogames genre" and "Favourite videogame".

Value

When you assign a template to a partner, and then you get the properties it should have, you still have to set a value for each property.

Values can be of different types (whole numbers, constrained selection, booleans...), depending on how the property was defined. However, there is always the value field, that is a text string, and converts automatically to/from the correct type.

Why would I need this?

Imagine you have some partners that are foreign, and that for those partners you need some extra information that is not needed for others, and you do not want to fill the partners model with a lot of fields that will be empty most of the time.

In this case, you could define a template called "Foreign partners", which will be applied to res.partner objects, and defines some properties that these are expected to have.

Then you could assign that template to a partner, and automatically you will get a subtable of all the properties it should have, with tools to fill their values correctly.

Does this work with any model?

Yes and no.

Yes, because this is a base module that provides the tools to make this work with any model.

No, because, although the tools are provided, they are only applied to the res.partner model. This is by design, because different models can have different needs, and we don't want to depend on every possible model.

So, if you want to apply this to other models, you will have to develop a little additional addon that depends on this one. If you are a developer, refer to the Development section below.

Installation

This module serves as a base for other modules that implement this behavior in concrete models.

This module is a technical dependency and is to be installed in parallel to other modules.

Configuration

To enable the main Custom Info menu:

1. Enable Settings > General Settings > Manage custom information.

To enable partner's custom info tab:

1. Enable Settings > General Settings > Edit custom information in partners.

Usage

This module defines Custom Info Templates that define what properties are expected for a given record.

To define a template, you need to:

• Go to Custom Info > Templates.
• Create one.
• Add some Properties to it.

All database records with that template enabled will automatically fill those properties.

To manage the properties, you need to:

• Go to Custom Info > Properties.

To manage the property categories, you need to:

• Go to Custom Info > Categories.

Some properties can have a number of options to choose, to manage them:

• Go to Custom Info > Options.

To manage their values, you need to:

• Go to Custom Info > Values.

Development

To create a module that supports custom information, just depend on this module and inherit from the custom.info model.

See an example in the product_custom_info addon.

Known issues / Roadmap

• Custom properties cannot be shared among templates.
• Required attributes are for now only set in the UI, not in the ORM itself.

Bug Tracker

Bugs are tracked on GitHub Issues. In case of trouble, please check there if your issue has already been reported. If you spotted it first, help us smashing it by providing a detailed and welcomed feedback.

Credits

Contributors

• Rafael Blasco <rafael.blasco@tecnativa.com>
• Carlos Dauden <carlos.dauden@tecnativa.com>
• Sergio Teruel <sergio.teruel@tecnativa.com>
• Jairo Llopis <jairo.llopis@tecnativa.com>
• Pedro M. Baeza <pedro.baeza@tecnativa.com>

Maintainer

This module is maintained by the OCA.

OCA, or the Odoo Community Association, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the collaborative development of Odoo features and promote its widespread use.

To contribute to this module, please visit https://odoo-community.org.