Doesn't render tag if all fields empty

[klibansky]

I use your add-on to collect address information.
When a user on my site registers, adding address info is completely optional.

template is like so:

{my_alt_field}
input type=text name=my_alt_field[alt_field_name]
input type=text name=my_alt_field[alt_field_name2]
{/my_alt_field}

I noticed that when the user does not enter any info into the fields when registering (so all field are empty), the tag does not render anything in between the tag pair when trying to output something in my template.

If at least one field has a value, then everything works well.

[adrienne]

Hey, thanks for the report. I vaguely knew about this issue; I've got a pile of improvements to be added to this soon, so i'll fix this bug while I'm at it!

[klibansky]

No problem!

At the moment I solve it by creating a hidden text field called and adding it to the form and giving it an arbitrary value.

REQUEST: Also, since you're working on an update (and I love this add-on :), could you add the ability to render the values of an input with a single tag. {my_var:field1} {my_var:field2} etc. At the moment this is not working.

QUESTION: If I created a dropdown country list field, how would I output all the country options and have the selected one selected?

[adrienne]

wait, what isn't working? I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

[klibansky]

I'm sorry, I didn't know replying to your email would end up as a post on github :s

Don't you understand my initial question? My Request & Question have nothing to do with my initial question btw.

[klibansky]

Again, sorry, but I didn't mean to close this issue. Apparently there's something wrong with me.

[adrienne]

Hah. Not your fault, sometimes the gremlins are just overactive. And yes, I understand your initial request. I was asking for clarification on your later request about single tags -- might as well fix both at once, after all! ;)

[klibansky]

Okay, to elaborate on my first question, if I create an ALT MultiField with the name: my_alt_field and I add 2 fields: field_1 & field_2, and I want to render them in my template like so:

< input type="text" value="{my_alt_field:field_1}" > it doesn't work.

It only works If i use:

{my_alt_field}
< input type="text" value="{field_1}" >
{/my_alt_field}

I don't always display all contents of the ALT field as a group; I use a couple of ALT fields mixed through each other. Now I have to do this:

{my_alt_field_1}
{my_alt_field_2}
< input type="text" value="{field_1_1}" >
<-- more html -->
< input type="text" value="{field_1_2}" >
{/my_alt_field_2}
{/my_alt_field_1}

And it doesn't look right. It would be nicer to do this:

< input type="text" value="{my_alt_field_1:field_1}" >
<-- more html -->
< input type="text" value="{my_alt_field_2:field_1}" >

I hope you understand :)

[adrienne]

Okay, I understand now. However, doing things the way you suggest is a LOT more work for EE (there would be a database query and some JSON decoding for each single tag in your example) and really isn't the best way to go about solving your problem. In this case i'd recommend using Stash. If you'd like, i can show you how to do that -- it'd be pretty easy!

[klibansky]

Ah, Okay. Thanks so much for the offer and to point me in the right direction. I know Stash, I'll figure it out :)

I know this is off-topic here but could you maybe also give me some advise on my question about the country list dropdown? I'm using your field in a ChannelForm and want people to submit a country from a drop down menu (select). I didn't really know how to go about this because I didn't know if your field would behave the same way as a regular dropdown field type. So I just created a text field. In the template I made a select with all the countries, and that just posts the country value to the text field. But is some one want to change their country selection. I have to first check if the country field is empty, and if not, render a select option with the selected country as first option in the select box with selected=selected. However, that means that the selected country will be in the list twice. Do you get it? Sorry for my lengthy story :(