Have_rows breaks with options page, on page nesting mix

• awmuncy

• March 22, 2017 at 10:20 am

If I nest an options page repeater within a repeater which is nested inside an options page repeater, I break my site.
(Repeater or flexible content field)

Here is a simplified example:

while(have_rows("custom_modules", "option")) {
	the_row();
        // Some stuff
	while(have_rows("sub_modules")){
		the_row();
                // Some more stuff
		while(have_rows("social_icons", "option")){ 
                        // This while loop breaks it
			the_row();
                        // More stuff
		}
	}
}

Am I missing something, is there a simple workaround, or should I elevate this to a support ticket?

• John Huebner

• March 24, 2017 at 12:00 pm

remove , "options" from the 3rd nested repeater

while(have_rows("custom_modules", "option")) {
	the_row();
        // Some stuff
	while(have_rows("sub_modules")){
		the_row();
                // Some more stuff
		while(have_rows("social_icons")){ 
                        // This while loop breaks it
			the_row();
                        // More stuff
		}
	}
}

• awmuncy

• March 25, 2017 at 12:22 am

Thank you John.
So, this technically solved the problem I posted, but a little context is in order.

The three repeaters are in different sections of the site, so they are relatively independent of each other. The content for the third repeater will always be on the options page. The content for the first repeater may or may not be. So, a function I have does something like this:

if(have_rows('custom_modules')){
     while(have_rows('custom_modules')){
          function_which_accesses_modules();
     }
} 
elseif (have_rows('custom_modules', 'options'))
{
     while(have_rows('custom_modules', 'options'){
              function_which_accesses_modules();
     }
}

The modules are defined in seperate files. In theory, I could write in every single module something like

if($is_inside_options_page){
     while(have_rows('social_icons', 'options'){
         // Get social icons
     }
} else {
     while(have_rows('social_icons') {
         // Get social icons
     }
}

Or even wrap something like that inside a function, called something like have_options_rows() which runs have_rows() the correct way, depending on where the first have_rows() is pulling from. But I am creating the modules so that people who are only familiar with WordPress, ACF, & some of my options fields, but not my specific functions, can write modules.

• John Huebner

• March 25, 2017 at 1:02 am

I’ve just had a quick look through the ACF code and I don’t see any way to accomplish what you’re looking to do.

Technically, in one case you have a sub repeater and in the other you don’t. There isn’t any way to trick ACF into using the repeater from somewhere else as a sub repeater. The values of a sub repeater are not stored in the database in a way that would let that happen, other than perhaps writing your own custom have_rows() function, maybe have_modules()? but that would also mean writing a custom the_row() function as well I think.

Sorry, I just don’t see any way to do it, even writing custom functions, it’s not going to be easy to do.

• awmuncy

• March 25, 2017 at 1:46 am

The social_icons field is never a sub repeater. It is always a top level repeater. I just want to be able to access that top level repeater from within a sub repeater.

So, at the moment my solution is

while(have_rows("custom_modules", "option")) { // Can also be not an options page
	the_row();
        // Some stuff
	while(have_rows("sub_modules")){
		the_row();
		$social_icons = get_field("social_icons", "options");
		if(count($social_icons)>0) { ?>
			<ul class="social-links">
				<?php foreach($social_icons as $icon){ ?>
					<li>
						<a href="<?=$icon['social_url'];?>"><i class="fa <?=$icon['social_icon'];?>" aria-hidden="true"></i></a>
					</li>
				<?php } ?>
			</ul>
		<?php }
         }
}

In my initial post, there is something about the 2nd have_rows() which makes accessing the options page in the 3rd have_rows() break the code.
You can access a top level field on the options page from within a repeater selected from the options page.
For example, this works.

while(have_rows("test", "option")) {
	the_row();
	if(have_rows("social_icons", "option")) {
		while(have_rows("social_icons", "option")){
			the_row();
			the_sub_field('social_icon');
		}
	}
}

It selects social_icons from the top level, not as a sub field, and outputs the correct information.