Question

my current goal is to add a new customer attribute (with int type) which should appear as select with predefined options (loaded from a model with entries editable in backend, which is done).
I’m struggling with proper use of $installer->addAttribute() method, especially specifying correct source option. Other problem is the new attribute isn’t saved to eav_entity_attribute table

I’m on Magento CE 1.5.1.0

Answer 1

This is the code for a basic int attribute with text renderer:

$installer = $this;
$installer->startSetup();

$setup = new Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup('core_setup');
$setup->addAttribute('customer', 'your_attribute_code_here', array(
    'input'         => 'text',
    'type'          => 'int',
    'label'         => 'Some textual description',
    'visible'       => 1,
    'required'      => 0,
    'user_defined' => 1,
));

$entityTypeId     = $setup->getEntityTypeId('customer');
$attributeSetId   = $setup->getDefaultAttributeSetId($entityTypeId);
$attributeGroupId = $setup->getDefaultAttributeGroupId($entityTypeId, $attributeSetId);

$setup->addAttributeToGroup(
 $entityTypeId,
 $attributeSetId,
 $attributeGroupId,
 'your_attribute_code_here',
 '999'  //sort_order
);

$oAttribute = Mage::getSingleton('eav/config')->getAttribute('customer', 'your_attribute_code_here');
$oAttribute->setData('used_in_forms', array('adminhtml_customer'));
$oAttribute->save();

$setup->endSetup();

The unusual step for adding attributes is the setData('used_in_forms') this seems to be unique to customer attributes. Without it, the field won’t get rendered, certainly not in the adminhtml anyway. You can see the valid options for this array in the customer_form_attribute database table.

In terms of using a select with predefined options, this is what you need:

$iAttributeId = $installer->getAttributeId($entityTypeId, 'your_attribute_code_here');
$aClasses = array('TV','DVD','Home Theatre','Air Conditioner','Stereo/Hifi','Game Console','Camcorder','VCR','Set Top Box','PVR');
$aOption = array();
$aOption['attribute_id'] = $iAttributeId;

for($iCount=0;$iCount<sizeof($aClasses);$iCount++){
    $aOption['value']['option'.$iCount][0] = $aClasses[$iCount];
}
$setup->addAttributeOption($aOption);

And here is a walk-through on using a custom source for your drop-down

Hope this helps,
JD