Add option to prefix field names in blueprint

[hdodov]

I have a field group groups/section.yml:

type: group
fields:
  sectionTitle:
    type: text
    label: Title
  sectionContent:
    type: textarea
    label: Content

And a page that includes it:

preset: page
fields:
  section: groups/section

That works great, but what if I need another section with exactly the same fields? I can't simply include the section again because it would add the same fields. Should I copy the section and maintain two almost identical files? No, but I've got no choice.

My proposal is to have a prefix option when using groups that automatically prepends a string to all fields' names. Since Kirby works in a case-insensitive manner, that shouldn't be a problem?

---

This is what I imagine:

groups/section.yml:

type: group
fields:
  title:
    type: text
    label: Title
  content:
    type: textarea
    label: Content

page:

preset: page
fields:
  sectionOne:
    extends: groups/section
    prefix: true
  sectionTwo:
    extends: groups/section
    prefix: true

Which would be the equivalent of adding sectionOneTitle, sectionOneContent, sectionTwoTitle, and sectionTwoContent. This way, I can use a field group unlimited number of times and in any context.

[hdodov]

I often times find myself prefixing a lot of fields that are logically grouped. I usually divide the site in sections and each section has its own prefix so I can differentiate between sectionOne's title and sectionTwo's title. Perhaps we can have a syntactic sugar for prefixing with the use of a dollar sign:

fields:
  heading:
    type: text
  $footer:
    title:
      type: text
    content:
      type: textarea
    links:
      type: structure
      fields:
        link:
          type: url
  text:
    type: textarea

Which could be the same as:

fields:
  heading:
    type: text
  footer:
    type: group
    prefix: true
    fields:
      title:
        type: text
      content:
        type: textarea
      links:
        type: structure
        fields:
          link:
            type: url
  text:
    type: textarea

Which functions like:

fields:
  heading:
    type: text
  footerTitle:
    type: text
  footerContent:
    type: textarea
  footerLinks:
    type: structure
    fields:
      link:
        type: url
  text:
    type: textarea

[lukasbestle]

I like the first idea a lot as it is quite intuitive, fully backwards-compatible and also rather simple to integrate into the current code structure. I'm not so sure about the other idea though – it seems quite complex and would be hard to document and understand.

[hdodov]

@lukasbestle I also had the same concerns, but Kirby encourages a certain style of field naming, while using symbols such as $ is even advised against. Therefore, the people using this would know what they're doing.

I think that saying:

$footer:
  title:

is the same as:

footer:
  type: group
  prefix: true
  fields:
    title:

...would be enough for people to understand the feature clearly - it's just a shorthand. You can define fields in a blueprint without necessarily having to add tabs, columns, and sections before that. This functions in a similar fashion except it utilizes the field name so Kirby can make a difference between field groups and actual fields.

Edit: This even holds true for nested groups. The following:

footer:
  type: group
  prefix: true
  fields:
    test:
      type: text
    title:
      type: group
      prefix: true
      fields:
        bar:
          type: group
          prefix: true
          fields:
            baz:
              type: text

...works in Kirby 3.2.3 and correctly outputs two fields in the panel. With prefixing, it would look like:

$footer:
  test:
    type: text
  $title:
    $bar:
      baz:
        type: text

It would open a whole new dimension in field organization for blueprints. Add to this the fact that you can extend those groups - and you get a lot of useful stuff, in my opinion.

[lukasbestle]

To be honest I disagree – every shorthand we add increases system complexity.